The philosophy which serves as the foundation for the art of ninjutsu stretches back over 2,500 years of human history and half way around the world from here. Passed down from past sages and brought across the snow-cover peaks of the Himalayas to China, the ninja's enlightenment teachings finally made their way into the tiny island-nation of Japan.

One of the primary teachings involved in this philosophy is the concept of karma or the workings of cause and effect. A far cry from the idea of "fate" or "destiny" in the sense that one has no control over one's life, karma, which means "action," points to the knowledge that there are no accidents in life. Every 'thing' is 'caused' and, in-turn, is the cause of a future effect.

I thought this to be an appropriate topic for this month as some of us prepare to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

It seems to me that many of us can come to rely on luck in one form or another as almost a guide for living. Often called by many other names like coincidence, accident, or 'God's will', luck has become a convenient perspective or viewpoint for many of us in our day-to-day lives, taking on many faces.

While most people would disagree with this, their mannerisms, habitual tendencies and commonly used phrases, used almost daily, serve to give away their beliefs.

Some examples of this "luck-philosophy" include:

• Playing the lottery as a means of finding riches

• Using phrases like, "boy he/she's really lucky to be able to vacation at a place like that," and using the term 'accident' to cover a wide range of outcomes created by a lack of awareness or attention.

To a ninja, everything is a result of, or caused by, some other thing(s). This applies to both the positive as-well-as the negative in one's life. To a ninja, the life one experiences is not a matter of luck, but the result planning, work and a direct control of one's experience. Indeed, to a ninja -

"you are either what you want to be or, what you have allowed yourself to become."