Quote:
Dirk Desmet wrote:
I can play guitar at home in my room, getting me into a special state of being, but I don't have to be on stage to feel that same magic.
As Koichi Tohei said: "you can do breathing exercises sitting in seiza in a dojo before a white wall, but you can practice the same breathing exercises sitting elsewhere for example when seated in your car on a parking."
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Oh, I get where you're coming from. The problem, however, is knowing if you really are in the same state. Or if you really are doing the same thing. Or if you are missing things. So you start dropping bits here and there that you, as the person who is trying to learn, decides aren't relevant. But as a student are you qualified to decide what's relevant and what's not? It is a bit of a paradox and it does cut to the heart of the intent of shu-ha-ri. It is a valuable lesson.
I'm reminded of this constantly by people bringing me totally fake "japanese" swords that they found on ebay or elsewhere. These guys are usually completely convinced they've found some lost treasure. They see a hamon, hada, and all the things that they've seen in pictures and on-line. What I see when I look at the piece is a horrid blob of steel that looks *nothing* like the real deal. How can our perceptions be so different? Simple. They've not experienced enough good swords to have learned to see the differences. Maybe they've only seen photos, but sometimes these same guys *have* seen good swords. But they simply aren't equipped yet to *really* see what was right in front of them.
So... Tread softly. I usually remind myself that I'm learning this stuff. And as such I'm the last person who should be deciding what's relevant and what's not so I try to learn as much as I can with as open a mind as possible. And I must say, after a lot of years I'm starting to see and feel things I would have discounted out of hand 10 or 15 years ago. Things that were always there. I just see them differently now and understand them differently. And I've very glad I didn't just toss them out. My understanding may be different than what I was told back then or even today, but I'm willing to let these things be. I just wonder what I'll be saying in another 5 or 10...
