Quote:
Cliff Judge wrote:
if we are all one and the same, then allowing someone to harm you is as bad as harming another person. I.e. turning the other cheek is right out, you might as well mug somebody yourself.
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Reminds me of the story of Tohei and the leather jacket. O-sensei chastised Tohei for having/flaunting something that inspired so much desire -- meaning his attitude and actions pushed the guy to be a thief! Bringing that jacket to Japan where it was rare contributed to the occurance of the transgression, so thanks to Tohei, the world has one more action of theft to stain its history.
For my answer to the OP question-- as I understand aikido, there is no aspect of philosophy that is not a direct metaphor for what you do on the mat. You should be living the philosophy with every movement.
In other words there is not techniques + philosophy, there is only the Way, which tells you 1) what to do on the mat, and 2) how to look at things off the mat.
If you look at the idea of this kind of progression:
unify your body--> unify yourself with what is around you (heaven and earth)--->unify yourself and your partner--->become the universe
it sounds philosophical but it is also a big project physically, which you just keep on working at.