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Old 05-28-2012, 08:55 AM   #61
hughrbeyer
Dojo: Shobu Aikido of Boston
Location: Peterborough, NH
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 653
United_States
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Re: Spiritual and i/p

Golly, Tom. Paragraphs and paragraphs of writing on judgement which is very fine, but totally beside the point. Then this:

Quote:
Tom Verhoeven wrote: View Post
You cannot test ideas or skills via the internet. At best, if there is film available (youtube, dvd) you can get an impression of what someone is doing and you can try to compare it to what you are doing. I see on Aiki web a lot of conclusions that are based on bias, hidden agenda's, fixed opinions and a lack of reading with care what someone is trying to express. And worse then that; people draw conclusions about the other person's skills and experience without ever having met that person. So I can not agree with you that Aiki web is working pretty well.
Isn't that just what I was saying, that in the end you have to get together to work out what you mean? At which point, you find out what works and what doesn't. Maybe you'll say, "Yeah, what you're doing works better but mine is prettier so I'll stick with it." And I'll say, "God bless, and go in peace," because we're not in the same game at all.

But within shared goals, we certainly can and must judge. Choreographers may need to make the most of their materials, but the artists I know are their own harshest critic.

Where AikiWeb fails, I think, is when people won't meet and won't shut up. You've every right to voice your opinion--but if you won't back it it up, there's no reason why others have to respect it.

Quote:
Tom Verhoeven wrote: View Post
I am not a christian. But I do not think that what you say here about Jezus represents the christian faith sincerely.
Had you said I wasn't representing Christianity correctly, I'd have no issue with you, and we could have a nice debate about religion (or not). But you said I wasn't representing it sincerely, which I resent. (Augh! You're judging me! Actually, I'm assuming you're not a native English speaker so you may not have intended anything by it. But I'll make my point anyway.)

Not only does my post accurately represent one aspect of my attitude towards Christianity, I'll generalize: Every spiritual path I know includes a significant element of whacking the students to make them see the truth. Whether it's Zen masters shouting, "You sly fox spirit!" at a student and chasing them out of the room, or Jesus calling perfectly good and sincere Jews hypocrites and vipers, there's always an element of sincere teaching which is not gentle. The good students, the people who are learning, take the rebuke, think about it, and allow it to change them. The poor students get resentful and close their ears. The choice is yours.