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Old 05-07-2012, 12:47 PM   #6
R.A. Robertson
Dojo: Still Point Aikido Center
Location: Austin, TX, USA
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 346
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Re: Teaching Aikido, an Aiki perspective

Francis,

I know I don't always speak/write as clearly as might be hoped. But sometimes I discover things through minor ambiguities that I wouldn't otherwise.

In this case, what I mean is this: I want to learn from and emulate those who are simultaneously full of knowledge and empty of knowledge.

Someone who is only empty of knowledge has nothing to teach. Someone who is only full of knowledge is a know-it-all, and has nothing more to discover -- they have lost their beginner's mind.

I would say that I have had the good fortune to train with people who exemplified in various ways what I am talking about. Their attributes were authority complemented by humility, accomplishment without hubris, a noble sense of responsibility for all that they have received while remaining full of awe at the enormity of things still to be learned.

In all cases their emptiness was an asset, and not a deficiency. Though none were Taoists, they seemed to me to be living expressions of why Emptiness is considered a virtue in Taoism.

Thank you for asking, and thank you for your kind words. And thank you for all that you do to make the world fuller in the ways that fullness is also a virtue.
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