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Old 11-25-2012, 11:31 AM   #114
Lorel Latorilla
Location: Osaka
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 311
Japan
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Re: Is aiki a clash of forces?

Quote:
Mary Eastland wrote: View Post
Good question, Lorel. Is yours the only answer?

Here is another question: Can we talk about our own path without being told we are simply wrong by someone who has never met us?

AikiWeb to me seems to be about discussion. I like to discuss. I would not say you are wrong and I am right. I like to hear about other peoples experiences. Can that be okay too?
Mary, if we were to be honest, everyone would admit that their worldview is the correct one. This is a default for all human beings. Nobody lives in this world thinking that they have the wrong believes. I would love to meet that person that does.

It takes a much different kind of character though to be open to the fact that their worldview might be wrong even if all humans by nature believe what they believe is true. This kind of person is a "seeker", and tests the beliefs against the backdrop of an indiscriminate, sometimes brutal, but always truthful reality. To some people, reality is a menacing threat, a curmudgeon that wants to destroy the beliefs that people have cherished and have depended on for their own sense of comfort, their purpose in life, their very identity. But to others, reality is a brutally honest friend that rewards seekers with truth. I'm convinced that reality is the latter, and it is absolutely thrilling and freeing to embrace reality in that way...cause either way, even if your beliefs burn or stand, the truth will stand.

Why does it bother you that some noone is telling you that what you have been doing is wrong? If you honestly truly believe that what you are doing is true and truly convinced that what you are doing is true, then what others have to say should not bother you at all or it ought not to bother you. But if there is something nagging at you--why do you choose to ignore it? What is there to lose by running head first into reality? If what you believe is true, then encountering reality will be a joyful discovery where you see that what you did was correct all along. If you what you don't believe is true, then encountering reality in that state will also be joyful, for the reason that your delusions are getting burned and you will no longer be trapped by them. Seriously, what do you have to lose?

If you are not interested in truth, then what is the point of discussion besides having a feel good, circle jerk?

Unless stated otherwise, all wisdom, follies, harshness, malice that may spring up from my writing are attributable only to me.
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