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Old 07-09-2009, 11:25 AM   #25
jonreading
 
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Dojo: Aikido South
Location: Johnson City, TN
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,209
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Re: Words like God and Ki

Quote:
Mary Eastland wrote: View Post
Mary Malmros said : Well...this is where y'all bring out the boffer bats (or the bokken) and start whaling on me and yellling, "Mary, shut UP!" But does "spirit" have anything to do with "spirituality"? I think of "spirituality" as a connection with the divine, whether that be Allah or the kami or Jesus or the god in you. The usage of "spirit" in the martial arts, OTOH, has always given me the sense that it was a translation of a word that referred to a particular attitude and that the original had no connotations of the sacred. So, am I wrong about that?

This thought made me think.

The words god and ki cause a lot of response...people get emotional and defensive when the words god and ki are used.

If we could set that defensiveness aside and continue to communicate our thoughts while listening to others the real issues might be heard.

Being in the moment and accepting what every uke offers is sacred. This experience helps me connect to others in the outside world. Both god and ki are in the now. Aikido training deepens this experience for me making my life a sacred mysterious practice.

Mary
In social company, never discuss religion and politics...and ki.

Anytime you challenge beliefs, you are bound to receive a strong reaction in defense of those beliefs.To challenge a belief caullously is both disrespectful and inflammatory; whether or not the belief is accurate is irrelevant. I think we could all use a lesson in manners when we approach such sensitive topics. To a lesser degree, I believe the same circumstances surround the belief in ki; either you believe in ki or you don't.

Aristotle classifies a type of audience which no orator can persuade and advices orators not to persue discourse with that audience since it will never succeed. I think the audience is very important to successful discussion about omnipotent beings and ki energy. Unfortunately, there will always be a troll whose anger towards arguing against a belief supercedes the fact he is not the targeted audience of the conversation and he will subsequently weigh in...
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