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John, from what I understand of what Aikido is, it's a better thing to stop an aggressor without killing them or hurting them. If they just won't stop without their death than they choose that themselves, and I would prefer not to be the one to bring it to them, but if they do it to themselves than that's what happenes. I never would say that I could predeict or even reasonably conjecture what would happen in a real fight
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I agree so far.
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but from the expressed goals of the founder the best end to the situation would be the one that brought the least pain or injury to the attacker and attacked. This may be more implied than stated, but this is at the root of what makes Aikido different.
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This is where I start to disagree. I do not feel that the best end to the situation would be "the one that brings the least pain". This is really irrelevant. As said before, the amount of pain inflicted, in theory, is up to the aggressor. My only concern should be to restore harmony, and hopefully aikido will give me the ability to do this with surgical precision when faced with conflict. Causing more pain than is necessary is not restoring harmony, it is creating conflict and makes me the aggressor. Once harmony has been restored (any pain involved was brought about by the aggressor) then I have nothing else to do.
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I think is important in Aikido is the understanding of the order of things, and our place within that. Again, if you only care about yourself and things that directly relate to you, what is your reason for studying Aikido?
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This is not only important in aikido, but in life as a whole. But how can I possibly care for something that doesn't relate to me? That is impossible. It sounds nice and lovey-dovey but really doesn't make much sense to me. When you sat down at breakfast this morning did you check with the entire planet to see if anyone else needed some food first? Do you check with the entire human race to see if anyone needs anything before paying your rent or buying some underwear? I can only act within the scope of what I know and I can only seek that which brings me happiness. This does not mean that I do not care about anyone but myself, it means that without first caring for myself I can't very well care for anyone else. In the simplest terms, I study aikido in order to be able to keep "my" universe in a state of harmony. Sounds kind of corny but that's really what it boils down to.
Of course I am a relative newbie and my understanding of aikido will most definitely continue to evolve, but this is how I feel about it at the moment.
I hope that I haven't beaten the horse too much but I enjoy these "philosophical discussions" because they help me put my own beliefs in perspective...