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Old 08-25-2011, 07:55 PM   #12
David Orange
Dojo: Aozora Dojo
Location: Birmingham, AL
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,511
United_States
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Re: Pompous Baffoons

Quote:
Lisa Donner wrote: View Post
I need to vent and would like some feedback. There is a Snooty, Pompous Baffoon that keeps showing up at our Dojo. Uninvited and completely unwelcome by me and other students...
I see him at seminars and avoid him - I just NEVER want to see him come to our Dojo again. What do I do?????
I notice that your avatar is the kanji for "samurai".

Many times, people think that samurai were all-out hard-line people but, below that surface, they were mainly people who had to get along with one another, even though a lot of them were real...snots.

Samurai really means "to serve". And in day-to-day life, that meant a lot of putting up with obnoxious behavior from others for the sake of the greater group.

Of course, there was the junior/senior thing, where you could put someone down because they were below you, or you just accepted their crap because they were above you. But mostly, it meant putting up with peers who you couldn't judge because that would lead to factions in your group, which would damage the harmony of your group, which would ultimately lead to defeat in battle. (not to say there wasn't a lot of back-stabbing behind the scenes....)

But, really, it usually meant a lot of suppression of your personal feelings for the sake of the group. That was the bulk of samurai life.

Just something to think about.

Best to you.

David

"That which has no substance can enter where there is no room."
Lao Tzu

"Eternity forever!"

www.esotericorange.com
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