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Old 08-21-2002, 04:45 AM   #31
Neil Mick
Dojo: Aikido of Santa Cruz
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 225
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Re: Re: Re: Re: the warriors and the peacemakers

Wow, a great post, Kevin. This will be a "tough act to follow;" thanks for sharing.
Quote:
Michael Neal (virginia_kyu) wrote:
Ok, tell me how to learn to live harmoniously with people who are flying planes into your buildings.
I think Kevin said it very well, but I'd like to expand upon one of his points:

How do you live harmoniously with people who crash planes into buildings? As Kevin said, you don't. But stopping people angry enough to do such a thing requires an understanding of the source of their anger. Once you find that out, you face that anger, you redirect it, blend with it (to do otherwise invites an endless cycle of destruction and violence).

To blend requires understanding; to get understanding requires listening. To listen requires being awake, which means being alert: open your eyes to what is going on around you. Question, when the answer seems too "pat." Certainly do not trust those who benefit most from the status quo, and you're in real trouble if they control all aspects of what you see (but there are some sources; the're just hard to find).

If all Americans knew the full story of what our government was doing (as well as the implications), we would instantly stop doing it. Some ppl may like things the way they are, but the majority of us don't. The majority could, and has, changed its course when a situation is no longer acceptable (women suffrage, etc).

In essence, the true way to transform the world is through awareness. Aikido is one (of many) ways to develop this awareness.
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