I'm aware that you asked Nicholas, but I couldn't resist the urge to respond (I'll say ahead of time that I don't know whether or not Nicholas agrees with my response. I only represent myself.).
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Hugh Beyer wrote:
I like your post overall, but I must say I totally disagree with this. This is O-Sensei we're talking about. How are we possibly NOT to argue about what he was doing, how he was doing it, and how to reproduce it ourselves? And if part of the argument is that the core of what he was doing has been largely lost, how can that argument be made at all without saying "Most of you missed it"? Particularly when the argument has been made over the years with extensive research into the founder's actual circumstances, language, videos, training, and the reactions others had to his budo.
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Whether it's true or not, restating those points over and over in the form of unsolicited advice or criticism will not have the desired effect of convincing people. It just causes friction. Peter Goldsbury's post #66 hints that a wise man knows when to speak and when to remain silent.
If you think your neighbour is ugly, do you think that every time you see him, you should tell him that, and advise him to go see a plastic surgeon to fix it? Do you think that he will appreciate your honesty, even after he has told you over and over that he happens to like his looks and so does his wife?
Ofcourse it's a different matter if he asks your opinion about his looks. But even then, one might try to avoid hurting his feelings or insulting him by choosing ones words carefully.
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Hugh Beyer wrote:
It's telling that you have to go to religion for your parallel. If you're seeing Aikido as a religion, you've got a problem. Other areas of human experience are supposed to be debatable.
Arguing in the alternative, have you ever hung out on religion boards? Speaking as a follower of one of those prophets, let me tell you that telling each other that the other hasn't understood the prophet at all is a major source of entertainment and refreshment for all.  |
You don't have to go to religion. Wars have been waged over other convictions.