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Old 08-21-2002, 05:24 AM   #32
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Dojo: Team Combat USA
Location: Olympia, Washington
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,376
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Michael,

Obviously riding your bike to work and becoming a vegetarian does not stop terrorist directly.

As I stated, you stop terrorist before they want to be terrorist. Obviously once they become terrorist, it is too late and you must use force.

Using Aikido philosophy or eastern philosophy in general requires a long term approach. You must look way down the road.

Yes, there is a connection between these things I have done.

1. You can influence others with your actions, but you can only affect change on yourself. By changing yourself, you influence others. These are the only things we have control over.

So, that said, in order to have harmony with others, you must first have harmony with yourself. (several of the above post by others covers this well.)

By doing the things I mentioned it makes me at peace with myself. Again, I these things are a individual choice, and not something that everyone should do...you find your own way. Also, don't judge anyone by what you do.

How I tie it together with the big picture. Riding my bike to work reduces our oil consumption in the U.S. Not only reducing foreign dependency on oil, but saves are environment some, which BTW we must be in harmony with also.

Becoming a vegetarian: It is a philsophical issue for me as a buddhist, but also functionally positively impacts the carrying capacity of earth, which impacts the environment positively and puts me at peace with myself. (again, YMMV and it is a personal choice).

Reducing wasteful and consumptive spending: Many in our threads have criticized Americans and the west for this very thing. Can't say I don't disagree with them. Lets not get into arguments about the merits/faults of capitalism, I think it is a fine concept, but on an individual basis we can do alot to reduce our indiscriminate waste, which impacts the environment and the world perception.

Lets face it, as I have traveled throughout the world, most people I have run into in 3rd world countries really want to be like Americans. They want a new car, a good job, a house, and Levi's. The desire to have the things that they cannot have creates discord. This discord creates friction in the big picture. A few despots take advantage of this discord and you have a break in the harmony systems!

So, I hope this helps you see how the little things that one person does can have a connection to terrorism.

I don't believe my actions will stop terrorism directly, but hopefully in my short lifetime I can influence others to be mindful of their actions. If everyone did things like this, at least we would be moving more towards peace and harmony, and away from discord. When you think about it, that is all we really have and all we can really do....our best!

Aiki lesson for today:

How can you see this through Aikido? Think about kokyo tanden ho. When you first start learning it as a beginner, you really try hard to use your strength to topple your uke. Work with a good Yundansha, it doesn't work very well does it. As you practice and practice you discover that it is less about trying to use force to topple your opponent than looking at your own body, listening to your own actions, and listening to what signals uke is sending you....you blend with them and it becomes easy.

Same with life, we must first look at our own selves and influence it before we can influence others!

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