View Single Post
Old 03-11-2009, 08:48 AM   #236
Buck
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 950
United_States
Offline
Re: Who Sez O'Sensei Was Wise!

The problem I have with myth (specifically in terms of Aikido) is when the myth is taken as fact.

Who in this day and age believe's Poseidon exists, and controls the seas, and shakes the earth? Sure myth has a function, as Campbell and others point out, but not in the truth of things.

The function of myth was and is the mainstay for primitive peoples who didn't't understand a whole lot of things about themselves and the world around them. And, I think it is because of our human need for the truth, to have an explanation of why things are etc. Which is why myth is so ingrained into humans because we have used it for so long. It seems myth then is a the default among the uneducated to explain things, to get answers, to make sense of life and things. Because of that myth becomes a great marketing tool for snake oil sales men though out the ages.

Myth is part of the fabric of Aikido and O'Sensei, which we see in his thoughts and writings. He used the power of myth and believed in it, all within his cultural context. He used Japanese myth to build, structure, and give credibility to Aikido in the same way other Japanese used myth. Whether Campbell or Jung or others like them of the west write about the subject of myth doesn't serve to help understand Aikido. What they do is provide their examination and opinions of myth. And not a means to see Aikido as it is. We should look at our own interpretation or opinions of myth in the same way that it doesn't't provide us with an accurate understanding or picture of Aikido etc.

I think the perpetuation and belief into the power of myth, and the misunderstanding of Japanese and Aikido mythology by many Aikidoka is what gave critics something to bite on in regard to Aikido and stuff. I think that is one of O'Sensei's and others Aikidokas' goofs, when they were planting the seed of Aikido some places outside Japan. They didn't understand the impact of their myths and how they would be perceived by other peoples.

I think truth is far more important than myth. Myth is the entertainment. It is what catches our attention. It is gift warp paper on an otherwise unattractive box. Myth is the artificial sweetener in an otherwise bitter beverage for many of us in the west. Myth said the moon was made of cheese, and that a cow could jump over the moon. That the sun was a god, and that witches fly on broomsticks. That giant man with a giant blue ox as a pet roamed the woods. Things we seem never to question, but just except as truth.

How different would our world be if we didn't ever question the myths told to us so earnestly, upholding those myths as truths? What then. What does it hurt to question, to find the truth, to see things as they are with all their pimples and warts? What are people afraid of.

I think at this point in time of our world, understanding myth in Aikido gives us a front row seat to O'Sensei's thoughts and how he see his world etc. and how he seen and communicated Aikido and Budo. Myth isn't a critical element in Aikido in terms of function and as mechanism. It serves to help with the understanding of how myth played a role in O'Sensei's life, and how he relied on it- for example, his great spiritual experience of God. But myth it is not required to be believe in it, or is there a need to create new myths, or interpretations of the myths that already exist. It isn't hard to see how Japanese myths function in the Japanese mind and culture, and that I feel is the key and the only tool in understanding the mythology of Aikido.


Last edited by Buck : 03-11-2009 at 08:50 AM.
  Reply With Quote