Hi, Charles,
Thanks for the response.
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Charles Hill wrote:
On the other hand, it can be construed as putting a concept into a language that the student can understand. The Founder did it himself when he used the Christian Bible to explain Aikido to westerners.
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I wonder if this is truly his concern. In The Philosophy of Aikido he makes over 75 references to the spiritual values of traditions around the world and throughout history invoking variously, Pythagoras, Lincoln, Aristophanes, Dante, Picasso, Rebbe Yaakov-Yitzak, Tantric/Gnostic/Sufi/Native American/Christian values, Iglulik Eskimo prayers, Meister Eckhardt, Navaho benedictions, and the Hawaiian Hula--none with any explanation of context or content, this not such as to help really in comprehension. Moreover, should he have piqued our interest in one of these associations, he hasn't troubled himself to provide references for us the follow his lead.
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I believe Prof. Stevens really believes what he writes and is simply publishing what he has discovered in his practice/study.
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Me, too. I think the man sincere and his thinking muddled.
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You don`t have to buy the books nor read them.
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Sorry--apropos of what? ...of course I don't. But having done so, I can certainly approach them critically and "simply publish" what I "really believe" regarding them.
Right?
FWIW, I feel I have benefited from his books, they've sent me in directions I wouldn't have known to look otherwise. But I never take anything he says as the voice of authority without confirming it in another source where rigor is held in higher regard.