zen – Protective Arts

AIKIDO APHORISMS

Aphorisms are not conclusions. They are stepping stones. Each must be tested in practice, hammered into the body, or abandoned. And of course, I could not resist my own commentary for each.

Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife—chopping off what’s incomplete and saying: ‘Now, it’s complete because it’s ended here.’ Dune, Collected Sayings of Maud’Dib by the Princess Irulan I first read most of the Dune saga in high school and arrived at college in Oregon eager, naïvely, to meet its author. A classmate from theContinue reading “Frank Herbert”

Father, Son, Grandson

___________ There are several permutations of the story. A Zen-priest is asked to provide a blessing, and he obliges, “Father dies, son dies, grandson dies.” The beneficiary is confused and angry, “What kind of blessing is THAT?!” And the wisdom is revealed: “Would you rather it happened another way?” With the received wisdom of theContinue reading “Father, Son, Grandson”