An inside story – 2016

Dear Taimyo Brothers & Sisters:

Greeting from SF CA, where I finished 2 Tuesday evening classes, and 3 more to go!
Hope you are well and enjoying your “Taimyo” at wherever you are!!

As you have heard already, the 11th International Shintaido Gathering was held in Reims, France at the middle of July, 2016, and it has been successfully completed !

By being a facilitator during the TNEC discussion we had for the last 6 months, the following is a cross cultural analysis* came back to my mind:

* After I came to the US in 1975, I immersed myself for several years in comparative culture studies. From that, I realized that Western and Eastern thinking have very different strong points and weak points. People who are steeped in the Western perspective of dualism (the self as separate from the non-self) can more easily develop some specialty in a certain area. They are very good in their specialty, but they may not accept the ideas of other specialists very well, and it’s easy for them to disagree and fight. In Eastern thinking, the culture encourages people to accept other ideas, so there may be less disagreement, but there is also less clarity and more confusion.

For me these 2 kinds way of thinking has been reflected upon between the way of SOA Board & TC think and the way of ETC does whenever we had a debate!
Speaking without fear of misunderstanding, its seems to reflect upon the augment happened between the ISC Board and TNEC, too…..

At last, it reflects upon 2 ways thinking of what Shintaido means to each of us:

• The first one:
Shintaido = Aoki world, So that we needs to keep following him forever, or at least till the end of his life. ISC also should be formed according to this idea!
• The second one:
Shintaido is the art form created by Aoki and Rakutenkai members in the ‘60s~’70s, so that the fundamental Kata/Dai-Kihon itself carries the essence, and the practicers should respect his work, but can/should be independent from him. ISC should be formed according to this philosophy!

By saying “Shoganai!” in Japanese, “Je ne sai pas!” in French, Should we give up each other and separate one from other?

No, I hope not!

By playing “Devils Advocate” each other, I really hope that we can reach an agreement, so that we can set up an clear goal for the next 10 years!

It was why, I have recommended Kazuo Inamori’s quote* to be used as our Dai-Mokutek** in Shintaido’s Out-Reach programs as follow:

•• “In Service to Others – and the World”
I believe that we humans need to be useful to the world around us, because we benefit daily from what Earth has provided for millennia. Living “in service to others and the world” is the highest form of action we can take as human beings.
Even in the course of being successful in business, we have always based our thinking in service to others and the world.
This is my life purpose. Living this way is my cause, my calling, and my message to others.

In any case, don’t you think that this quote really fits to our Dai-Mokuteki of Taimyo meditation network for the world peace, too?

Sincerely yours,

-Ito

2016/8/10

Comments are closed.