2006.01.01 'Failure' of the plan that this logos chose

[kycahi]

We have negativity and negativity. I look at sweatshops and third world lives as opportunities for experience. They aren't great, not even good some places, but they are not, IMHO, necessarily the failure of STO. They may be the result of STS influences; probably are, but not large populations of STS people or STS wannabes.

For a few years I trained in Aikido, a fighting art from Japan. The goal of this art is to transfer your attacker to the ground without injury. The guy who started Aikido was actually a scrapper. He loved arguments and brawls, and became excellent in Judo, a throwing art, and Kendo, a sword art.

An old friend/enemy from his youth showed up and they drank tea, reminisced and then got into a fierce fight. They early killed each other and stopped when they simultaneously realized that something very special was going on--neither was winning and neither wanted to. That fight was the origin of Aikido.

Aikido calls the person being attacked the "thrower" and the one attacking the "faller." The thrower is one with the Universe and nobody can possibly beat the Universe. Further, the Universe doesn't need to be angry with the faller, who will end up on the ground anyway. Some Aikido instruction describes these encounters as "divine reconciliation." So something that had origins in fighting became a method to teach respect and forgiveness.

The Confederation (or Somebody High Up) determined that a messy, bellicose 3D world enhances harvests, be they STS or STO, and who am I to disagree? Count me on the side of STO, but all are on the One team when we discount the illusion.

Wanderers can do more than offer examples of unconditional selflessness. Offer catalyst that nudges the great unwashed toward STO or, at least, shows that mean behavior is a hard road to travel.