I did solo sword practice this morning, striking invisible opponents with sincerity, attempted precision, and heart. I'm not entirely clear on all this, how sincere attack ignites growth in both the attacker and receiver, but continue to give it a try. There are surprising effects. I wasn't involved in Shintaido and yoga for long before I realized there's a whole freaking amazing lot of territory that a standard western upbringing and education doesn't cover.
2 comments:
I've been trying to think of a verbal example of a sincere cut and I think I've finally hit upon a good example.
The child in, "The Emperor's New Clothes" who cries out, "But he isn't wearing anything at all!" is an example of a sincere cut. Unlike the others who pander to the Emperor, this child sincerely tells the Emperor the way the world is.
For the Emperor, it is disappointing news to hear and I'm sure it is quite a blow to his self-image to realize he's parading around naked.
In receiving the child's sincere cut, the Emperor's illusion (delusion?) is cut away and the Emperor is able to realize his folly and grow from his mistake.
I suspect the child grows as well and learns the value of telling the truth as supposed to going along with others.
Thanks for the parallel, Rob. I was just reading about an old psych experiment where a card dealer swiftly showed a student a playing card, then asked him/her to identify it. Among the cards were a few that were doctored to be the wrong color, like a red four of clubs. Almost all of the participants got those wrong. We grownups sometimes rely more on our assumptions than our senses.
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