French Budo

As I was travelling to France from December 17 to January 6, I had the great pleasure to meet and train with my old Budo buddies from a long time ago...

I got to train twice with the Kendo club of Friville Escarbotin . 

My friend and instructor Francis Hollier, originally a Judoka, founded the Kendo club 30 years ago. I started to train with him in 1989 just back from Korea. Since then, I have tried to go train with him at least once a year...

From Left to Right : Pascal Barraud, Frederic Lecut, Abel Brunet, Francis Hollier. 

The four of us were training together 25 years ago in Kendo, Tai Jitsu and Tai Chi... After 22 years in the USA, I can go back to France and meet these guys, it is just as if I had left them last week !

While I was training in Kendo under Francis, he asked me if I would like to open a Tai Jitsu class. Which I did, under supervision of Jean Luc Lemoine, who was teaching in Rouen, 90 km South of Friville. I was not a black belt at the time and could only teach under supervision of a licensed black belt instructor.

On January 3, at Jean Luc's request, I had the pleasure and honour to teach a Yoshukai Karate Class for the Tai Jitsu club of Normandie...

Everyone had a great time...

Once you have practised Budo for years and years, there should be a realization that maybe this is not at all about fighting, but rather about making peace. 

Unless you are able and ready to fight, it is going to be difficult to live in peace. 

Faithfull friends are part of this...

The Reality of War : War is violence and violence is unpredictable

The Dalai Lama, in an excellent analysis of the Reality of War, clearly states that although he is personally deeply opposed to war, he does not advocate appeasement in front of unjust aggression. 

I want to make it clear, however, that although I am deeply opposed to war, I am not advocating appeasement. It is often necessary to take a strong stand to counter unjust aggression. For instance, it is plain to all of us that the Second World War was entirely justified. It "saved civilization" from the tyranny of Nazi Germany, as Winston Churchill so aptly put it. In my view, the Korean War was also just, since it gave South Korea the chance of gradually developing democracy. But we can only judge whether or not a conflict was vindicated on moral grounds with hindsight. For example, we can now see that during the Cold War, the principle of nuclear deterrence had a certain value. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to assess al such matters with any degree of accuracy. War is violence and violence is unpredictable. Therefore, it is better to avoid it if possible, and never to presume that we know beforehand whether the outcome of a particular war will be beneficial or not.

A similar position is developed by Yagyu Munenori in his Heiho Kandesho : It is sometimes justified to kill a dangerous man to preserve the life of others. 

This kind of position is delicate. What exactly does constitute a threat ? If somebody verbally threatens to kill you, does that threat justify killing him in self defense ? 

If a country threatens to nationalize some of the assets owned by corporations of another country, is it justified to attack them to defend the interests of these corporations ? 

If a group of fanatics in a part of the world uses chemical weapons to kill civilians in the context of a civil war, is it a threat that justifies "punishment" ? 

Would this punishment really punish the guilty ones ? Would this punishment really prevent the recurrence of such an horror, or could it exacerbate it ?

War is violence and violence is unpredictable. Therefore, it is better to avoid it if possible, and never to presume that we know beforehand whether the outcome of a particular war will be beneficial or not.

The only people who gain anything out of any kind of war are the shareholders and employees of corporations of the armament industry and the politicians receiving funds from these corporations.

 

I’ll still be here to guide you

As some of you may know, I have a personal connection and appreciation for Korea. I have learned a lot in that country. One day I will expand on that.

Daehaeng Kun Sunim passed a few weeks ago after an amazing life. She was a Korean Seon (Zen) Master. She was self enlightened, as the 6th patriarch Hui Neng was. Or Bankei Yotaku was. She had a very difficult Childhood in Korea when the communist troops invaded the Southern part of the Peninsula. Like Bankei before her, she puts emphasis in her teaching on simple things, trying to soothe suffering for others. She does not use complicated concepts but speaks simple words of love and compassion. Expressed in a plain, simple and direct language that anyone can understand, her Zen is refreshingly clear and simple. You don't have to be learned, live in a monastery or even necessarily consider yourself a Buddhist to effectively practice it.

The following comes from one of her Dharma talks. According to the author, although it may be tempting to think that she's speaking in metaphors, she isn't. She once gave him a fierce look and said, "I always keep my promises!" :-)

Let me talk about one more thing before we end today’s talk: Some of you are worried about what happens after I pass away, that I won’t be here to guide you. Right? However, because you are practicing and learning to rely upon your fundamental mind, I will always be with you, just as if I was alive. No..., not “as if.” I will be there, alive. Even now, I often leave this body behind to go take care of things. So if I need “this” shape to help save people, I go use this shape. When I need “that” the shape to help save people, I use that shape. If the shape of an old monk is needed, that’s shape I take. If a beggar is needed, then I go become a beggar. If a bug is necessary, I become a bug. Could you call any of these shapes me? No. “I” don’t exist. Not even a little bit. Not even now. If you all work hard and deepen your practice, what is there that you couldn’t do?! So there’s nothing for you to worry about!

 You can read the original post on Wake up and Laugh

The Abbot and the General

When a rebel army swept into a town in Korea, all the monks of the Zen temple fled but the Abbot. The general came into the temple and was very unhappy that the Abbot did not receive him with  proper respect and manners.

"Don't you know," yelled the general,"that you are looking at a man who can slice you down without blinking?" 

 

"And you,"replied the Abbot strongly, "that you are looking at a man who can be sliced down without blinking!" 

The general stared at him, bowed and left...