Just Asking

Eternal Knowledge

Here’s one for all the philosophers out there. Is all the knowledge and wisdom gained in this lifetime carried over into the next lifetime? If so, wouldn’t it be in our best interest to learn as much as we can now, so as to be better prepared (and ahead of the curve, sort to speak) in whatever we must do in the next? If that were true, then we must study, examine, and experience as much as we can while we are here. We wouldn’t want to be the “Johnny-come-lately” of the afterlife-- would we?

Imagine arriving in the next life and being told that you must immediately set up and demonstrate the concept of a suspension bridge to be built tomorrow because of the expected arrival of 30,000 people that will die tonight in an earthquake in some part of the other, corporeal, world. Well, did you study? Do you know how to get the job done?

Will we remember the people that had come into our lives—their names, their associations to us—or will we forever cease to know the people who were so close to us? And, if we did remember and retain our knowledge, wouldn’t it be as if we never died at all?

The alternative to this is knowledge earned through study or experience is of no value whatsoever once we leave this world behind. All of our efforts, desires, knowledge, perseverance, religious observances and storytelling are of absolutely no value except to placate ourselves against the unknown, against the dark.

If this is so, if we remember nothing, then we will not remember God; we will not remember good and evil—because they will have ceased to exist the moment we do, and we will not remember the good we’ve done (denying us our eternal reward) or of the transgressions from which we’ve feared eternal reprisals. We will have, in some way, lived a futile life; we had nothing, we kept nothing, we took nothing. It would be as if we never existed. Our lives would not have had any meaning other than the perpetuation of the species—the same as an amoeba self-multiplies and perpetuates. We would be passing our genes to the next generation for the sake of blindly passing genes.

So, the question remains; Does the knowledge we possess here, on this earthly plane, transfer with us to the next?

Hard at Work

The New Religion

(The Chosen Ones)

1. “Do as I say or God will kill you by my hand.”

2. “What! You’re going to kill me and blame another for doing it?”

1. “Yes, God told me that I must go forth and punish all that do not believe as I do. I am to instruct all in the doctrine He has revealed to me in the desert.”

2. “Why were you in the desert? You know that none from our tribe are to go there, there is danger and wild beasts.”

1. “I became lost in thought, thinking of the hard life I have; my nagging wife and the 27 children who never seem to stop eating. After some time, I became aware of the desert, and I looked around to see only sand.”

2. “What did you do? You must have been terrified.”

1. “I was.”

2. “How did you survive? You were gone almost seven days.”

1. “After the first day I was very tired and very thirsty. I could not find shade and there was no food for me to eat. The sun was relentless and there was no shade for me anywhere. During the cold desert nights I slept by hugging a small boulder that had kept the sun’s warmth from the earlier day. After that, I tried to walk out of the desert. First I walked as far as I could in one direction. Then I would try another direction. Soon, I was tired and weary—I couldn’t go any further—and I believed that I would die without food or water. Often, I would see water in the distance and I would rush to drink it, but when I got there I found only more sand. I did, however, find some small plants with red berries, and I feasted upon them. After eating, I lay down in the soft sand and dreamed I was in my own bed, hugging my warm wife. I saw many colors and many shapes, and I knew I could fly—yes, I was a beautiful bird, and I was free to fly wherever I wished. I flew through the clouds and even sat on top of them. I thought about freedom, and I thought about my rock-hard wife and my little plant children…”

2. “Wait a minute. You ate some plants or berries or whatever, and suddenly you were flying?”

1. “Not suddenly. At first my stomach hurt because it had been empty for days. Then I threw up and began to feel cold and I began to shake. That’s when I lay down to fly.”

2. “Okay. What about this God guy who told you things in the desert—that only you saw and only you talked to?”

1. “It was real! Don’t you, or anyone else, dare question the word of God.”

2. “Well, what did God tell you?”

1.” He told me to leave my wife and children, and to gather around me others who also left their wives and children, and to travel about the region convincing others to give their wealth to us so that we can all the more give thanks to God. We are to believe that God wants us to do this to show our love for Him, and the only way they can do that is to do what I say.”

2. “And if they refuse to show their “love” by giving you their wealth, or by doing what you say, you get to kill them?”

1. “Yes. They are of no use to God.”

2. “I see. But what are we to do about the abandoned women and children? What does God want you to do about them?”

1. “Others will care for them. They are a wearisome lot. Maybe I’ll set up some charities so that my generosity will be known—thanks be to God.”

2. “I think that I, too, want to go to the desert and eat some berries. I’m tired of my wife and children. And I’m tired of cleaning the stables, too.

1. “Say, I know, why don’t you become one of my “disciples”? The two of us can certainly earn much more than one alone. Here’s what you do: Get another person to give you wealth--let’s call it “alms” or “tithing”—and you get to keep some and you also give some to me. Understand? In this way we will always have something with which to appear generous and charitable to people, and we do so with their money. We can’t lose.”

2. “What happens if people see through this? What if they protest? I mean, there could be repercussions.”

1. “We will kill them, or we will threaten them in some way. After all (ha ha ha) we are only doing God’s work.”

2. “Well okay. But I want a title so people will know that I’m important now, and not just a stable hand.”

1. “Okay, you can be called my “Popemullarabbi”, no one will know what that is, but you can tell everyone that you are important to God’s work.”

2. “Okay.”

2. “Hey, you there, come here. You have to do what I say or God will kill you by my hand—blessed be God. Are you a believer? If not you must believe immediately. God has spoken to us in the desert; I am his Popemullarabbi….”

Why The Economy Isn't Growing

And Why We Need To Get Used To It

A TRUE STORY

I had an eight year old boy in one of the martial arts classes I taught. He had been a model student during his time in class and he had never been a discipline problem. He did everything that was asked of him. He demonstrated self-control, and he demonstrated the proper respect to me and to the other teachers. He got along with the other students as well. Imagine my surprise when I asked his mother how she came to have a cast on her wrist. Her tale of woe was straight out of a Steven King novel--and her son was the chief antagonist.

The cast, she told me, was the result of a fall she took on a city sidewalk; the fall, precipitated by a push from her eight year old son.

This woman spent the next twenty minutes telling me the story of a boy who would throw knives at her if she showered with the bathroom door closed, for example. She told me how he once tried pushing her in front of an oncoming bus. She told me of the five councilors she'd been to, in an effort to find guidance for herself and for her son. Nothing she did seemed to work, and I could feel the desperation in her voice and in her demeanor--she was at an end as to what she could do.

I asked her if the boy's dad was in the child's life--perhaps he could assist in correcting this bad situation. "No" she said. Dad doesn't come around, she had to do everything by herself. I next asked what the councilors had recommended to correct such behavior. The mom told me that the councilors recommend she tell the child how this behavior hurts her and how it effects her; in other words, "explain" to the child her displeasure. I also asked if the idea of spanking were ever mentioned or recommended. "No", she said, "no ones ever recommended that."

After a moment of silence I told her that if her situation did not change soon she may face deadly consequences by the time the boy reached thirteen years old, and that training him in the martial arts at this time was not the answer to her problem (many single parents look upon martial arts teachers as surrogate parents for their children).

Then it became my turn to tell her a story.

"I can't tell you what to do," I told her, "but I can tell you what I'd do. At the first sign of disrespect, or of bad attitude from my children, I'd slap them so hard the would spin. That's me. That's what I would do in my house."
I continued, "But I'm not telling you what to do in your house. I'd take back control of my child because I'm the adult--the one in charge. But you do as you wish in your house."

I didn't see her or her son for two weeks, and I wondered if they were okay. I hoped things were improving and that she was not already dead.

They both came in on the third week. Her son took a class and I got to talk to his mom. She seemed to be more upbeat compared to our last talk and she told me she was back in charge of her house. It seems she slapped him silly a time or two and reclaimed her right as a parent and not simply a victim of parental abuse. That was the last time I saw them.

If there is a moral here it's that many parents give up their adult responsibilities to their children. Parents who will ask if the child wants to go on family vacation, or if it's okay for mom or dad to do something or go somewhere. Since when have we, as adults, started asking permission of children for anything? When did we place them in this reversed role? The children need guidance from the parents--it won't work if parents seek guidance from children. We can't give children authority, liberty, and powers they can not understand or respect.

When parents give up their rights to their children, is it any wonder chaos ensues? In a world so hung up on child abuse, is anyone advocating for those parents who, not knowing any better, are suffering parental abuse--as this woman had?

The moral? Children are immature--they don't know as much as adults-- so don't ask them, guide them. Guide them to self-control. Guide them toward respect, education, and kindness. But guide them.

I'm not going to tell you what to do, but if it were me...I would take control.

There may come a time when everything we've tried fails. When that time comes we must not throw up our hands in defeat and walk away. We must do whatever we can to ensure the safety of our children and of our households.

Martial Training

Martial arts training is another BIG issue that needs a modicum of coverage on this site.
One of the first things that I've noticed new students of martial arts like to do is purchase martial arts books and magazines (I know I did). We're attracted by the covers with the "masters" punching or throwing their "bad-guy" student or students to submission. The magazine cover extols us to buy this mag and learn the secret or secrets only this person possess--only this master has discovered the secret technique of the mystery punch or death touch, as if no other master in 6oo years ever knew how to punch (or whatever technique it is). But the secret is really no secret; it's just the way he teaches in his own school. The throw is not a secret throw; it's how he throws in his own school. The point I'm trying to make here is that it's easy to get carried away when first starting out on the martial arts journey. Much like the person who's discovered something new, and now wants to have all of it--right away!

Something new students need to keep in mind is that there are really no secrets in martial arts--think about it, martial arts have been around for hundreds of years; the only new developments have been in the area of gymnastics; something no true martial artist would attempt to use in a real self-defense situation. The real secret--and I'm going to give it to you here for free, and thereby saving you possibly hundreds of dollars--is to continually practice the things your teacher imparts to you in the dojo or dojang. Diligent study under a qualified instructor is the only secret you need to know.

There is an area of study I will recommend in my next post--something you may need to buy a book for (but it won't have secrets).

The Secret of Martial Arts

There came a time during my martial arts training when I had to ask the serious question (both of myself and of my instructor): "Is this all there is?" I felt, after training so long (at that time, over eight years), that there should be more. How could someone who has a 7th degree black belt not have the ability to impart the "secrets of the temple" to students? How could an instructor with over thirty years of teaching experience fail by neglect or by ignorance to teach fundamental self-defense? Upon further investigation, I was able to determine that the fault was not so much one of poor teaching skills but of a fundamental flaw of the way my teacher was taught, and ultimately the way we would be taught because of it. It was also the direct result of what happens when we stop learning, thinking, and growing in our chosen field of study.
The ability to think "outside the box" becomes paramount when we consider the unforgiving nature of self-defense. The lack of such fundamental knowledge is the same as never having been to martial arts school at all.
What I've discovered, on my own, is, if we don't train for real life scenarios, then real life will find us unprepared, and we could be in a worse situation than before we began training because of a false belief that our training would save us.

Real self-defense is more than learning a few escape techniques--although that does help. Real self-defense also encompasses attitude, awareness, physical fitness, optimism (this is huge), and training. Without addressing all of these particular concerns, we can not be said to be true martial artists--regardless of the belt one wears.
"Permission" is so important that I'm going to address it first.
There were several occasions in which a parent of a student (we're still talking about martial arts here) would complain that their child was in a school-yard altercation and came out on the losing end. The essence of the query always went something like this, "Mr. Teacher, my son is a ranking student in your school; he does so well in your class, and he can hold his own against almost everyone in the class, how come he got beat-up at school?" To which the teacher would reply (again paraphrasing), "Well, I don't know, he does so well when he's here that you would think that it would be natural for him to win in the school yard--I just don't know."
At this time both the parent and the instructor are asking the child what went wrong, but the child can not articulate an answer and only shrugs.
The answer, dear friends, is that neither the teacher nor the parent have given the youngster "permission" to defend himself. There had never been a conversation where either the teacher or the parent said, "it's o.k. for you to defend yourself when you have to, just don't be the one who starts it, and don't be a bully. I would rather go to the school office and deal with a detention or suspension than go to the emergency room of a hospital because you let someone beat you up." Not too difficult, is it?
This is a huge part of martial arts, and it is so often overlooked that it becomes a danger to the student. It is possible to develop a sense of confidence that may lead to an exacerbated situation. Where at another (untrained) time the student may have attempted deescalation, he now may puff-out his chest and stand his ground. But, if he is not ready to commit himself to win, he may get hurt and wonder why.
The solution is rather simple: As a teacher, I can teach techniques and say, "You have my permission to defend yourself, if you have to; you don't need to let other people hurt you. I also want you to talk to your mom or dad or both about what they think you should do in the event of a self-defense problem." It is beneficial to have a parent there when you give this speech, so that the parent can hear what you say and the context in which it was said. Encourage the parent/child dialogue; make it a type of homework assignment.
Both the parent and the child will benefit from the peace of mind afforded from that lesson; the child will know when it's o.k. to defend, and the parent will know that the child now has a better chance to protect himself--the very reason he entered in to martial arts training in the first place.