Erasmus' 22 Principles

Desiderius Erasmus was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, monk, and theologian born in Rotterdam in 1466. He was committed to his work and held strong to doctrines such as free will. In the year 1492, poverty forced Erasmus to become a monk, and although he was offered many positions of honor and profit through the academic world, Erasmus declined them all, much rather wanting to stick with the sufficient, though uncertain, rewards of independent literary activity. Many great works were sold by Erasmus, including a certain Enchiridion militis Christiani, which is one of his most influential works. The title means "Handbook of the Christian Knight (or Soldier)." In it are values to follow and principles to help the mending of your evil, or wrong, ways. Generally speaking, a literary work on how to improve your life. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, whom I mentioned in a previous post of 2009, has a collection of twenty-two virtues from this short work in his astounding book, On Combat. Here are the twenty-two principles on how to be strong while remaining virtuous in a dangerous world:

Increase Your Faith

Even if the entire world appears mad.

Act Upon Your Faith

Even if you must undergo the loss of everything.

Analyze Your Fears

You will find that things are not as bad as they appear.

Make Virtue The Only Goal Of Your Life Dedicate all your enthusiasm, all your effort, your leisure, as well as your business.

Turn Away from Material Things

If you are greatly concerned with money you will be weak of spirit.

Train Your Mind To Distinguish Good And Evil

Let your rule of government be determined by the common good.

Never Let Any Setback Stop You In Your Quest

We are not perfect--this only means we should try harder.

If You Have Frequent Temptations, Do Not Worry

Begin to worry when you do not have temptation, because that is a sure sign that you cannot distinguish good from evil.

Always Be Prepared for an Attack

Careful generals set guards even in times of peace.

Spit, As It Were, In The Face Of Danger Keep a stirring quotation with you for encouragement.

There Are Two Dangers: One Is Giving Up, The Other Is Pride

After you have performed some worthy task, give all the credit to someone else.

Turn Your Weakness Into Virtue

If you are inclined to be selfish, make a deliberate effort to be giving.

Treat Each Battle As Though It Were Your Last

And you will finish, in the end, victorious!

Don't Assume That Doing Good Allows You To Keep A Few Vices.

The enemy you ignore the most is the one who conquers you.

Weigh Your Alternatives Carefully

The wrong way will often seem easier than the right way.

Never Admit Defeat Even If You Have Been Wounded

The good soldier's painful wounds spur him to gather his strength.

Always Have A Plan Of Action

So when the time comes for battle, you will know what to do.

Calm Your Passions By Seeing How Little There Is To Gain

We often worry and scheme about trifling matters of no real importance.

Speak With Yourself This Way:

If I do what I am considering, would I want my family to know about it?

Virtue Has Its Own Reward

Once a person has it, they would not exchange it for anything.

Life Can Be Sad, Difficult, And Quick: Make It Count For Something!

Since we do not know when death will come, act honorably everyday.

Repent Your Wrongs Those who do not admit their faults have the most to fear.

Feeling is Believing

When we, as human beings, are met with certain situations we get goosebumps and our gut feeling, our intuition, lets us know how our minds feel about the situation at hand. It can be a street we feel edgy about walking through, or a place we enjoy so much it lightens our mood. That gut feeling is instinct, and our instinct can be either a bad vibe or a good feeling. Perhaps one day you meet a person and just by shaking their hand or talking with them for a moment you feel comfortable and possibly even cheerful by their presence. Granted, it may be so because you are having a nice day, but that is not always the case. That person can be emitting a good vibe that you walked into and are now a part of. Or is it you who created the vibe because your mind or body told you that this person is not a threat, or they have good intentions toward you upon a first impression?

Vibes can be felt in a specific atmosphere or with a group of certain people, like your intuition when you feel a certain area of town is not too safe or when a person's energy feels "off" and you get a bad vibe from them. You don’t see them but they are there. You feel them. Perception of an atmosphere and energy that a person perceives from another is sometimes referred to as an aura. You can feel or sense a person’s aura when they walk by or look you in the eyes, or when two individuals conduct intimacy (energy given off with actions like touching, hugging, and kissing are originally stronger than usual). Again, we don’t see these energies, these auras, but we feel them. They are all around us.

So next time you travel outside your front door, try to concentrate on the energies around you, feel the vibrations of the person sitting next to you on a subway, standing near you in a bookstore or standing in front of you in line at a supermarket. Sense the energy from a place in which you feel nostalgic. You can’t see it but you never thought about it before. Now do you feel it?

Referring back to intuition, it is defined as a “direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.” What if that is what enlightenment feels like, or how the Creator wanted us to live originally?

Comprehension

When I was reading one of my few books one day, about two weeks ago, I was hit with this wild epiphany. I may sound crazy, like a lunatic, but I'm not. I'm weird but I'm not crazy! Now, I am more spiritual than religious, and you may be whatever you may be or believe, but for argument's sake, let's be on the same page here and bring in the bible. Adam and Eve in the beginning were blissful, had no sense of right and wrong, good or evil. They had unlimited knowledge without the certain inhibitions; until they ate the forbidden fruit and they became awakened to right and wrong, good and bad. Then they felt shame and embarrassment for their being naked. Then God kicked them out of the garden. Well, check this out.

It is a Buddhist belief that before we were born into these physical, temporary shell bodies, we were once a part of the vast ocean in the universe. We were a drop in that ocean of comfort, warmth, truth, and unlimited wealth of knowledge. Now, in these bodies, we strive for enlightenment (at least many spiritual people do), or at least a better understanding of everything, and we meditate and meditate and contemplate the workings of people and the universe, we contemplate everything, just to be awakened to the bigger picture. We meditate to be enlightened or awakened...that enlightenment that the Buddha and the Dalai Lama and many other masters like Vernon Kitabu Turner and O Sensei Morehei Ueshiba (the founder of Aikido) have acquired is that original, unadulterated wealth of knowledge we used to have, before we left that ocean, before Adam and Eve ate from that fruit....we meditate to once again be apart of that mind, to find that truth of the universe! We meditate to be awakened to that state we were supposed to be in. When Adam and Eve bit from the fruit, and once we grow to a reasonable age, they (and we) analyze(d) things, think of everything and try to solve everything and piece together everything through Logic, through Reasoning, but we were never supposed to in the first place. Because in the universe, in our vast ocean of warmth, comfort, truth.....there was no need for reasoning and logic; it just WAS. JUST LIKE what Buddhism TEACHES: IT JUST IS!

We started rationalizing in the first place because when many of us reach a certain age, we get curious about everything; we start researching, conversing with people, traveling, reading, watching, learning ALL we can to better understand this world and our purpose for existing. It's like something or someone WANTS us to learn, see how far we can get on our own. Why would we all be here on earth if we were all happy and content and comfortable and knew the truth already? Why would earth and humans and animals exist? What IS our purpose? Some may say it's to be tested in this life, and that may be true. Or it can be something deeper. It's up to you to interpret.

"Life isn't about finding yourself; it's about creating yourself."

Transition

It has been too long since I updated this blog, but that's because I've been uber busy with creating a new chapter in my life; last year I enlisted in the Army and from January-March I was in Basic Combat Training, then from April-August I was in Advanced Individual Training (AIT) learning my Army job.
I love it; from one type of warrior to another, the transition from martial artist to a Soldier was intense and eye-opening. I had loads of fun camping, shooting at targets from different positions, throwing live M67 fragmentation grenades, and creating the inevitable camaraderie with your "battle buddies" as you all train, laugh, cry, sweat, sleep, eat, and congratulate together for 3 months. Upon graduating BCT, you go on to AIT to learn the specialty you signed up for. One important trait which was increased greatly by classes and field training was Situational Awareness (SA): being aware of your surroundings, having a strict attention to detail while instantly evaluating the variables in your surrounding to best combat a potential threat. The meticulous attention to details on such a minute scale which would not even be acknowledged by the average person, is an incredible degree of observation. Too many people take their sight for granted just like the rest of their senses. This, among other skills, greatly increases one's survival.

One bit of BCT I found somewhat darkly humorous, was back in 2004 when I was in a class to acquire my hunting license qualification, the instructor told us that you never call a firearm a "weapon" unless it's used against another human being. Now fast forward to a class given by my Drill Sergeant in 2009, he informed us that you never call a firearm a "gun," it's either labeled a rifle (if you have such) or---a weapon. And in the military, there is a strong possibility you may have to answer the call to arms and defend yourself and your fellow Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, or Marines by shooting back and killing the opposing force. So this "firearm" has just become aptly named a weapon. Thank you classroom instructor guy, and thank you too Drill Sergeant!

Hooah.

The Way

"The real Way of the Warrior is based on compassion, wisdom, fearlessness, and love of nature." This world is full of people that take many things for granted. The clothes they wear, the food they eat, the job they have, the people in their lives, the roof over their heads.....the senses they don't truly appreciate, or are naive to fully embracing. They believe these things will always be there. Those people live in complacency and ignorance; "Everything's going to be okay, I have absolutely no reason to worry," "Another day, another dollar, same s***, different day," and "Nothing's going to happen to me, there are billions of other people in this world." This type of thinking could do us in (a Chevelle album reference by the way). Every day is not the same. Anything can happen on the way to work or school; a store can be robbed, a man stabbed, a woman raped. One minute you can be excited about the day, but the next you can have your day shot down by discovering something was stolen from your car or witness your apartment building on fire, or you suddenly have a medical emergency. Random, but not impossible.

As the days go on, more and more I grow accustomed to living outside of complacency. I truly cherish what I have, and who I have. Materialistic items stolen can be bought again (even though it may have been an important gift, or something of a limited number) but people cannot. Once they are gone, there is no bringing them back. Waking up today, I went outside after a good breakfast and the weather was beautiful. The air held a bit of a haze as the sun shone through the trees in the backyard and birds chirped while leaves blew in the satisfying breeze. I inhaled a lungful of air through my nose, held it, then exhaled through my mouth as the breeze picked up slightly. While I was hanging my clothes to dry, I was enlightened to a new feeling, discovering that this is what it is like to live with Bushido....beauty in every breath. With no job all I can do for finances is sell things on ebay, get paid to do chores and maintain the yard and garden. Is this how a noble Samurai lived back in the feudal age? Is this how he felt, to measure life by every breath and practice a ritualistic chore of being? Every single day, wake up, get ready for the day, eat, do chores, read, meditate, train, write, eat, (not necessarily in that order) then turn in and do it all again the next, grateful for the gift of life and ready to die at any moment? If that's how a warrior felt and lived by that great feeling, then I believe I have acquired that awareness on my path to enlightenment and my goals in life. It's just a shame more people can't experience this....because this realization is very pleasing.

"To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order. To put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order. To put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; in order to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right." -Confucius

"Do not look upon this world with fear and loathing. Bravely face whatever the gods offer."

"Unification of body and spirit through the Art of Peace is an exalted state, so high and pleasant that it brings tears of joy to your eyes." -Morihei Ueshiba

Tides of Breathing II

In each inhalation and each exhalation there are countless instants of time. Your intention is to live in each instant, in each moment.

A meeting of two warriors

Sometime in May I was walking around the mall with a couple of friends, when I went into a Gamestop to check out the new games and look through the newest Game Informer. I was browsing the XBOX 360 section of games, when I looked up and came face to face with a living legend: Anderson Silva, the best pound-for-pound UFC fighter in the world right now! I don't usually get starstruck, but this guy was a favorite of mine in the sport for a long time, and although I held dry hopes of meeting him someday, I never thought I'd be standing right in front of him in a video game store, of all places! So as soon as I said hi to him, I turned around and grabbed my friend by the shirt and whispered to him, "It's ANDERSON SILVA! He's here." I asked the cashier for a pen and paper, and I confronted Silva again and asked him for an autograph, and he delightfully accepted. I told him it was an honor to meet him and the renowned Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor played it down like he didn't deserve to be praised so well. After the autograph I asked if we could get a picture and he didn't mind that either. Upon finishing the shot, I bowed to him and he bowed in return.
For being such an excellent veteran fighter, he was definitely a humble individual, and that I have great respect for. He's also a lot bigger in person than I expected! Then I later discovered he moved up in a weight class for his future fight with Forrest Griffin.



I posted Silva's autograph in the photo as well. Great guy.

The meaning of the bow

"Traditionally, bowing is the first thing you do when you enter a dojo and the last thing you do before you leave. It is a reminder that you come and go in peace. Bowing is a form of respect used in the martial arts, as well as throughout Asia. In a dojo the act of bowing is considered proper etiquette, equivalent to a handshake in Western cultures. In sparring the gesture sets an atmosphere of good sportsmanship, trust, and safety--implying that no one is there to hurt anyone else.
There is hidden meaning to the bow--it is recognition of the Divine in another person. This notion is literal. Within each person and everything in our universe is a portion of Divine energy. This may sound blasphemous, but traditional martial arts teaches you to bow to another person because you see the Divinity in that person, because you are both directly connected to the Infinite and thus to each other. The study of martial concepts is a way to unlock this amazing power and to discover what can be done with it.
Another hidden concept of the bow is the praying hands--where you position your palms to face each other and hold them together as if praying. The gesture is an ancient sign of humility and respect that is often combined with a bow as a greeting. Symbolically, the right hand represents the spiritual self. It reminds you that life is a composite of both body and spirit, and your mind is the pathway between the two. Ceremonially, martial artists form the right hand into a fist and cover it with the left. This represents your partnership to everything in the universe. It also signifies that you can always be entirely who you are, physically, mentally, and spiritually, and still be part of something bigger--what many call the Infinite or God. It marks your agreement with the world to be authentic at all times and to heighten joy. All life is physical and spiritual. Agree to honor both in everyone and everything."

I got that passage out of a martial arts philosophy book. Very profound definition of the bow.