Only you can understand Budo
Feb 18, 2021
四拳 波羅蜜 大光明. Many things in Budo can be easily translated, others cannot. It's easy to google, or look at someone else's translation or even have a master brush it for a couple hundred bucks ... But this is just someone else's understanding, their reality.
Indeed, I rely on my colleagues who are smarter, my teachers who I trust deeply ... without them, I'd be lost.
But some things must be discovered. And in my observation, only the journey can get you there, not some explanation. No expensive book, old scroll, online course or retreat in the woods will give you this. You might think your Sensei is more legit than mine, I may think mine is more legit than yours. Meanwhile, it's all nonsense, ego fueled distractions from the true path.
At the end of the day you walk with yourself, your conscience speaks only to you. Have you truly done the work to 'get it'?
In order to discover the spirit of the art, you have to let go of expectations, vanity, insecurity. Stop thinking your better than someone else, your teacher is better, your belt is better, or your method is better ... It isn't. It's just you. And to grow beyond this, you must become vulnerable.
Easy paths give easy answers, and rigorous paths answer more difficult questions. The path you take is up to you. Whether you show up, that's up to you. But whatever path, just don't quit.
