Edmund Burke said, “Evil prevails when good men do nothing.”
In the life lived, I get that the world isn’t black and white, nor good and evil. This is the Yin and Yang world: The balance of lightness and darkness. I continually regain that balance. Just saying.
Aikido Founder O-Sensei said, “True victory is victory over oneself.” I’m my GOAT (Greatest of All-Time) opponent: I overcome myself, not others. In Aikido, I apply the technique to myself. The external opponent can be bigger, stronger, and faster. Still, I work on myself.
When the bigger, stronger, faster man attacks, I invite the attack. I don’t defend against it. I match up the attack, in my attack. I enter the attack and die with honor. I enter what I fear. I get under my fear. I could win or lose.
We don’t reside in the classic superhero paradigm: Good will always defeat Evil. In my experience, good can be strong, and so can evil. True victory is regaining the balance of my own lightness and darkness within. It’s only me against myself.
For many years, I practiced O-Sensei’s principles. I work to overcome myself. Aikido isn’t about kicking ass or beating the shit out of others. Someone attacks. I match up with the attack, in my attack. I take the glancing blow, if I have to. The late Mizukami Sensei said, “It’s one time.”
In the bigger picture: No attack; no Aikido. The greater choice is not to attack. The greater choices not to impose harm upon another. Don’t impose evil.
In the martial arts, in Budo, I enter what I fear. I work on myself. In the moment of the attack, I choose whether to let the attack pass or end the attack. The attacker chooses whether to perpetuate the attack or to stand down. It’s a matter of choice.
I just train. I really don’t have anything to do with what goes on inside another person. I can only work on myself. I use my powers for good, not evil. I balance the darkness and lightness within me.
Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” In Aikido, I don’t aggress the aggression. I don’t even look at the aggressor, the attacker. I look at the world in front of me. I could lose because the aggressor is bigger, stronger, faster, more skilled. The aggressor could lose because he chose to attack, to impose harm, to impose evil. We both choose. It’s karma.
In the presence of good and evil, of lightness and darkness, I choose what to do, who I’m going to be. I enter what I fear. I take life’s glancing blows if I have to. I do what’s meaningful in the service of others and myself. O-Sensei said, “The way of the warrior is to give life to all things, to reconcile the world, and to foster the completion of everyone’s journey.”
There shall always be lightness and darkness, good and evil in the world. I try to do what’s meaningful in the service of humanity, for the greater good. I just train. I make a difference wherever possible.
In the bigger picture, I practice love, forgiveness, and mercy for others and for myself. That’s what we all can do. That’s how we all can make a difference in the balance of good and evil. Just saying.
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