Hedonism
This is something of an anti-thesis in relation to our recent post on eating bitter.
If we are going to reveal a lack of inclination towards austerity, then it is important to carry out a bit of due diligence and introspection to establish whether our approach is perhaps too hedonistic. And if you even can have too much of a good thing.
We have been reflecting somewhat recently on what we will do when we get where we want to be in terms of the school and this online business. What do you do when you have achieved your goals; do you celebrate, do you carry on in some kind of anti-climatic fashion? It is comparable to people’s idea of life post-enlightenment (as in your personal enlightenment not ‘the age of’). It is often a poorly received bit of news or lived realisation that after an enlightenment level event, all of the same nonsense you dealt with before both externally and internally will still be there, it may even be somewhat amplified. Because an ELE is far from some kind of finishing line, it is just the start. Not unlike the well worn adage applied to martial arts training in that only once you earn your black belt do you really start to learn. We don’t have any kind of belt system in our school, read in to that what you will.
Back to hedonism. Actually no, another tangent, this time in to commercialism. Commercialism is often seen incredibly negatively. For example, we have heard many parents say they wouldn’t take their children to Disneyland because it’s too commercial. They are obviously concerned about a negative impact this may have on the child. I’m not sure the child would see beyond the magic of it. That’s true for many adults too but you can’t get away from the fact it’s bloody expensive! We follow all sorts of random accounts online relating to various fandoms, a good example would be the ‘Potterheads’ who love all things Harry Potter. A bit of a route one example from a school that supposedly teaches “authentic” magic but bear with us. These people often attend sites where filming took place, themed experiences or accomodation, and often themed stores which are absolutely stunning but ultimately an exercise in getting to hear the velcro on your wallet come apart. Yes that was yet another velcro wallet reference :-) The fact is though these people are truly actually having a magical and uplifting experience.
On the flip side we were watching a video from a kung fu retreat in Asia, although all of the students appeared to be Western. They were sat around having a lecture and drinking green tea. These people had clearly been drawn to this experience because it really did look like something out of a kung fu movie. It was hard though not to have a little chuckle as you could see some of the participants really struggle to keep their eyes open as they were lectured to. And we frankly laughed out loud as this prized local tea when sipped seemed to produce the same face on everybody. A face that said gosh this is bitter, get me to Starbucks!
So is our approach to training too comfort focused and perhaps too much an operation of the imagination. Couldn’t possibly tell you, because like any good exercise in hedonism, if you can remember it….you weren’t there man!
Train hard and be happy!