Article 1 of 4
The attentive reader who has read the article "New age, Budo and change processes" found that people's external reference points were described and clarified, but people's internal reference points were only less openly presented and described. There is of course a reason for this, which this subsequent article will touch upon and philosophize about.
I allow myself to draw on the previous article's description of what reference points can be:
"Reference points are one of the most important things in a person's life, life and upbringing. The external reference points can create an internal growth or the opposite. They have a great and lasting influence on the individual person. The entrance to influence from reference points is a basic trust. If this trust is broken, this negatively creates a wound, but positively – an experience and lesson in life. Trust is something that is built at different depths. The greater the trust, the greater the influence. The less trust, the less influence. Influence can also be imposed through the use of force. These are negative reference points.
You have probably already guessed what a reference point can be. It can be parents, siblings, grandparents, school teachers, close friends, the sports coach, religious preachers, Yogis, mentors, the boss, colleagues, the dictator etc.
Each person naturally "tailors" their "collection" of reference points throughout life according to life cycle, personality and needs.
In the Jokokan organization, in each local Jokokan school with volunteer members, the main point of reference is; the democratically elected federation and association management, and the head instructor with the school's other instructors as important reference points"
China once called itself the "Middle Kingdom". European scientists, scholars and preachers of religion determined in the Middle Ages that the earth was flat like a pancake with Europe as the center of that pancake. Many other countries and peoples all over our earth, at one point or another in their history, have had similar cases of misunderstandings as the two previous ones described. Today we can laugh at them, but back then it could cost you your life to challenge these dictated "facts" with a smile. Then as for some still, it was the seriousness of death.
We can laugh about it today because we know better. But why do we know better?. Because all people possess a curiosity for the unknown and to test whether the known is now also true. All of history has proven that a few people, through their curiosity for the unknown, can change the course of history and change people's perception of the existing, only through discoveries, thoughts, words and actions. “We have so much to thank so few for”…
But back then - thinking differently than the norm for law, thinking and communication set by those in power could cost you your life. If you broke these very fixed frameworks, you were either sentenced to death, burned at the stake or exiled, if you were a man or woman of a certain weight or influence. But were it not for these men or women who, with their innate curiosity, awakened, the framework of society's norms for progress and development in laws, thinking and communication would not have happened.
They initiated societal change processes through the initiation and spread of change processes in the individual person - by breaking society's oppressive and limiting frameworks for thinking, freedom and the true connections in the world of reality. It was mostly harmless until energetic and ambitious people in power turned thoughts into action, through the use of force and revolutions of a more or less peaceful or warlike nature in many different areas, and often with more or less valid arguments and interests behind them.
Article 2 of 4
After all, we all know that our history is full of wars, vileness and abuse of highly respected ideals and names. We also know today that modern history and the present constantly provide taste tests that the persona non grata of dictatorships and autocracies are "the intellectuals" who can pose a fatal threat to them if the forbidden thoughts are translated into actual action through inciting and rallying the masses for revolution, counter-attack or peaceful seizure of power.
History bears rich testimony to this. We saw it with the rise of liberalism after the Napoleonic wars, the upheavals in Europe in the mid-18th century, the costly Russian and Chinese revolutions, and the bloody wars in Africa, the Balkans and Arabia.
Some of you might claim that history also contains times and philosophers who were not exiled, burned or killed by those in power whose path and interests they crossed one too many times. What about the Romantic Age of Enlightenment in the 18th and 19th centuries?, where Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and Pestalozzi set lasting processes of social change in motion with their public enlightenment works on religious tolerance, freedom of the press, protection of citizens' rights and, not least, independent thinking and tolerance between people and states.
The American War of Independence, the French Revolution and enlightened despotism can be attributed in whole or in part to the Age of Enlightenment and the then "cross-border" thoughts of these philosophies.
Yes it's true. They were not killed, but were most often honored and revered by their countrymen and the royal house. But why didn't they become this?. Answer: Because they served to a greater extent the interests of the ruling royal house and its government. They undermined the power of the church and its influential men vis-à-vis the masses, but never questioned God as the creator and the idea of enlightened despotism as a form of government, since the social reforms had to come from the head of the state, not by revolution or popular rule.
There was thus a great deal of agreement between philosophers, currents in society and those in power - they had common interests for a long way. It is obvious to consider whether this is really that much different from today, if we think in modern terms and paths? Primary school, high school, university? In the workplace? In leisure time and the interaction between people?. But what is the difference then – the crucial lesson?
Article 3 of 4
The external reference points had to be maintained, and all societal change had to take place within the ever-broader framework that came from the growing demands of the population, who were constantly becoming more and more enlightened by the freer and more effective information and communication flows. The thought has probably already crossed many people's minds now; before people had to fight for information and communication, now there is a true abundance of it.
Today, all the free information and communication can create confusion and a lack of overview. We have today what people have fought for for centuries.
Business leaders, politicians and other notables say that it has become more difficult to make decisions and thus also take responsibility for wrong decisions in particular. Many people say the same, and that life has therefore become so complicated by the lack of overview and growing demands.
The massive and genderless flow of information and communication has today become one of the most important new external reference points that modern man has acquired.
But the problem is that this massive abundance of external reference points helps to create confusion and a lack of overview for today's people. People become rootless and unhappy.
Therefore, most people choose to go with the flow, protect their vulnerable inner self and interests, "to buy time, so that you can find the solution to all your problems when there is better time and peace". One day leads to another, and although man is really accepted and respected by the external reference points as a greater or lesser success, more and more people become real unhappy and searching. When these people build their outer shield and protection of their inner vulnerable and searching inner through the outer "keeping up the appearance", inevitably one day the self-blaming questions come; “Well, you have everything! Why are you just so unhappy… you are an ungrateful piece of shit!”.
Together with the lack of overview, the ability to prioritize becomes correspondingly worse, and thus also the feeling of control and management of one's own life. This can then lead to people becoming more and more afraid of missing something or losing something they will later regret, "when you get the overview and control back again". People have enough in themselves, and can permanently or periodically become ill, physically, emotionally or mentally from such conditions. It is not healthy.
Why is this the case when we can all nod in recognition to this!..
The answer may be because the internal reference points do not harmonize with the external reference points. There is a mismatch and they can go either way.
Aha! If someone says so, I thought you were going across the field away from your focus, but now I can start to see the connection to the first article "Today's prehistory, influence and thoughts on Martial arts and martial arts" because with the increasing complexity, telecommunications , transport routes in this ever smaller world, the more and more offers arose in the wake of these new rootless needs, which could offer an unhappy person again, to put down roots and find inner peace again. The ring has now been closed.
Article 4 of 4
To quote from the previous article:
“Flower power evolved into the new age, and the number of books, TV and movies exploded on topics such as self-realization to find one's divine self. The unstructured was put into a system when the need and demand proved to be still growing.
What began as an unstructured movement and enclaves around our globe developed into a multibillion dollar industry, where the product was essentially a missing "how-to-do-step-by-step" methodology of an extract of the most important core messages from the old and well-established religions and teachers.”
You have now also guessed what I mean by internal reference points; it is the inexplicable inner creative, imaginative and extremely living soul voice within you, which goes beyond the normal structured logical, trained and shaped thinking ability, and which constantly provokes and moves your boundaries, the normally accepted norms and better practices within you as outer life, in your fellow man's and society's life.
The inner reference points are the pieces of your inner puzzle, painstakingly collected through life experiences and wisdom.
One day the puzzle is complete and a crystal clear picture emerges; the image of your true self… you have come to know yourself. The interaction between your internal "inexplicable" reference points and your chosen external reference points helps to reshape life, living and development; to find yourself and your inner as outer happiness. The calm, inner silence, rootedness, the holistic overview and deep inner bliss of realization, which goes beyond the usual accepted boundaries and norms. The indescribable condition.
This explanation has just also described the difference and the similarity between martial arts and martial arts, - and it never ends.
The last article of the article series of three on "New age, Budo and change processes" concluded with "The individual's background, influence and thoughts on martial arts and martial arts"
