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Introduction ~Finished - Till Editing is Complete~  

LoyaltyandHonor 42M/38F
2451 posts
9/23/2005 7:49 am

Last Read:
3/5/2006 9:27 pm

Introduction ~Finished - Till Editing is Complete~

I wanted this to remain between 4 to 6 pages and right now it is just over 5. I promised the person I have editing this I would have the introduction and chapter one completed by the end of next week so that he can work on it while I work on chapter two. There are some minor additions and subtractions that have to be made but for the most part it gets a solid point across in an educated manner that not many could dispute very easily. If I have missed something important then by all means let me know. Once I have the final version done I will post some of it so that people can see it. Of course I will not be posting my full versions as I do not want anyone copying it or trying to quote it. If they quoted partial versions or tried to steal them from me then I still have the complete originals that they do not posses and that is enough to prove that it is my work and not anyone else’s.

In the meantime, if anyone is looking for some rather interesting reading I would obviously suggest the titles mentioned here.


Introduction

It is said that what is called “the spirit of an age” is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world’s coming to an end. In the same way, a single year does not have just spring or summer. A single day, too, is the same.

For this reason, although one would like to change today’s world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. This is the mistake of people who are attached to past generations. They have no understanding of this point.

On the other hand, people who only know the disposition of the present day and dislike the ways of the past are to lax.
‒ P. 68-69 Hagakure

The only way to see into the future is by looking into the past. One can not know where they are going if they do not know where they have been. This applies to both society in general and us in an individual sense. While we must live in the present time, we must remember all previous times as well or we will just inadvertently keep repeating events over and over again.

In today’s world there are many whom believe that they know everything that there is to know. One of the best examples of this probably comes from our modern sex therapists. By looking at the world famous Kamasutra we see that today, the more recent publications such as, Kama Sutra for 21st Century Lovers by: Anne Hooper, Sextasy by: Caroline Aldred and The Bedside Kama Sutra by: Linda Sonntag, we see that this 2,000 year old Indian love text is seen by Americans and Europeans as purely a sexuality guide. By comparing these books to The Complete Illustrated Kama Sutra by: Lance Dane or The Complete Kama Sutra by: Alain Danielou, we find that the translations offered by the previous authors are totally different.

Alain Danielou and Lance Dane see the Kamasutra as a life and relationships manual where as Anne Hooper, Caroline Aldred and Linda Sonntag only see it as a sexuality manual. The reason that these authors all seem to have a drastically different opinion is because they all vary on degrees of education. Anne Hooper for instance, is a sex therapist. Alain Danielou is a Hindu (Indian) scholar of which studies various aspects of Hindu culture aside from just the sexual aspects. Alain obviously knows far more about the Hindu people then Anne Hooper does and therefore Alain was able to offer a very deep and detailed translation of the Kamasutra where as Anne was only able to offer a very weak and purely sexual translation.

There is another passage from the Hagakure that would have done Anne, Caroline and Linda well if they had taken the time to read and study it…

The Buddhist priest Ryozan wrote down some generalities concerning Takanobu’s battles. A certain priest saw this and criticized him, saying, “It is inappropriate for a priest to write about a military commander. No matter how successful his writing style may be, since he is not acquainted with military things, he is liable to be mistaken in understanding a famous general’s mind. It is irreverent to pass on misconceptions concerning a famous general to later generations.” ‒ P. 140

What has happened to our modern sex therapists is exactly what this priest is warning against, teaching about something they know nothing about. While Anne Hooper feels that she knows nearly everything there is to know about sex because of her status as “the world’s best-selling sex therapist,” it would have done her some good to take more time in studying different cultural beliefs and translations of the Kamasutra before writing her books on it. Not only is it important to know our own feelings and beliefs but it is very important to know the feelings and beliefs of others as well. We all exist in this world together regardless of if we like that fact or not and as such we must all respect one another as best we can. By Anne, Caroline and Linda writing translations without deeply studying them, they have done nothing but seriously insult the Indian culture and create larger problems within how lustful and promiscuous people are.

Regardless of our educational background, learning does not ever stop. Whether or not you have a highschool diploma, GED, Associates, Bachelors, or even your Master’s degree in something, you must continue to study because there is always more to learn.

It is not good to settle into a set of opinions. It is a mistake to put forth effort and obtain some understanding and then stop at that. At first putting forth great effort to be sure that you have grasped the basics, then practicing so that they may come to fruition is something that will never stop your whole lifetime. Do not rely on following the degree of understanding that you have discovered, but simply think, “That is not enough.”

One should search throughout his whole life how best to follow the way. And he should study, setting his mind to work without putting things off. Within this is the way.
‒ P. 31 Hagakure

There are many who know the way and there are many who do not know the way. Regardless of whether they do or do not know the way there are great deals of men who try to act as if they do so that they can get involved with women.

If we look at our United States military we can see different types of soldiers. Some of the soldiers only serve to that they can fly fast airplanes, shoot powerful guns, or blow things up. There are other men who truly believe in serving their country and protecting those who can not protect themselves.

The men who fight because they want to defend those who can not defend themselves are the true knights and the ones who only serve so they can shoot guns, blow things up, or fly fast airplanes are not real knights. Just because they both wear a uniform does not make them a knight. A knight is defined by who and what he I on both the inside and the outside and not just the inside.

Some more of the world’s larger problems right now revolve around violence on every street corner, greed, lustful actions, and as stated above, a lack of education. Thousands of men and women all over the world are trying to figure out how to solve these issues and what they do not realize is that there are answers that already exist and have existed for thousands of years.

Violence comes from people always wanting more regardless of what they already have and those who do possess it also want more and therefore most certainly would not desire to give up what they already own. If it is not for this reason, it is normally out of fear or hate of different beliefs and races. Since we as people know so little of how other cultures truly function, we fear them upon encountering them.

As if the amount of greed and hate that exists in this world is not enough, it is now easier to obtain a weapon in the 21st century than it ever has been before during the centuries past. Sure we have laws that do not allow murder, but laws are rules and many feel rules are just meant to be broken. Many people who use weapons do not know the true mentality that should be used with them and therefore that means they lack discipline and another form of education. The best example of how and why to use a weapon comes from chapter 31 of Stephen Mitchell’s 1988 translation of the Tao Te Ching.

Weapons are the tools of violence;
All decent men detest them.

Weapons are the tools of fear;
A decent man will avoid them
Except in the direst of necessity
And, if compelled, will use them
Only with the utmost restraint.
Peace is the highest value.
If the peace has been shattered,
How can he be content?
His enemies are not demons,
But human beings like himself.
He doesn’t wish them personal harm.
Nor does he rejoice in victory
And delight in the slaughter of men?

He enters a battle gravely,
With sorrow and with great compassion,
As if he were attending a funeral.


Furthermore, with the way that modern sex therapists write about sex, it is no wonder that there are so many sexually transmitted diseases spreading across the world and single parents raising . There is no one to guide the youth of this world and the few that actually do try and offer guidance often do it by merely setting a bunch of rules and offering no explanation as to why those rules are in place. Just as with the rules we have against violence and people breaking them, they also break the rules and guidelines when it comes to sex and relationships.

With all the lawlessness that we have in the world today, all we can do is look into the past. By looking into the ancient teachings, perhaps we can find a way to understand and fix many of the current problems that plague us all individually and socially on a daily basis.

For a long time now I have studied numerous translations of Bushido, Chivalry, Kamasutra, Tantra, and various religions. I have done my best to sort out the meaningful translations with the corrupt propaganda that gets written in abundance today. Using a mixture of Quotes from Stephen Mitchell’s 1988 translation of the Tao Te Ching, William Scott Wilson’s 1979, 2002 translation of the Hagakure, Lance Danes 2003 The Complete Illustrated Kama Sutra, and Alain Danielou’s 1994 The Complete Kama Sutra, we shall begin to study a new form of knighthood. A study that will address both manners in a social sense and in a sexual sense, thus hopefully it will help people to see the meanings of traditions that have become lost to this modern world. The object is not to worship the past but merely understand it and how some of the older traditions are still useful to us today.

While the principles of this book are for men it is a solid source for a woman to learn the proper ideals of knighthood as well so that in the future she can notice rather quickly if a man is trying to lie to her or not.

We all read and understand things differently; therefore I have included full quotes from these texts and several others so that you may fully understand the writings. There was an incident previously on a website that I write a blog at where a woman there quoted half of a sentence I posted. By law this is legal to do however, the particular sentence that she quoted was a controversial one and by only quoting half of what I said it totally changed the meaning of what I had actually intended. I do not agree with such a thing, I believe that if you are going to quote someone specific or something that another has written then it should be done 100%.

The biggest reason I have chosen these editions is because their writings offer an endless possibility of meanings. Since others may not see what I see and feel what I feel, you may study my teachings with theirs or mine alone and even theirs alone. Regardless of what way you decide to read and think about this text, there is plenty to think about and learn.

One thing I have noticed from studying the books that I have is that many of them constantly repeat themselves. Given the fact that so many older teachings have so many different levels it makes them apply to numerous subjects. When reading many of the translations you will often end up reading virtually identical texts throughout the entire books but written under different subjects.

I have found it to be a major problem and thus I have done my best to reduce the amount of repeating that normally takes place. While some things may in fact repeat themselves I have gone through and made sure that none of the examples are the same so that everything will still remain new. If any subjects can apply to a previously discussed section then I have noted it within the section or at the end of the section so that you may go back later and read a portion over if you so desire.


LoyaltyandHonor 42M/38F
1240 posts
9/30/2005 11:47 am

In some ways you are right...

But much of the Japanese and European writings I have read are actually written backwards from what I was taught in the American schools.


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