The First Lesson in the Martial Arts

I was teaching today,
first time in a long time,
first time since I went through the shoulder injury,
and operation and rehab,
and,
man, it felt good.
Back in the saddle again.
Thanks, Nick.

And,
I was reminded of one of the first things
I ever tell people.
Sort of important,
because I get emails from people
who ask about spirituality.
So here is the basic lesson,
usually the first lesson,
I teach people,
and it is about spirituality.

Invariably,
people will think they made a mistake,
they will usually even apologize.
I say,
‘What?’
They say,
‘I’m sorry.’
I ask, ‘For what?’

Here’s the point,
The student never makes a mistake.
He makes decisions based on the data he has.
If he comes up with an answer that doesn’t fit
he isn’t wrong.
He just needs to go over the material some more.

And here is the lesson…

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS RIGHT AND WRONG!

There is right,
and there is almost right,
not quite right,
and so on,
but there is no wrong.

The problem is that people have grown up in a society
where people make other people right or wrong.
You ran the red light!
YOU’RE WRONG!
You get a ticket.

Well, actually,
you ran the red light based on certain data.
The data might have been off,
but it doesn’t make you wrong.

It makes you the ‘victim’ of a government
that exists through the action
of making people right or wrong.

Some guy slaps his kid.
He’s not wrong,
he was raised by being slapped,
it is the viewpoint he has accepted.

Now,
we know what is wrong here,
running a red light or slapping a kid,
it is easier to say somebody is wrong,
than to understand them.

The government thinks that penalizing you
will make you more aware.
But hitting people doesn’t make them smarter.
Quite the opposite.

So here is the point:
do you want to be a spiritual person?
Then make people right.
Give up,
totally,
the idea of wrong.

Teach a kid,
show a worker the correct way,
share a good time,
make people right.

Not wrong.

This is an old concept.

Ever heard of:
Do unto others…?

This is because the universe is basically
a mirror for ourselves.

As you do,
so shall ye reap.

If you make somebody wrong,
then you are wrong.

If you make somebody right,
then you are right.

So,
which do you want to be?
What kind of universe do you want to live in?

And this is,
invariably,
the first lesson I teach.

some people get it quick.
Some slow.
But if I keep saying it,
then it works.
Students get better.
Students become better teachers.
And everybody becomes more spiritual.
More aware.
More…understanding.