nature

“If it isn't natural’ it isn't right.“

Every year, between 5,000 and 10,000 people are killed by animals worldwide. (It is estimated that about 30% of them are also eaten by those animals.) It is possible that those numbers are understated by 50%. A small percentage of those deaths are accidental, a few more are mistakes," but the remaining thousands are intentional killings. Most are predation (for food), but many are just killings. Every animal kills. Even the animals we think of as cute may be savage killers in their own way. This does not make them "bad." It is the natural way of survival for all things. Nature is not kind. Nature is not fair. The power of nature dwarfs anything man can achieve.

Above all these things though, budo is natural, it is important to study nature closely. Nature and what is natural are often equated with elegance and poise, an effortlessness that stems from control and discipline. But this is to confuse human constructs with what actually exists "out there. Nature can be very violent, rough, coarse, and in many cases, ruthless. It can also be warm, beautiful and breathtakingly peaceful. There is a profound beauty in this seemingly contradictory aspect of nature. Make no mistake about it; human beauty is a wonderful thing. But is it wrong to suggest that natural beauty is even greater? Every artist who has ever lived has envied "God's abilities with the brush.”

“An artist, under pain of oblivion’ must have
confidence in himself, and listen only to
his real master: Nature."—Renoir

Whatever it is, it always happens as it happens. Our thoughts, desires, concerns, and hopes can also be seen as natural. They too, occur. And yet, these naturally occurring emotions and impulses are the very same things that hold us back in our understanding of nature in budo and of budo in nature. Nature does not follow our rules and limitations. This is so important that it bears repeating: Nature does not follow our rules and limitations. Only we are bound by our rules and limitations. In nature, changes happen when changes happen and we have no say in the matter.

Like Canadian geese migrating south for the winter, you either move freely with natural changes or you die.

Learning budo in most dojos is like learning about animals in a zoo. You can watch them from a safe distance, study their habits and learn every academic thing about them. That is not the same as understanding nature. You are probably not actually in danger of being killed nor do you even feel any such fear. That is not natural. If you really wanted to understand nature, you'd have to spend a few months in the woods with the grizzly bears sniffing around your tent every night. If you survive, you may not find the zoo so charming anymore.

Real nature will tear you to pieces and eat you without warning or regret. So it is with real budo.

The monolith scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey often comes into my mind. I wonder, "What exactly did the monolith expect the monkeys to do?” Watching them smash bones into the dirt and on each other seems like such a vulgar, violent, ignorant sort of response. But my judgments are human judgments and do not apply to nature. They DO seem to enjoy it.

movement

Silence, in seeing
Stillness, in motion
Sound, resonating
For a time until,
Recollection.

There is a doorway at the bottom of a hill. There is no door, but it is dark inside, so most people do not enter. Animals often go inside to seek shelter from the snow: squirrels and skunks and porcupines. They see a door and they go through, a perfectly natural thing to do.

“Nature is infinite; both nothing and everything. In this way, it has unfathomable power.”

Change

Of itself, occurring,
Not caused, but accepting,
Change is breathy life living
Its breath, blood giving
Between one and the next.

The softest, sweetest fruit is the peach. Anyone can eat the peach. Her skin is soft and her flesh is soft and yields easily to the teeth and the lips. A baby can eat a peach. Even her color is easy on the eyes. But the heart of the peach—the part you can't see? Hard as a rock and full of poison.

A poetic man once wrote a poem about a tiger. He admired the beast for its form, its color, its grace. The poetic man did not hear the woman scream and gurgle as she died, he did not feel her dragged from her bed, he did not hear bones crunching, did not piss himself with fear, he did not smell the blood, he did not see the pitiful remains. The tiger is a beautiful animal.

What will you do when the Earthquake hits? Are you ready? Can you stop it from happening? Are you strong, ready and able? Show me how you will do it.

“No matter how strong you are, a natural
disaster will defeat you." (February 20th, 2011)

There was a professional African big-game hunter who, after he retired, said that every time he went to the movies and the MGM Lion roared on the big screen, it filled him with fear.

The men and women of the sea know the truth. Surfers, sailors, and fishermen know. You ride the waves and ride the wind and maybe you come home alive. You cannot challenge the wind and waves and if you try, you will never be seen again.

It is said that if a bug could hang on to a horses tail, he could ride a thousand miles. Indeed, it may even be a simple thing to do. But at the end of the ride, the bug will stink of horseshit and be a very long way from home.

Any animal, by letting nature take its course, can make a life: A perfect, new life. Frankenstein, with all his intelligence and science, his parts and pieces sewn together, could only make a monster: A miserable creature.

mother nature

Let them make their stand.
It makes no difference,
To Her.