The Sennin’s Blog – Entry No. 3
Friday, May 01, 2015
Title: Axioms and Paradigms.
²
Cognitive psychology has shown that the mind best
understands facts when they are woven into a conceptual fabric, such as a
narrative, mental map, or intuitive theory. Disconnected facts in the mind are
like unlinked pages on the Web: They might as well not exist. – Steven Pinker
Before
I continue to further introducing more of the Foundational or First Principles,
and even prior to briefly considering the implications of the first two I
introduced previously, namely: 1) Human
beings … are evolved hominids devoid of any form of supernatural origin;
and 2) the human imagination … is what most distinguishes us from
the rest of the animal kingdom”, I must first tie up some lose address some
intermediary lose ends involving basic terminology, such as ‘axiom’ and
‘paradigm’.
The first axiom in our paradigm
forces us to consider not just the biological characteristics of our species,
but also their origin, their evolution, in order to both discern and appreciate
our true nature as natural organisms. There are several terms you must learn to
appreciate and comprehend, beginning with axiom
and paradigm, which although I have
employed previously requires more careful scrutiny.
All First Principles are axiomatic to the MAMBA Ryu paradigm.
An axiom is a statement, a
declaration, or a proposition that is regarded as being accepted as true. Each
discipline has its own set of axioms upon which it is founded and upon which it
constructs the edifice of its knowledge and understanding of the particular
aspect of reality it is investigating or upon which it is professes a degree of
competence. In the cognitive
neurosciences, for example, it is axiomatic to accept that mind – which
encompasses all aspects of our thinking, feeling, perceiving, remembering,
conscious awareness, sense of identity, etc. – is a result of complex brain
activity. All sense of awareness, consciousness or identity emerges from the live,
interacting networks of the brain – influenced of course by the body and the
environment. Simply put, the ‘soul’ is but an aspect of the mind, and therefore
of the functioning brain. (In this sense at least, modern cognitive
neuroscience is in concert with the Buddhist axiom of ‘anatman’ or ‘no soul, which is their statement of the impermanence of all things. This is the
stated reason why many cognitive neuroscientists I have known were quite
attracted to Zen Buddhism.)
A paradigm
is a model or a framework containing all of the commonly accepted or
established views about a topic, a discipline, or a subject. It encompasses the
concept of a “conceptual fabric”, a “narrative”, a “mental map”, as well as
an “intuitive theory”. In addition, a
paradigm is also a structure that directs and organizes the nature of the
research that should take place and the manner in which that research should be
performed pertaining to that subject. A paradigm, therefore, determines both a)
what is considered to be known and b)
how to go about acquiring (and accepting) further knowledge in accordance
with the established knowledgebase. While I will have more to say about paradigm shifts, paradigm revolutions, and the problems inherent both in having a
paradigm and in proceeding without one, suffice it to say that MAMBA Ryu is a
paradigm for what is means to be human; as such it embodies a knowledgebase comprised of what are
considered to be accepted truths (axioms), as well as a philosophical framework
for ascertaining and incorporating new knowledge. Our philosophical framework
is known as biopsychocultural philosophy
and it is a subject matter on its own right. The objective of biopsychocultural
philosophy, as is the case with all forms of philosophy, is to discover
“knowledge (ideally, truth) which if
appropriately applied leads to wisdom,
wisdom pertaining to the nature of the human condition and how to navigate its
murky waters while still deriving meaning from its inevitable trials and
tribulations and achieving happiness
– happiness, as distinct from joy which is temporary and subject to emotions,
is considered a state of satisfaction with who one is, regardless of
circumstances thrust upon us. This is, at a psychological level at least, the
essence of the purpose or Way of MAMBA:
The Way
of MAMBA
Throughout
my early childhood and into my middle adolescence my greatest concerns, my
ultimate preoccupations focused on overcoming the abject terror and violence
that at times defined my existence. Early on in life I realized that the
solution to that problem did not reside solely in physical conditioning,
technical preparation, or cognitive speculation, for in the face of
life-threatening peril if we are without a resilient mental constitution such
attributes can quickly uproot and leave us stranded in helplessness and
despair.
I
believe that it was as a result of those early impacting experiences that my
interest in the martial arts and other Eastern practices and methodologies was
focused more on the mental capacities that lead to enduring tranquility in the
face of disaster than on the mere physical manifestations of power or
technique. It was not nearly as much the fighting prowess of “Kwai Chang Caine”
from the syndicated television series “Kung Fu” that captured my imagination as
the wisdom and serenity of the Shaolin masters who trained him. It was not
nearly as much the cinematographically dazzling dynamics and cries of the likes
of Bruce Lee that inspired me, as the television images of the Buddhist monk
who, protesting religious injustice in South Vietnam, self-immolated and died,
immutable, motionless and silent.
Over
the years it became evident to me that it is only with a strong psychological,
philosophical and even ‘spiritual’ foundation that the edifice of our existence
can be counted upon to weather the storms of life’s adversities,
disappointments and disasters; it is this foundation that enables us to
appreciate the magnificence and wonder of ‘being’ – no matter how objectionable
the load we carry, how heavy the rock we must roll.
It is
not in the moments of fashionable victory that we find the real champion; it is
not in the hours, weeks, or years of celebrated discoveries or renowned
achievements that we discover authentic ‘greatness’; it is in those inexorable
instances lived by individuals who time and time again, whether faced with
innumerable failures and tragic disappointments, threatened with dying in total
anonymity, or living in abject poverty, demonstrate their unrelenting
rededication to ‘the cause’.
Show me
a man or woman whom, after being repeatedly beaten down and even broken by the
implacable and unremitting forces of a reality beyond their control, and whom
without seeking refuge either in fantastic dimensions or in fictional beings,
stands up yet again on their own accord, in spirit if not in shattered body,
and I will show you the true meaning of inner fortitude and personal power.
Find an individual who even in the thick of life’s sometimes unpredictable
trials and tribulations, cruel losses, untimely setbacks, and heartbreaking
tragedies derives ‘meaning’ from the mere fact of being alive, and you would
have found someone who has mastered the elusive art of being happy.
It is
not the person who, if afforded the luxury of calm and comfort, can achieve a
state of ‘mystical awareness’ that we need admire. Rather it is the individual
who, when faced with the unpredictable disasters of the life truly engaged and
is caught in the wicked clasp of circumstance, manages to rapidly recover their
composure and demonstrate ‘centeredness’ that we need seek out, for these
people have obtained something beyond what books can teach or techniques alone
can foster: wisdom.
Wisdom,
the combined knowledge and practice of that which leads to happiness and
harmony in one’s life in spite of circumstances is what we all ultimately seek.
Personal power alone is not sufficient, for without the mental mechanisms to
guide its potential, without the philosophical/spiritual context within which
to apply its resources, we are but a Titanic: unstoppable in our motion and
condemned to meet our demise at the inevitable encounter with life’s innumerable
and unforgiving icebergs.
The
human existential condition is by its nature fraught with inevitable loss – or
its threat: loss of life, loss of health, loss of youth, loss of property and
possessions, loss of loved ones, loss of innocence, and so on, and therefore
becomes tainted by the accompanying grief and anguish that naturally ensues.
But it is in the chaos of war that we encounter all of life’s most deplorable
aspects in their extreme: carnage and mutilation, devastation and
dispossession, pillaging and desecration, famine and disease, etc.
It is
not surprising that many individuals return from the battlefield mentally
traumatized and emotionally defiled and disturbed, unable to successfully
reintegrate themselves into the ‘normality’ of their previous peacetime
existence. Nor is it surprising that elite warrior castes sought
philosophical/spiritual methodologies – such as the Samurai and Zen – in order
to develop the mental and emotional capacity to endure the vileness of warfare
and inwardly reconcile the gruesomeness of their experiences within the context
of a way of life and being.
It is
for this reason that to me the real martial arts aim to teach more than just
techniques of physical power; they must seek to set the practitioner on a path
to the self-empowerment, discovery and improvement that leads beyond an
accumulation of information or the memorization of movements – a path which
leads to the immutable spirit that derives from mind and body coordinated in
harmonious action. This is the Way of MAMBA.
Shodai
Sennin James Alexander Overton-Guerra, 2005
The previous short essay was written in response to
many queries in the United States regarding a more specific description of
MAMBA: “a path which leads to the
immutable spirit that derives from mind and body coordinated in harmonious
action”. With that broad and no doubt commendable objective in mind, the purpose
of the present treatise is both to expand upon the details of said objective as
well as elaborate on how it is achieved, both on an individual as well as on a
communal and social scale: the ryu in
MAMBA Ryu.
The competitive sport of orienteering employs map and
compass to navigate a route from a present position to a predetermined
objective in the shortest time possible. The entire enterprise would be
hopeless without a means to response to the following questions: 1) Where am I? Which is my point of
departure? 2) Where am I going? What is my objective? 3) How do I get there? Which is the path (or procedure) I must take?
4) How do I know I am on the right track?
How can I objectively evaluate my progress? All of the previous four questions
must be specified in terms of a map of the terrain, a fixed reference point
(magnetic north), and a means to measure our progress along the map with
respect to said fixed reference point (a compass). This four-prong model is representative
(paradigmatic) not only of orienteering
or of directed travel in general, but of most any form of targeted
transformation. By “targeted transformation” I mean the transformation from a
present state to another state according to a targeted or predetermined
objective. Any methodology that pretends to transform an individual from a current
state ‘A’ to some idealized state ‘B’, must at the very least identify and address
those four topics of inquiry and provide convincing answers to the same.
How that methodology identifies and resolves those four
core issues are determining factors in its paradigm. In our specific case, in
MAMBA (or MAMBA Ryu) we are seeking to deliver the individual from his or her
own present state of fear, irrational attachments, willed ignorance,
insecurities, etc., towards a state of mental, and if you will ‘spiritual’,
harmony. In order to do so we must have a map – part of our paradigm – of what
I will explain to be the “human condition”, an idea of where human beings
typically locate themselves on that map, and how to instruct and train individuals
to reach that desired state of inner peace or happiness. No two perspectives on
this entire process, and on the four-prong model upon which it proceeds, are
more relevant, more defining, and of greater impact that our first two
Foundational or First Principles – a discussion we must postpone until our next
meeting.
ROKUKEN HARAMITSU DAIKOMYO.
