The knowledge that the wise man makes
The knowledge that makes man wise
ARISTIPPUS
And therefore it is quite possible, if the teaching of Pythagoras is true, that the soul of Sardanapalus in Sorrel is my horse. But if I was sure, with God, I would get the most beautiful mares that were bought everywhere.
PLATO
Now, according to my faith, that’s just spoken. But indeed, Aristippus, the said phrase of Pythagoras should not be taken as it is written without any other explanation, no more than his mystical advice, called “symbols”, such as: “do not cut the fire with the sword”; jumped over the balance ‘; , DV9> ‘don’t taste a black tail’; and the like that you’ve heard of many times. But therein is a more secret meaning, and the approach of reason, in my opinion, is through the translation of the soul of man, of which we have spoken, from man to beast and finally man again.
It is perhaps understandable in this sense that men who were in the state of innocence then had the figure of man who could have all the superiority over the body. But after that, when it happens that the desires and desires of the body increase so much that they have all the possession of the body; and that the feelings of the soul, that is, virtues, are suppressed or silenced; then life becomes beastly
Then see in which animal the said appetite is most intense. He in whom the boundless appetite is <Eir> can be said has locked his soul in that beast; if he who is lusty and wanton, in a horse like you whaling snakes; a cruel man or tyrant, in a tiger or lion; a wolverine or drunk, in a wolf or a pig; and so on from other. And if one man had many vices, then his transformation is more diverse and, as I said, more monstrous. What is more in them than ignorance, when she is in that beastly state and influences the soul with her that she is hidden and does not show her puissance? What is a beastly thing to them is as good as a beastly appetite.
But, if God is willing, after long travels in bad affection, the soul regains its power, and the ignorance languishes, through which the body learns misery, the animals hide little by little as knowledge increases; <Eiv> and finally man resumes his shape and proportion, living according to the dominion of the soul, and thus continuity.
How do you say, Aristippus, about this exhibition?
ARISTIPPUS
It seems to me to have good reason; for I always thought that the phrase of Pythagoras, who was a man of incomparable wisdom, had such meaning.
PLATO
It also appears from the above sentence that ignorance brings a beast to the market and that knowledge drives away beastiness and restores a person to his dignity.
ARISTIPPUS
Yes indeed.
PLATO
And it seems [seems] through what is practiced that ignorance, which we call beastly, is in that beasts do not know what they are, nor between then and humans what diversity is. Also that people know the diversity between them and brutal beasts, it happens that the soul takes precedence over the body; that is, while the soul holds the scenes of the body under the rule of obedience.
ARISTIPPUS
I don’t know how to answer you. Because I’ve confirmed so much before that I can’t answer with my honesty now.
PLATO
For your touch, Aristippus, I can very much praise you. But how do you say that? Have we not spoken enough ignorance for this time?
ARISTIPPUS
Yes, I suppose, and we have now passed three miles on our journey. Therefore, return to where you left to speak about knowledge. For the last boys, you have good ground on your table to create a shiny image.
PLATO
I see you forgot to test nothing I spoke to. So let’s test to express image; that is, “explain what is that knowledge which contains very wisdom, which perhaps * King Dionise hoped to find in me when he first wanted to see me.
* replaced (peradventure) by maybe
Comments:
… because they are needed to obtain virtue. ‘ Among them are the three symbola that Elyot mentions here:
“Do not cut the fire with a weapon: do not irritate a man in his anger, but rather give place to his anger when he staggers”
“Don’t jump over the balance: value justice and skip it”;
and “Don’t taste anything that has a black tail: that is, company without a person whose manners are noticed with vice.”
The same three also appear in the long section Pythagoras Symbola, “The Precepts of Pythagoras,”
in Eras., Adagia 1.1.2 (CWE 31, 31-50);
and see also Adagia 2.1.43 (CWE 33.40-41), with reference to Ne guitarist quibus nigra est cauda, ”Don’t taste the black tail”, and
1.4.55 (CWE 31.358-59), Ignem dissecare, ‘To cleave fire’. There was extensive ancient doxography that Elyot would have encountered: e.g. Diog. …
Moreover, Elyot undoubtedly knew something of the tradition, through the Greek textbook he otherwise used, Scriptores aliquot gnomic (Basel: Froben, 1521), including the Pythagoras Carmen aureus: see above, p. 62.
De kennis die de wijze man maakt
ARISTIPPUS
En daarom is het heel goed mogelijk dat, als de leer van Pythagoras waar is, de ziel van Sardanapalus in Sorrel mijn paard is. Maar als ik het zeker wist, bij God, dan zou ik de mooiste merries die overal gekocht werden voor hem halen.
PLATO
Nu, volgens mijn geloof wordt dat slechts gesproken. Maar inderdaad, Aristippus, de genoemde zin van Pythagoras mag niet worden genomen zoals het is geschreven zonder enige andere uiteenzetting, niet meer dan zijn mystieke adviezen, ‘symbolen’ genoemd, zoals: ‘snijd het vuur niet met het zwaard’; sprong over de balans ‘; , DV9> ‘proef niets met een zwarte staart’; en dergelijke andere, waarvan u vaak hebt gehoord. Maar daarin is een meer geheime betekenis, en het naderen van de rede is, naar mijn mening, door de vertaling van de ziel van de mens, waarover we hebben gesproken, van een mens naar een beest en tenslotte weer een mens.
Het is in deze zin misschien goed te begrijpen dat mannen, die in de staat van onschuld waren, toen de figuur van de mens hadden, die de hele superioriteit over het lichaam konden hebben. Maar daarna, als het gebeurt dat de begeerten en verlangens van het lichaam zo veel toenemen dat ze het hele bezit van het lichaam hebben; en dat de gevoelens van de ziel, dat wil zeggen deugden, worden onderdrukt of tot zwijgen worden gebracht; dan wordt het leven beestachtig
Kijk dan in welk beest de genoemde eetlust het heftigst is. Hij in wie de grenzeloze eetlust <Eir> is, kan worden gezegd heeft zijn ziel in dat beest opgesloten; als hij die wellustig en baldadig is, in zo’n paard als gij slangen van walvisvaarder; een wrede man of tiran, in een tijger of leeuw; een veelvraat of dronkaard, in een wolf of een varken; enzovoort van andere. En als één man veel ondeugden bezat, dan is zijn transformatie diverser en, zoals ik al zei, monsterlijker. Wat is er nog meer in hen dan onwetendheid, als ze in die beestachtige staat is en de ziel met haar beïnvloedt dat ze verborgen is en haar puissance niet laat zien? Wat een beestachtig ding is, is voor hen even goed als een beestachtige eetlust.
Maar, als God zo gewillig is, na lang in slechte genegenheid te hebben gereisd, de ziel haar macht terugkrijgt en de onwetendheid wegkwijnt, waardoor het lichaam ellende leert kennen, dan verbergen de dieren zich, beetje bij beetje, naarmate de kennis toeneemt; <Eiv> en tenslotte hervat de mens zijn gestalte en proportie, levend naar de heerschappij van de ziel, en dus continuïteit.
Hoe zegt u, Aristippus, over deze expositie?
ARISTIPPUS
Het lijkt mij een goede reden te hebben; want ik dacht altijd dat de zin van Pythagoras, die een man van onvergelijkbare wijsheid was, zo’n betekenis had.
PLATO
Ook blijkt [blijkt] uit de genoemde zin dat onwetendheid een beest op de markt brengt en dat kennis beestachtigheid wegjaagt en een mens herstelt tot zijn waardigheid.
ARISTIPPUS
Ja, waarlijk.
PLATO
En het lijkt [lijkt] door wat wordt geoefend dat onwetendheid, die we beestachtig noemen, daarin is, dat beesten niet weten wat ze zelf zijn, noch tussen toen en mensen wat de diversiteit is. Ook dat mensen de diversiteit kennen tussen hen en brute beesten, het gebeurt dat de ziel voorrang heeft boven het lichaam; dat wil zeggen, terwijl de ziel de scènes van het lichaam onder de heerschappij van gehoorzaamheid houdt.
ARISTIPPUS
Ik weet niet hoe ik u moet antwoorden. Want ik heb eerder zoveel bevestigd dat ik nu niet met mijn eerlijkheid kan antwoorden.
PLATO
Voor uw aanraking, Aristippus, ik kan U zeer loven. Maar hoe zeg je dat? Hebben we voor deze tijd niet genoeg onwetendheid gesproken?
ARISTIPPUS
Ja, ik veronderstel, en we zijn nu drie mijl gepasseerd tijdens onze reis. Keer daarom terug naar waar u bent vertrokken om over kennis te spreken. Voor de laatste jongens heb je een goede grond op je tafel om een glanzend beeld neer te zetten.
PLATO
Ik zie dat je bent vergeten niets te testen dat ik heb gesproken. Laten we daarom testen om beeld uit te drukken; dat wil zeggen: “verklaar wat is die kennis waarin zeer wijsheid ligt, die misschien * koning Dionise in mij hoopte te vinden, toen hij mij voor het eerst wilde zien.
* vervangen (peradventure) door misschien
Opmerkingen:
… want ze zijn juist nodig voor het verkrijgen van deugd ‘. Onder hen zijn de drie symbola die Elyot hier noemt:
‘Snijd het vuur niet met een wapen: irriteer een man niet in zijn woede, maar geef liever, wanneer hij wankelt, plaats aan zijn woede’
‘Spring niet over de balans: waardeer gerechtigheid en sla het over’;
en ‘Proef niets dat een zwarte staart heeft: dat wil zeggen, gezelschap zonder persoon wiens manieren met ondeugd worden opgemerkt’.
Dezelfde drie komen ook voor in de lange sectie Pythagoras Symbola, ‘De voorschriften van Pythagoras’,
in Eras., Adagia 1.1.2 (CWE 31, 31-50);
en zie ook Adagia 2.1.43 (CWE 33,40-41), met vermelding van Ne-gitarist quibus nigra est cauda, ‘Proef niets van de zwarte staart’, en
1.4.55 (CWE 31.358-59), Ignem dissecare, ‘To cleave fire’. Er was uitgebreide oude doxografie die Elyot zou zijn tegengekomen: b.v. Diog. …
Bovendien kende Elyot ongetwijfeld direct iets van de traditie, door middel van het Griekse leerboek dat hij anders gebruikte, Scriptores aliquot gnomic (Basel: Froben, 1521), waaronder de Pythagoras Carmen aureus: zie hierboven, p. 62.
The knowledge which makes the wise man
ARISTIPPUS
And therefore, it may well be, if Pythagoras’s doctrine be true, that the soul of Sardanapalus is in Sorrel my horse. But if I knew it for certain, by God, I would have the fairest mares that anywhere bought be gotten for him.
PLATO
Now, on my faith, that is merely spoken. But indeed, Aristippus, the said sentence of Pythagoras ought not to be taken as it is written without any other exposition, no more than his mystical counsels, called ‘symbols’, as: ‘cut not the fire with the sword’; leap over the balance’; ,DV9> ‘taste nothing which hath a black tail’; and such other like, which thou hast oftentimes heard of. But therein is a more secret meaning, and approaching near unto reason, is, in min opinion, by the translation of man’s soul, whereof we have spoken, from a man to a beast and finally eftsoons unto a man again.
It may be well understand in this wise, that men, been in the state of innocency, have then the figure of man, the could having the whole pre-eminence over the body. But after, if it happen that the appetites and desires of the body so much do increase that they have the whole possession of the body; and that the affections of the soul, that is to say, virtues, be suppressed or put to silence; then the life becometh beastly
Then look in what beast the said appetites be most vehement. He in whom is the semblable appetite <Eir> may be said hath his soul in that beast enclosed; as he that is lecherous and wanton, in such a horse as thou snakes of whaler; a cruel man or tyrant, into a tiger or lion; a glutton or drunkard, into a wolf or a swine; and so forth of other. And if one man happened to be possessed of many vices, then is his transformation more diverse and, as I bought say, more monstrous. Also, being in that beastly estate and the soul with her affects being hid and not shown her puissance, what any other thing is more in them than ignorance? Which being a thing beastly, is as proper to them as beastly appetite.
But, if, God so willing, after long travelling in ill affections, the soul recovereth her might and languished ignorance, making the body to know misery, then the beasts, hid, by little and little falleth away, as knowledge increaseth; <Eiv> and finally man resumeth his very figure and proportion, living after the rule of the soul, and so continuity perpetually.
How sayest thou, Aristippus, to this exposition?
ARISTIPPUS
It seemeth to me to stand with good reason; for ever me thought that Pythagoras’s sentence, which was a man of incomparable wisdom, had such a meaning.
PLATO
Also, it appeareth [appears] by the said sentence that ignorance markets a man beastly and that knowledge putters away beastliness and restoreth a man to his dignity.
ARISTIPPUS
Yea, verily.
PLATO
And is seemeth [seems] by that which is rehearsed that ignorance, that we call beastly, is in that, that beasts do not know what they themselves be nor between then and men what is the diversity. Also, that men know the diversity between them and brute beasts, it happeneth of the soul having pre-eminence over the body;<E2r> that is to say, while the soul doth hold the scenes of the body under de rule of obedience.
ARISTIPPUS
I wot not how to answer thee. For I have affirmed so much before that I cannot reply now, with mine honesty.
PLATO
For thy keeping of touch, Aristippus, I can well praise Thee. But how sayest thou? Have we not of ignorance spoken for this time sufficiently?
ARISTIPPUS
Yes, I suppose, and we have now passed two miles in our journey. Therefore, return where thou leftest to speak of knowledge. For thou last lads a good ground on thy table to set out shine image.
PLATO
I see thou forgot test nothing I have spoken. Therefore, let us assay to express image; that is to say, “declare what is that knowledge wherein lieth very wisdom, which perhaps* King Dionise hoped to find in me, when he first desired to see me.
*replaced (peradventure) with perhaps
Notes:
… For they be right necessary for the obtaining of virtue’. Amongst them are the three symbola Elyot mentions here:
‘Cut not the fire with weapon: do not irritate a man in his fury but rather, when he rageth, give place to his anger’;
‘Leap not over the balance: esteem justice, and skip over it’;
and ‘Taste nothing that hath a black tail: that is to say, company with no person whose manners be spotted with vice’.
The same three occur also in the lengthly section Pythagoras Symbola, ‘The Precepts of Pythagoras’,
in Eras., Adagia 1.1.2 (CWE 31, 31-50);
and see also Adagia 2.1.43 (CWE 33,40-41), mentioning Ne guitarist quibus nigra est cauda, ‘Taste nothing of the black tail’, and
1.4.55 (CWE 31,358-59), Ignem dissecare, ‘To cleave fire’. There was extensive ancient doxography that Elyot would have encountered: e.g. Diog. …
Moreover, Elyot no doubt knew something of the tradition directly, by means of the Greek textbook that he used otherwise, Scriptores aliquot gnomic (Basel: Froben, 1521), which included the Pythagorean Carmen aureus: see above, p. 62.
De Reis Naar Japan
Een hotel op niet al te grote afstand van de Hombu Dojo. Uit mijn hoofd was de prijs van een kamer ongeveer 100 euro per nacht. De eerste les in de ochtend was te vroeg voor een metro dus de kosten voor een taxi waren ongeveer 45 euro. De groep was rond de tien personen.
Pas tijdens de reis merkte ik hoe zwaar Tokyo was. Veel lopen en veel trappen. Metro in en metro uit. Dan nog het trainen. Sensei had het zwaar. In het hotel aangekomen vroeg hij om een massage. Dat kon alleen in een hotel kamer en de bedden waren te zacht om op te ‘werken’. Een handdoek op de grond. De kamers waren alleen zo klein dat dat alleen kon met de deur dicht en dan gelijk daar achter. En dan was het gangetje nog zo smal dat ik alleen aan 1 kan kon zitten. Een Sensei zich zelf moest draaien voor een ‘beurt’ van de andere kant van zijn lichaam.
Sensei zegt, kom we doen een wedstrijd. Zo diep mogelijk, zonder te verkrampen. Ik zet mijn elleboog diep in zijn rug net naast boven zijn ruggengraat, en trek deze van zijn hoofd naar zijn heupen. De wegstrijd is begonnen.
En wel zonder iets kapot te maken. De uitdaging is om dieper te helen, dan gemakkelijk voelt om te doen. Daarna draaien de rollen zich om. We ‘trekken’ elkaar flink uit elkaar.
En het helpt.
Ik zal het nooit vergeten.
Sindsdien is nog duidelijker…..
al die angst en afkeer van pijn, elkaar pijn doen. …. Ik heb er niets mee. De pijn voelen af en toe, ademen en los laten. ….. Magisch.
Dia voorstelling Rob Conradi: Aikido CABN Fujita Sensei, Peter Bacas sensei en Dr Leisinger Sensei
16 September 50 jaar Bacas
Samen met mijn dochter Jolie op pad naar Den Haag. Het was lang geleden en ongeveer 2,5 uur rijden. We waren op tijd voor de warming up die om 9:30 begon.
Shouldn’t you pull on a dead horse?
Let’s not beat a dead horse.
A phrase that goes through my mind more and more. I think about it when I notice that someone doesn’t feel like moving at all. Whether that is physical, mental or emotional, it does not matter. There is no movement, which is why I initially tend to work very hard; to push and pull. In aikido, every technique starts with a movement. A move, or attack, from an uke (sparring partner). If the uke does not move, does not attack, there is no aikido. I have noticed that this phenomenon is occurring more often in other areas than I expected. At work, people regularly have an attitude of immobility. They then say; “I don’t know,” “I’m not convinced yet,” “I don’t like that,” “I’m not an advocate.”
My most common response was to persuade, convince and work very hard. Once again try to win someone over and get me moving. It takes a lot of energy. It is pushing and pulling. And it doesn’t work. Just like in the aikido. If the uke does not attack, but only grips and freezes, for example, most techniques cost a lot of energy and muscle strength. Another good example from my own experience is a child who does not want to eat. What are you doing then? Talk like a bridge man? Trying to give snacks? To get angry? Negotiate and try to win over with a promise? It does not work. All that works is patience. That is also the case in the work. If someone does not want, is not convinced, all that works is to wait, be patient. Wait for someone to start moving. So with aikido it is a matter of waiting, in a meeting at work it is important to keep silent until the other person starts talking. Talk about what he or she wants. It can help to ask a question. A question as an invitation. An invitation to get moving. And that is a challenge for me in aikido. How do you invite uke to start moving again if it has grabbed me and has come to a standstill?
Fighting, fleeing, freezing or a round movement
The classic responses to an attack. The whole body is set up for it. Driven by a complex interplay of hormones, organs and nervous system. Most meetings in the work environment are dominated by exchanging arguments of everyone alike. Often someone is for or against a proposal. There is a lot of verbal “fighting” in consultations. And in a hierarchical environment characterized by an organizational structure, it is often the highest hierarchical position that wins. Whoever is highest in the tree has the most power, the most strength, so who wins, determines. Most organizations have not progressed much beyond this Machiavellian approach. Characteristic in the above discussions is the use of, “yes but”. What helps me a lot, but also the teams I work with, is applying aikido in situations like this. The translation of the aikido then consists of initially respecting the movement of the other, the words of another, listening to it without judgment. Only then can you sense the direction and magnitude of the energy. This is a precondition for subsequently applying an aikido technique. The application of the aikido then lies in not countering that energy, so not contradicting, but subtly changing the direction of the other, or your own. The tori always moves towards the uke and receives the energy of the attack. Then, by means of a circular movement, harmony of the two energies is sought. This can also be very nice in work, with children and in a relationship. Start by approaching, then receive the energy of the other, which can be words or even a look, and then make a round movement together.
In a verbal sense, I often use questions to make a circular movement. In the case of an open question, it resembles ura and in the case of a leading question, more omote.
So if I want to apply an ura technique, I will genuinely delve into the other person’s vision. I put myself in that person by standing next to him or her and looking the same way. And really next to it, shoulder to shoulder. I’m making contact. I am genuinely interested in what that person sees. And we become one for a moment. Our centers have merged into one center. And together we can move more easily than when we are at a distance. This is recommended especially for a strong person with a strong vision.
Omote is more difficult, especially if someone is strong, higher in the hierarchy for example. But here too the change of energy, the circular movement is crucial and in my experience the easiest to make by a question. “I would like to explain how I feel about it, what vision I have.” Other options include asking a leading question, “what if we do it like that?” “What would you think if …” or asking a rhetorical question. I notice that this is very useful to me. It works for me. For myself, but also in recognizing the fight between others and guiding them to asking questions and listening without judgment.
Contact is crucial. Real contact. A few years ago I started asking people who work in a team, and sit together all day, for at least 8 hours, if they knew what the other was doing. Often people had no idea. They were teams of specialists who “left each other alone.” We then changed that. The teams of specialists have turned into teams of people who have considerably more contact with each other. Every morning there is an exchange of what everyone does, has achieved, and where someone has difficulty using help. Everyone knows what they are doing. People are also increasingly working in couples, side by side, behind 1 screen. Reflection sessions also pay more attention to how you are doing. And with that it is becoming increasingly common to also share things from your private life. More contact is created. Real contact. This creates a team with a center. That moves much easier. Also a team where people receive each other when necessary, move along and accept the management of another more easily. Ways to make that contact is by asking questions that touch someone’s center. Questions I have used in recent years are:
What is a symbol of strength for you? Would you like to say something about that?
What do you see as a symbol of vulnerability? Would you like to say something about that?
Do you want to tell something about the most educational moment in your life?
These are a few examples of questions I used to really connect with people in groups.
Another very important topic that I will come back to later is pain. In a well-functioning team, where one can make good contact, it is crucial that one does not avoid painful things, but rather appoint them. Being able to give and receive negative feedback is the ultimate step for a well-functioning team. Just like in aikido, being able to give and receive pain is crucial.
Do not grab!
Another very interesting and challenging aspect of aikido is not grabbing someone. Grab someone by the wrist and the instinctive response is to want to pull you free. This also applies in the workplace. And also with the education of children. When I give someone the feeling that I am grabbing him, all attention will initially go to loosening. “Not grabbing” is important. People, including children, want to be guided if they always have the feeling that they have the freedom to determine their own direction. Having the space to make a choice, whether or not you use it, is very important.
“Winning means winning over the mind of discord in [yourself]. It is to accomplish your bestowed mission.
This is not mere theory. [You] practice it. Then you will accept the great power of oneness with Nature.
Don’t look at the opponent’s eyes, or your mind will be drawn into his eyes. Don’t look at his sword, or you will be slain with his sword. Don’t look at him, or your spirit will be distracted. True BUDO is cultivation of attraction with which to draw the whole opponent to you.
All I have to do is keep standing this way. Even standing with my back toward the opponent is enough. When he attacks, hitting, he will injure himself with his own intention to hit. I am one with the Universe and I am nothing else.
…
…Frist make God’s heart yours. It is a Great Love, omnipresent in all quarters and in all times of the Universe. “There is no Discord in Love. A mind of discord, thinking of the existence of an enemy in no more consistent with the will of God.
True Budo is a work of love to all being, and not killing and killing or struggling with each other. Love is the guardian deity of everything. Nothing can exist without it. …”
Masatake Fujita Shihan
Aikikai Aikido
