In Defiance of Zeus

 

(UBBT team reunion, February 2010)

In Plato's Symposium, the playwright Aristophanes half-seriously envisions a world in which humans, in their true form, were born with four arms, four legs, and a single head with two faces.  After offending Zeus and the other gods by aspiring to replace them, humans were split in half, condemning them to spend the remainder of their lives searching for their 'other half' - the one who would complete their soul and make them whole once again.  Other souls are similarly fated to play other important roles in each others' lives, with death to separate such beings from each other in order to force them to restart their quest to find each other once again.

Although this tale is often used as a literary reference to the early conception of 'soulmates', I would suggest that the fragmentation of humanity in general is also referenced by this classic fictional story, and to continue indulging in Aristophanes' quasi-intoxicated ramblings, exactly what Zeus wanted. (or perhaps Hades)

In a manner of speaking, this also serves to highlight part of why I enjoy our team's efforts with the UBBT and The 100: although we're separated geographically, we're connected to each other - striving to reach out, connect our ideas and intentions, and then create action in the world.  Our work connects human beings with their best selves, and then takes that even further to unite good people with the work of great people.

Or, through the lens of Aristophanes: 

Our work is in rebuilding and reconnecting humanity's heroes, in defiance of Zeus' punishment.

Perhaps, we were destined to find and help each other here.

Human beings, united in purpose and spirit, can accomplish far greater things than any one of us can accomplish by ourselves.  Collectively, our work brings us in touch with a Truth that is beyond language.

All of our training is a subset of the human experience, which is why we can connect every aspect of our training to living, making the phrase "my life is my dojo" come true.  Our training is about what we can be, what we might become, and what we can do with our human potential.

Similarly, all human experiences are a subset of Truth.  Every human being that has ever lived came into being as a limited self, creating a sense of identity for themselves through carving away reality with their perceptions.

Or, arguably, by cutting off pieces of Truth.

Bring two people and their ideas together, and their fragments of the Truth grow.  As George Bernard Shaw suggests, trading ideas isn't like trading apples: if we swap apples, we both still have one.  However, when we exchange ideas, then we each have two ideas.  (Hmmm, random thoughtstream: Post your journals, share your ideas....)

Wielding an enhanced piece of the Truth can be world-altering.  I'm not talking about 'lowercase truth', the kind that we can dissect with endless measurements, quantifications, legal jargon, or logico-mathematical algorithms of varied complexity.  When we start using 'uppercase Truth', we begin facing ultimate kinds of questions, enduring puzzles like Who We Are, What We Are Here To Do, and What It All Means.

After all, uppercase Truth is the real subject of our training.  It's why we joined the UBBT, yes?  To seek something greater than Boxing Combo #17, Kata 42, and Choke Escape 9B?

I'm very happy to have connected with so many outstanding martial artists, teachers, and human beings through the UBBT.  Your experiences have brought so much of the Truth into focus for me.

Let's continue the search together.

Each week, I will share a piece of whatever Truth I have found through my training.  You share yours.