New post: Is there a place for verbal abuse in Buddhism?
I've just added a new post to the Progressive Buddhism blog:
Is there a place for verbal abuse in Buddhism?
It's a slightly loaded question - as you might imagine I'm tending towards the 'no' on this one.
Posts
My sensei (Aikido) will often demonstrate "how not to do it" with a student.
ReplyDeleteThis invariably hurts like hell. But the pain purposely isn't graduated to suffering as Sensei will consciously maintain absolute silence during such a potentially damaging lesson. There is no criticism of the student's technique. There is only movement.
In general, Sensei maintains that martial arts are best practiced in near silence. Speech in the dojo (let alone verbal abuse) has limited educational value and maximum ego increasing potential.
Master teachers often do not see the dojo as a separate zone of performance apart from daily life. It is a small part of a big world.
As in the dojo, it is perhaps best in life if critical speech is avoided entirely.