Tyrants delight in us fighting each other;
creed, colour and sister against brother.
Any way to make us weak and ashamed;
a broken spirit is docile and easily tamed.
The utopia they promised never was real,
only a rude awakening and a hellish deal.
Still, there is a clarion call for true might:
stand your ground for that which is right!
Life teaches by all ways and angles,
some pristine, others murky tangles.
Knowing thyself is the highest aim,
yet not all you are is quite the same.
Most beliefs do not come from you,
and too often they are not even true.
Their removal may not be pleasant,
still their absence is such a present!
Great many are the examples to see;
no lesser are those of how not to be.
So we must forsake what can’t stay;
truth meets rejection of lies halfway.
Precious are lessons rightly learned;
wisdom is many a time hard earned.
“Everyone is doing their best” people say,
but is that really so at the end of the day?
How can we reconcile that with free will,
or acknowledge that choice matters still?
Certainly everybody has reasons to falter,
faced with things hard and painful to alter.
Our best varies from a situation to another,
at times we might ask: “why even bother?”
Yet if we refuse to heed the call of our soul,
how may we then align with our true goal?
Only when we dare to listen may we soar,
thus reveal that we can be so much more.
Ideologies, what a curse upon humanity;
half-truths wrapped around full insanity.
Dogmatic religion, scientism or new age;
such freedom to pick your preferred cage.
Classism, speciesism, sexism and racism;
divide and conquer, the good old schism.
Rule by communism, capitalism, fascism;
faces of fear, colours of one dismal prism.
Environmentalism calling us all a cancer;
for self-loathing is surely the best answer.
Too many to name and all quite the same;
confusion and animosity is a grand game.
Alas, with free speech one risks to offend;
yet so we must, for there is much to mend.
Welcome to the first Sangenkai seminar in Umeå!
We have invited Matei Ionescu, from Sangenkai Norway, to hold a basic workshop in Sangen (internal power & aiki), as taught by Dan Harden (more info and relevant links here).
No prior experience or other training required. Please wear casual clothing such as t-shirts and sweatpants or shorts. Advisable to bring a notebook and a water bottle.
Saturday 12th May:
10:00-13:00 – Training
13:00-14:00 – Lunch
14:00-17:00 – Training
Location: Umeå Kampcenter – NEW LOCALE
Price: 500 SEK (lunch not included)
To sign up or if any questions, please contact us:
Too little and there will be naught to learn,
yet too much and the ordeal will only burn.
Still we must dance on this edge of a blade,
and arise again whenever we have strayed.
“Just enough” means exactly what we say:
do what is right, in the most balanced way.
Should we strive to do things right,
or what is right as well as we might?
All the better if we can unite the two,
still, how often is that actually true?
Do we choose a fast journey to fame,
or a road with truth as our highest aim?
One path is certainly easier to master,
yet is not wrong done right a disaster?
No excuse will do at the end of the day;
our conscience will still have its say.
By the deeds unworthy of our souls,
do we dig shame’s engulfing holes.
Still, we must let our integrity show;
do we fall to despair or dare to grow?
Forgiveness may or may not be earned;
redemption is within the lesson learned.
Through this pain we recall our vow:
to never again such betrayal allow.
May we bear this remembrance well;
the choice between life and living hell.
The bells ring aloud for all to hear;
Calling the far and near, strangers and dear.
The fateful & faithful gather to class & mass,
All sitting neatly together in rows en masse.
Listening to the teachers & preachers profess;
By words of professors & prophets they impress.
“Repeat well what you have been told in school,
or you shall surely suffer the fate of a fool!”
“Have the utmost faith in everything that I tell,
or all that awaits are the fiery depths of hell!”
…And the bells keep on ringing…
ReSee 