[Amnell]

Originally Posted by ”Tenchu”

Our conciousness is a constant flow of memory, like a river. Before the brain realizes the exact moment it lives in, that moment is gone, due to the moment it takes for nerves to pass signals and for signals to be interpretated. Man can only imagine what reality is like through a delayed perception which is open to misinterpretation and distortion, he can never know, his brain is always too slow.

That… probably isn’t true. I have heard some rather interesting research (I’d have to look it up again :P ) about perception. It’s an hypothesis out of quantum physics, but the gist is that our being is “holographic”, in the sense that every tiny part is exactly like the whole. This is an oversimplification, sorry T_T . The idea goes on that our bodies, being holographic, are aware of everything that goes on within no matter where it happens. This is why if you put your hand on a burner, you feel the pain instantly, even if you don’t quite react that fast. By extension, our consciousness is completely aware of the universe immediately around it, making perception a real-time deal. Theoretically, there is absolutely no delay between reception of data and interpretation of data; I see the letters appear on the screen as they appear, not microseconds after they’ve appeared.

To my knowledge, one of the things that makes this hypothesis seem more plausible is the simple fact that for chemical messengers to reach the brain from the foot, as in the standard theory, takes too long for us to avoid damaging our bodies at every given opportunity.

But that’s just perception. What you say about the heart/spirit is a little harder to quantify .

Originally Posted by ”Musashi”

When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void.

Lol, I like that…. At the onset of every martial arts class I’ve yet taken, we meditate with the goal of clearing our minds so that we can better absorb what we’re taught in class and to perform closer to our highest ability. Clear the mind, as in make it empty, create a void inside your head so that it may be filled with what is important, and then begin again. From this, I understand the concept, though I never thought of trying to apply it to every breathing moment of life.

Originally Posted by ”Tenchu”

Clearly from this you can see the persons intention changeing and this is what I meant by morphing, more so.

Hmm… I don’t think I agree there. I know this isn’t everyone, but if it were me in that situation, my thoughts would be, at the point of being overwhelmed, “I’m about to lose this fight—it’s time for me to retreat, recover, replan, and retry.” So I begin to retreat with the intention of trying again, maybe with a different methodology, but still with the same goal/intent. Then I see the sword and realize I have an opportunity NOW to finish what I’ve started; I don’t have to go to the trouble of replanning, now, because I can now enact my original plan with the aid of a tool.

Through it all, my methods changed, but my intentions didn’t nor did my will to see the task through. Again, this is me—other people may of course be different.

Hm, but then you say “When a Warrior says he is going to do something, he does it, or dies trying.” To this I ask, “Is there something inherently wrong with trying multiple times, if such an option exists?” Key phrase: if such an option exists.

Originally Posted by ”Tenchu”

Neither willow or oak is relevant, I would say, what is important is that whilst they were alive, be it past the time of the big storm or not, it is important that they were actually sure of themself, their identity, and where they stood, exactley, so when conflict such as storms do come, they are fully ready in their heart to deal with such a situation, whether it means their death or not. The type of tree is irrelevant.

Lol, well said. Almost defeats the purpose of this whole conversation, doesn’t it? XD