As some are aware, in Shu Ha Ri Do there
is a CODE of ethics that should
govern how a student lives. This CODE
has biblical implications. In short
doing what is “right” is the core of the
CODE. Although everyone has flaws,
no one should allow discouragement from
a struggle to take root and cause
them to give up. Self mastery is a life long journey.
So long, as you continue
to consume righteous content, which
will promote righteous thoughts,
emotions, actions and habits, your
character and destination will become
righteous.
Below is an excerpt from a compilation
I recently came across called,
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF
JAMES ALLEN
1864-1912
What the author writes I feel accurately
describes how I feel about self
mastery under the Kingdom of Heaven
and the footprint I and my students
leave in the world.
JAMES ALLEN writes:
A clear and firm head must precede
and accompany a clean and gentle
heart. Without the first the second is
impossible, for the qualities of purity
and gentleness can only be reached
through a clear perception of RIGHT
and WRONG, and by the exercise of
an irresistible will. The strength of a
powerful animal, or of that animal
force in man which enables him to gain
the victory over others by attack and
resistance, is weakness compared with
that quiet, patient, invincible will by
which a man overcomes himself, and
tames to obedience, and trains to the
service of holy purposes, the savage
passions of his nature. Every dog can
bark and fight, and every foolish man
can rail, abuse, fence with hard words,
and give way to fits of bad temper;
these things are easy and natural to
him, and require no effort and no
strength. But the wise man puts away
all such follies, and trains himself in
self-control—trains himself to act
unerringly from fixed principles
(CODE), and not from the fleeting
impulses of an unstable nature.
Need I elaborate on this? This is what
most moms want their sons to be, and
who most dads would want their daughters to marry.
This CODE I have embraced has taken
TIME and PATIENCE to foster in myself, such a CODE is
what I teach and live by, making
the Kingdom of Heaven proud.
