Mattias Desmet: on Martial Arts and the Source of Power
Dr. Mattias Desmet is a Belgian clinical psychologist and professor at Ghent University. He is an acute observer of the state of the world.
The following is quoted from a speech he presented at the fourth International Crisis Summit in the Romanian Parliament:
“…All seminal scientists concluded… the essence of life always escapes rationality, it transcends the categories of rational thinking.
To name only one major scientist: in the preface of a book of Max Planck, Einstein claimed that it is a mistake to believe that science originates from supreme logical-rational thinking; it originates from what he called a capacity for ‘einfühlung’ in the object one investigates, which means as much as ‘a capacity to empathically resonate with the object you are investigating’.
Rationality is a good thing and we need to walk the path of rationality as far as possible, but it is not the end goal. Rational knowledge is not a goal in itself; it is a stairway to a kind of knowledge that transcends rationality, a resonating knowledge, the kind of supreme intuition the martial arts of the Samurai culture aimed for throughout their technical training. It is at that level that we can situate the phenomenon of Truth.
This brings us closer to an answer to the question: what is the remedy to the disease of totalitarianism? Can we do something about totalitarianism? My answer is simple and straight: yes. The powerless do have power…”
According to Desmet’s analysis the source of that power is honesty. Living the truth. Thinking clearly. Speaking honestly. Acting with courage.
That is to say, to paraphrase: The truth will set us free.
That solution does not only apply to the powerless. As the masters of samurai martial arts culture proved.
It means that instead of the rationalist calculation limited to facts, techniques, and status:
In the dojo it means sincere training, consistent skill development, careful scrutiny of the condition of the mind we are cultivating and of the body we are conditioning, and the goals we are pursuing…
challenging assumptions, seeking wholesome sources, developing positive relationships, rooting out bad habits, and forming good ones.
Central to this is the willingness to set aside worldly expedients, to take the risk, do the work, penetrate the truth, and pursue genuine achievement.
Outside the dojo it means life or death.
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