Brother Bayushi's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=Brother Bayushi2000-11-17T23:31:02Zninja magic (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi/writeups/ninja+magicBrother Bayushihttp://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi2000-11-17T23:31:02Z2000-11-17T23:31:02Z<p>It probably comes from the relationship the <a href="/title/Ninja">Ninja</a> historically had (and currently have) with <a href="/title/Kuji-in">Kuji-in</a> and <a href="/title/kuji-kiri">kuji-kiri</a>, practices they developed out of <a href="/title/Buddhism">Buddhism</a>, <a href="/title/Taoism">Taoism</a>, <a href="/title/Shugendo">Shugendo</a>, <a href="/title/Shamanism">Shamanism</a> - basically anything they could find that worked, since they couldn't really be choosy, what with the <a href="/title/Samurai">Samurai</a> breathing down their necks and up their <a href="/title/mountain">mountain</a>s. The <a href="/title/Japanese">Japanese</a> back in their feudal days were very superstitious and the Ninja would capitalize on this to their benefit by employing <a href="/title/mask">mask</a>s of demons or <a href="/title/flash+powder">flash powder</a> tricks, etc. Also, their practices of <a href="/title/stealth">stealth</a> and hiding would create in the minds of their adversaries fantastic stories of how they accomplished these feats. Besides, think about it - if you were a Samurai and <a href="/title/seppuku">seppuku</a> was the price for failure, which story are you going to tell? The one where the Ninja turned into a <a href="/title/crow">crow</a> and flew into the night sky and there was nothing you could do because of his <a href="/title/evil+trickery">evil trickery</a>? Or the one where the Ninja climbed up a tree pretty damn<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Go with the flow (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi/writeups/Go+with+the+flowBrother Bayushihttp://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi2000-11-17T22:51:28Z2000-11-17T22:51:28Z<p>Going with the flow - ah, what a beautiful concept! This idea can be expressed best in three ways: (1) <a href="/title/Water">Water</a>. Water obviously goes with the flow, since it goes around any obstacles and, if it can't go around, patiently builds itself up without too much trouble and goes over the obstacle. (2) <a href="/title/Fire">Fire</a>. Less flexible than water, Fire is an example of <a href="/title/aggressive">aggressive</a>ly going with the flow, a seeming contradiction until you realize that almost anything you stick in a fire will heat up at the same time that the <a href="/title/flame">flame</a>s move around the object. (3) Wind. To go with the flow in this case means letting water have it's way, fire have it's way, and STILL getting done what you need. This is related to the <a href="/title/Natural+Order">Natural Order</a> of things, as well as the <a href="/title/two+versions+of+the+five-element+theory">two versions of the five-element theory</a>.</p>Natural Order (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi/writeups/Natural+OrderBrother Bayushihttp://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi2000-11-17T22:39:44Z2000-11-17T22:39:44Z<p>Also, the <a href="/title/natural">natural</a> order is something to follow, as in "<a href="/title/go+with+the+flow">go with the flow</a>." An idea best promulgated by <a href="/title/Taoism">Taoism</a>, the natural order can be anything that is allowed to progress without interference by something <a href="/title/unnatural">unnatural</a>. This seems obvious until you realize two things: (1) that <a href="/title/people">people</a> throughout <a href="/title/history">history</a> have <a href="/title/evolve">evolve</a>d to control their <a href="/title/environment">environment</a>s and create ones, and thus people are no longer 'natural' per se, and (2) that certain <a href="/title/law">law</a>s of <a href="/title/quantum+physics">quantum physics</a> state that even observation can change what is observed. The natural order for the rest of the world and the natural order for people are <a href="/title/dangerous">dangerous</a>ly close to becoming two seperate things.</p>Shinto (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi/writeups/ShintoBrother Bayushihttp://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi2000-11-17T22:34:41Z2000-11-17T22:34:41Z<p>Deeply ingrained in <a href="/title/Japanese">Japanese</a> <a href="/title/culture">culture</a>, Shinto is a religion that has revered the <a href="/title/natural+order">natural order</a> -- <a href="/title/sun">sun</a>, <a href="/title/sea">sea</a>, <a href="/title/tree">tree</a>s, <a href="/title/waterfall">waterfall</a>s -- throughout its history. A religion primarily of <a href="/title/ritual">ritual</a> observance and <a href="/title/festival">festival</a> celebration, it provides the Japanese <a href="/title/people">people</a> with many opportunities for <a href="/title/color">color</a>ful and exuberant expression. Although Shinto is the `<a href="/title/native">native</a> <a href="/title/religion">religion</a>' of <a href="/title/Japan">Japan</a>, the name itself, Shin-to, is an old <a href="/title/Chinese">Chinese</a> word, meaning "The Way of the <a href="/title/God">God</a>s" -- the final syllable of the word, -to, is the same word as `<a href="/title/Tao">Tao</a>' in the language of Chinese <a href="/title/Taoism">Taoism</a>. The Japanese themselves chose to use a Chinese name for their native religion because at that time, more than a millennium ago, Chinese was the unique <a href="/title/language">language</a> of writing in Japan, which had not yet developed a tradition of writing in its own language. The Japanese phrase meaning the same thing as the Chinese word Shinto is Kami no michi, "The Way of the Supernals." Thus the two expressions, one Chinese in origin and the other pure<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Ordeal (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi/writeups/OrdealBrother Bayushihttp://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi2000-11-17T22:23:45Z2000-11-17T22:23:45Z<p>Also, some <a href="/title/spiritual">spiritual</a> practices are heightened by the practice of an ordeal. Take the Shugenja (practitioners of <a href="/title/Shugendo">Shugendo</a>) of Japan, a mystical group who practice a combination of <a href="/title/Taoism">Taoism</a>, <a href="/title/Buddhism">Buddhism</a>, and <a href="/title/Shamanism">Shamanism</a>. One of the many ordeals they'll go through involve a retreat up a <a href="/title/mountain">mountain</a> in the depths of <a href="/title/winter">winter</a> with the expectation that they will receive spiritual power as a result.</p>jidai geki (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi/writeups/jidai+gekiBrother Bayushihttp://m.everything2.com/user/Brother+Bayushi2000-11-17T01:57:22Z2000-11-17T01:57:22Z<p>The word "<a href="/title/Jedi">Jedi</a>" is derived from the <a href="/title/Japanese">Japanese</a> words "Jidai Geki" which translate as "period <a href="/title/drama">drama</a>". A period drama is a Japanese TV <a href="/title/soap+opera">soap opera</a> program set in the <a href="/title/samurai">samurai</a> days. <a href="/title/George+Lucas">George Lucas</a> mentioned in an interview that he saw a "Jidai Geki" program on TV while in Japan a year or so before the movie was made and liked the word.</p>