Reminding you that we'll be giving you an address at the end of today's talk, which you can write to for more information about the spoken word lectures and seminars of Alan Watts and their availability on convenient audio cassettes. We ask that you not make copies of these programs off the air without express permission from the Alan Watts Institute. Now here is part four from the seminar entitled, Future of Politics. The whole philosophy of Bushido, or the way of the warrior in Japan, is a test of nerve between men, as to can you face this thing, can you face being chopped up instantly. The Zen poem which says, under the sword lifted high, there is hell making you tremble. But motichu, which means go straight ahead, and there is the land of bliss, there is paradise.

[01:10]

Don't stop. Don't hesitate. Don't, the minute you are put off or made to flinch, as we say, by the heavy edge of the sword, you're lost. If you don't flinch, you're always quick enough to defend yourself. So life could be construed in terms of a competition in who's going to flinch first. See? Right. So we are involved politically in a game of studying the logistics of a mutual eating society, that all life, all living creatures, exist by virtue of destroying something else.

[02:13]

Biology is a system of transformation, just as the waves here, you see, are a series of transformations in the surface of the water. So, every kind of living species is a series of transformations of form, but they do this through the route of teeth, of sharp edges, of chewing, of pain, and so when anything is chewed up, it has pain, and that pain is its reaction to being chewed up. And by virtue of pain and being chewed up, it is transformed into a higher order of being than itself, because the one that does, that finally catches you, is higher up in the game. And so the experience of pain is something that we say, that's terrible, that's the end.

[03:30]

But on the other end of the spectrum, as it were, the pain of a piece of caviar egg that is being chewed up is experienced as exquisite pleasure, as triumph, as victory. And now then, the secret of, say, Buddhist enlightenment, is to realize that these values that are put, pain, terrible, pleasure, great, are arbitrary, that when, for example, you were a baby, and you made a bowel movement on the floor, and you thought, wow-ee, that

[04:37]

was great, and your mother said, ugh, it stinks, and you were taught to interpret the smell of excrement as being something bad. In the same way, exactly, we are taught to experience the sensations of being sick, of being in pain, and of dying, in other words, of not continuing in the survival process. We are taught to give them an emotional equivalent of bad, [...] don't do this way, don't go that way, see, stop, overcome it. And therefore we have a hang-up about it. But the paradox of the matter is this, that if you have a serious hang-up against dying,

[05:37]

you can't be a good soldier. Think of that for a moment. What a funny situation that is. In order to have the courage, we demand of our young men, you know, who are full of strength and vitality and so on, we say to them, come on now, it's your duty to defend our society against its enemies. And in order to be able to do this efficiently, you must have a virtue called courage. And to have the virtue called courage, you must be in a very weird paradoxical situation, which is that in the prime of life, when all the world is open to you, and you want to

[06:39]

love the girl and everything else, you must not be afraid of death. You understand very well that when you get to be an old man, you stop being afraid of death, because you know you're going to die, you're worn out, and you'll be very happy to die eventually, because it's just, carrying on is too much. And so you can say with Robert Louis Stevenson, under the wide and starry sky, dig me a grave and let me lie, gladly I lived and gladly die, and I laid me down with a will. See, that's fine for an old gent, but for a young man, or a young woman who's full of energy, we demand right there the courage to lay down life. And so, in a way, the old are cheating the young.

[08:01]

Because from the old people's point of view, it doesn't matter so much. And so they can brag and talk about the virtues of courage, without actually having to fight. Because it's no problem. But for the people who we actually ask to do the fighting, it is a problem. So now, then, we have to consider the whole question of the philosophy and use of violence. Because this is the final political question. Politics are ultimately, when you get down south, shall we say, to the nitty-gritty of politics, it's a question of violence.

[09:06]

Because we would say when persuasion comes to the end of its tether and people won't be persuaded, then a fight starts. Now, we can explore a whole philosophy of being so skillful in persuasion that you never need to resort to violence. But let's leave that aside for the moment. Let's go through the path of violence and explore that, and find out where it ends up. And I would very strongly advise all of you, if you get a chance, to see the Japanese film called Samurai. It comes in three installments, three shows. And it's the life story of Miyamoto Musashi, this tremendous samurai hero, who becomes the unquestioned master of swordsmanship under the tutelage of the Zen master.

[10:19]

The Zen master is Takuan. And you should read Takuan's essay on the art of swordsmanship, which is in Suzuki's book, Zen and Japanese Culture, where he describes how you apply Zen state of mind, state of consciousness, to the art of fencing in the same way as Herigel describes it in the Zen and the art of archery. The thing is that the whole story reveals is that Musashi comes to the point where he realizes the total vanity of killing. He wants to be a farmer. He wants to have a wife and a child, and he wants to grow things. And he absolutely despises the idea of fighting.

[11:23]

But he is challenged to a duel by the most gorgeous young samurai in Japan. A physically beautiful man whose whole ambition in life is to fight with Musashi. And Musashi just doesn't want to do it. But he feels somehow, and what the motivations of this are, are extremely complex. He must fulfill the pandona, the point of honor, to fighting with this young man. Because the young man so desperately wants to fight with him. So they arrange a duel. And, of course, infinite complications socially are involved with this, because the young samurai is the teacher of one of the great noblemen, the daimyo. He is his personal teacher in swordsmanship.

[12:25]

And therefore all the daimyos, retinue, associates, and court are involved in this. So they set the place of duel. On a particular island. And Musashi sends a messenger. That he will arrive to meet the appointment for the duel in his own time on a boat. He comes in just before dawn onto a beach. Where this young man is really waiting to meet him with everything set. While he's coming to the boat, he takes a paddle from the boatman. And with his sword, cuts it into a certain shape. And this is the weapon he's going to use.

[13:26]

He keeps his short sword sheathed by his side in emergency. And he approaches his antagonist on the beach with nothing but the wooden paddle. But he has so tied everything, that the critical moment of the battle will occur when the sun rises. And because he stands in the water all the time, on the edge of the sand, the opponent has the sun in his eyes. He can't see. And is therefore defeated by nature. But in the moment of being slain, the opponent is so proud to have had this battle. That you can see him looking, just before he drops dead, he looks into Musashi's eyes with the utmost admiration and love.

[14:31]

And falls down dead. Even if he was defeated somehow in the end, he has found his ambition. And then all those danyos and noblemen gather around and come and say to Musashi, this was the most magnificent fencing we ever saw. And Musashi weeps and says, I will never again meet so great an opponent. And he goes away immediately. There are no honors, no nothing. He walks back to the boat. And the boatman says, oh I am so happy you won. And Musashi can only weep. What a futility. The whole thing was. So. What. What the Zen masters taught. The samurai in the art of swordsmanship.

[15:40]

Was that ultimately, if you really understand how to use violence, how to use power, you don't use it. The highest school of kendo fencing is called the no sword school. Now here you see is a funny situation. If you are a Buddhist. One of the first principles that you observe. Especially if you are a Buddhist of southern Asia. You don't kill anything. You are a vegetarian. You abstain from the taking of life. Your first precept. I undertake the precept for abstaining from the taking of life.

[16:52]

So people say, well how can these samurai. Who slaughter everybody in all directions be Buddhists. Well here is the problem we have to consider. Because you still have to ask the inner yama Buddhists who are vegetarians. How can you dare to scrunch all those poor vegetables. And make them suffer for your existence. I asked R.H. Blythe this. R.H. Blythe was the man who wrote. Then in English literature. Translated all the haiku poems. He was a devoted vegetarian. And teetotaler. And I teased him. You know we had a wonderful discussion together. You vegetarian. You are scrunching up all those vegetables. How can you do that. He said they don't scream so loud. Laughter. So here you have the paradox.

[18:01]

Of. Buddhism which is. A way of life which highly stresses. Compassion. And kindness. Ahimsa. Harmlessness. Yet somehow in a funny way. Allying itself. With a class of soldiers. Using these. Frightful weapons. But by. The association. Eventually. A few of those soldiers learn. How to get out of the system. Now Japan as a whole. May have learned. At this point. How to get out of a system of violence. It's doubtful. They may have learned their lesson. In that.

[19:04]

Second world war. And you could say perhaps. The cultured members of the country. As a whole. Have learned. That the game of violence doesn't work. But a few. Individuals learned this. As a result of. Studying Bushido. And the art of judo. And the art of kendo. Of fencing. To its final limits. They learned. That. The. Power. Of never defending yourself. There's a beautiful scene in the movie. When Miyamoto Musashi. Is in a little. Cheap inn. And he's eating his dinner. And it happens that the rice has some lice in it. And that. He's suddenly challenged.

[20:06]

By a brigand. Who is in charge of the. Particular crime racket in the area. And this brigand comes on. With a very strong line at him. And you see Miyamoto Musashi. Picking the lice out of the rice. With his chopsticks. And throwing them away. Absolutely unconcerned. And this brigand looks at him. He's tried all his tricks. All his terrors. And this man simply is bored. So the brigand instantly. Becomes Musashi's disciple. So. You see what happened. The politics of the thing. Comes down to a. Game of nerve. Let's just take it.

[21:06]

Geographically and physically. The. As you look at Japan. Today. Go and visit a town like Kyoto. The hills on the north side. Of Kyoto. Are the loveliest land. The most beautiful forests. And hills and landscape. And streams. Where anybody. Could possibly want to live. Therefore naturally. The richest and most powerful people. Own the land. This was the luxurious area. Well it so happens that the Zen monks. Occupy a great deal of it. They live like princes. Only. Personally. Each one of them is poor. They lead a. Life of what I would call. Luxurious.

[22:08]

Asceticism. And you know what that means. When you are. Camping. Life can be sort of rough. You don't sleep in silk sheets. You sleep in a rough blanket. But the surroundings are lovely. So that's the way they live. The question arises immediately. Then how did they capture this land. As monks with nothing. No weapons. At all. From the most powerful Britain around. Because the people who are the nobility. Today. Were originally. The roughest guys going. So today the Rockefeller family. In the United States for example. Were the robber barons. Brutal people. The great lords and ladies of England. Who were. Originally.

[23:10]

The brigand chief. Who robbed the land. And put everything down. So in the same way. The daimyo. Were simply the most successful. Bunch of crooks. The government of the United States. Is as a matter of fact. Nothing other than the most successful. Group of gangsters. But somehow. The monks. Overcame. Because the monks. Looked them in the eye. And said. You can't frighten us. And they said. Aha we can't frighten you. And they tried everything. And the monks couldn't be frightened. So the brigands got worried. Because they would like to be as unfrightenable as that. Because if they knew they could be as unfrightenable as that.

[24:12]

They could win any contest. See. The monks simply stared them down. And I can't imagine. What that must have meant. In terms of some. Personal suffering. For certain individual monks. They may have tried tortures on them. Say see if we could move you. They couldn't be moved. They just. Could not be made anxious. Or frightened. And the reason why they couldn't was. That they had learned. This thing. That. You needn't be ashamed.

[25:17]

Of feeling pain. You needn't. Panic about pain. It's perfectly alright to be in pain. And to object to it. But don't object to objecting. Let go. And if you understand that. You see. You can be. You can be. A complete hero. Incapable of being moved. By any torture. Because you see through the illusion of the world. And they saw that. And therefore they could out face. All those brigands. And therefore the brigands said. Teach us. As a result. The ownership of the best land. On the north end of Kyoto.

[26:18]

Passed into the hands of the monks. Now shortly before the second world war. The Japanese government. Committed an ultimately serious mistake. Which is the reason. Why the Japanese were defeated. They deprived the monks. Of their lands. And said. All churches have to be. Disestablished. We take away from you your lands. And therefore. You have to shift to restaurants. And tourist places. In order to make a living. Because shortly before. Something happened in Japan. Shortly before the second world war. Whereby they lost. Their understanding. Of the no thought school. And made this ridiculous.

[27:19]

Gamble. Of bombing Hawaii. And starting that war. In which they failed. And it is so curious. You see. That the starting of that war. And. Rejecting the monks. Happened at the same time. And I wrote. Just before the second world war started. An article. In Asia magazine. Called the rusty swords of Japan. Saying. How the samurai. Had lost their spirit. The war hadn't started at that point. They had lost the understanding. Of the sword. Because they had lost. The understanding of Zen. Therefore they would win. They would lose. They hadn't any nerve anymore. So then.

[28:24]

Let us allow that in life. There has to be violence. That trees have to be chopped down. That pigs have to be stuck. That chickens have to be strangled. That. A soft. Succulent. A sensitive. A substance. Has to be crunched by teeth. If this doesn't happen. Life doesn't go on. So. What are you going to do about that? What will be your response to that situation? You could say. No. [...] That's just too bad. Let's stop the whole thing. I want to stop the show. Get off. Not do that.

[29:34]

How will you do that? Even a vegetarian. Can't stop it. You can commit suicide. Yes. And say I reject the whole system. It is appalling. Horrible. That's one possibility. What's the other possibility? The only other possibility is to say that if violence is involved. If the teeth are involved. If there is that side of life. Then let us do it beautifully. If you have to cut a head off. Don't do it with a blunt knife. Because that will involve unnecessary suffering. Do it with the sharpest knife that you can make. As fast as possible. And then thereafter

[30:37]

if you are going to eat living flesh. If you are going to eat a fish or a bird or whatever. You owe it to this form of life. To prepare and cook it in the most expert way. Because then you can say a fish that has died for you and is not well cooked has died in vain. So that in so far as the dead fish to the dead bird become you. They may at least have the privilege of enjoying themselves as you. Now that may sound you know as a weird language. And you can say ah you can talk. It's alright so long as you are on the eating end. And supposing you were the bird. You wouldn't enjoy it. You would just disappear. You would become unconscious. And you wouldn't participate in this.

[31:40]

But I wonder if that's really so. Let's take the whole idea of Christianity. Jesus initiated a rite which we call the mass. And he and this this rite has been kept going for goodness knows why but it's been kept going for thousands of years among Christians. Every Sunday. Everybody is supposed to go to mass. What's it all about? Jesus takes a loaf of bread. Now what is a loaf of bread? It is grains of wheat that have been beaten up and pulverized into flour. And what is a cup of wine?

[32:48]

It is crushed grapes that have been squeezed and broken into juice. Now he makes an analogy. He takes the bread and he says this is my body which is given to you. Do this in remembrance of me. He takes the cup of wine and he says this is my blood which is shed for you. Incidentally for the remission of sins. Do this in remembrance of me. I've never heard clergy talk about this. But obviously here is life itself saying to you I am the wheat. I have been crushed to give you life. I am the vine.

[33:52]

He said I am the vine. You are the branches. I am the vine which has been squashed. But please it's for the remission of sins. Don't feel guilty about it. Take this and drink it. Because in some funny way the creature that is the eaten one is giving itself the sacrifice as voluntary. And please don't feel guilty. So in the whole sense of the idea of the mass something that you participate in in order to attain salvation and liberation from guilt and hell and all that kind of thing

[34:53]

is connected with the idea that the victim is a voluntary victim. And as a matter of fact in the very ancient sacrifices human sacrifices in Mexico, the Mayan and the Aztec and Inca cultures were the human sacrifices. It was of the essence of the thing that the victim was voluntary. Now there cannot be such a thing as a voluntary sacrificial victim. Except in a world in a metaphysic, in a world view where you know that death and life are simply opposing vibrations. But death can never win. You can't

[35:54]

you can't have a state in which death is the permanent situation. Because if life involves death death involves life and they both go ya [...] with each other like that. So death comes every so often. And it wipes out your memory. But you keep on going under a new scene. Remember how long it's taken for you to develop from babyhood until now? What a struggle it's been. What a big thing. See that's one great wave in this vibration. Like that. But there are short waves like waking and sleeping. Like when you look at a light actually the light is vibrating going so fast that you

[36:56]

can't pick up the intervals. But when you hear a very deep sound you can hear the ya [...] the vibration. The vibration between life and death is such an enormous wave Well there has to be an enormous wave in order that you can understand what a little wave is. So Jesus in the whole parable this mass, this last supper is saying look well he is saying what the Hindus say when they say Anam Brahman. Anam Brahman means food is Brahman. Food is the Godhead.

[37:59]

This is my body. Every victim which is squelched and squirmed and crunched and turned into you is from a certain standpoint a voluntary offering. A kind of process of cosmic masochism whereby you really want to be scrunched up and absorbed into someone or something else. Of course you object Of course you will raise all kinds of shrieks at the moment of being crunched up and say no stop no no no no But all that is the the flavor of being scrunched up. Oh don't let that happen.

[39:03]

See see see Don't let that happen. And you realize finally that just as in the movie I was describing to you when the antagonist the Miyamoto Musashi has actually been killed he has been given a death blow he is still alive for a moment and he looks into the eyes of his adversary with this expression of complete love and total admiration and drops dead. This is saying to life which involves the thief I accept you. I love you.

[40:04]

And now this isn't quite the final story. Let's suppose this is really the picture. Let's suppose that the life force the Brahman does give itself to us through the fish. The fish don't know it exactly. And go through a kind of ecstatic masochistic dance in the course of being devoured. Let's suppose we understand all that. Then you have to say when you review all this and you see this absolutely ecstatic display of pain being offered to you to continue your life as a gesture of love you realize what kind of a thing you are dealing with

[41:14]

what you are involved in. See? You see this idea of the the vibrancy of a loving gesture being given to you all the time by all these creatures to sustain you in being what are you going to do? You say now wait a minute. This is so gorgeous this thing that I must treat it with the greatest reverence. Let's cool it. Let's stroke it. Let's lessen suffering everywhere we can like Schweitzer talks about reverence for life. This thing is so throbbing it's so enthusiastic in the way that it abandons itself and it offers itself for my consumption. That one wants to say to it thank you but this thank you is a loving thing it's a gesture of stroking it and calming it.

[42:14]

Cut down the suffering. Always let compassion prevail. And great out of a feeling of immense gratitude to this energy that turns itself into you all the time through pain. So that you every individual is a murderer the only thing you don't the only thing in you that isn't stolen from other beings through murder is water. Everything else in your body is borrowed. Stolen from some other form of life by killing it. See? So you say in response to this wave of energy that is manifesting itself as you as a result of murder you say finally thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Peace. I want to stroke you, I want to love you. Let's cut down the killing.

[43:17]

Let's ease the pace of this thing. You've been listening to Alan Watts with part 4 from a seminar entitled Future of Politics. Thank you. Rrrrrr

[44:21]

Rrrrr Rrrr [...] Hallelujah! [...] Hallelujah

[45:50]

You are invited on Christmas day to come in and keep your faith. All day, but especially at six o'clock for Angelic Jazz with Jim Hemingway, your host, featuring the Good News and the company of Inspired Fools. Christmas day from six to eight p.m. Good news and the company of Inspired Fools, your host, featuring the company of Inspired

[49:19]

Fools, your host, featuring the company of Inspired [...]

[50:49]

Fools, your host, featuring the company of Inspired [...] Fools, your

[52:18]

host, featuring the company of Inspired Fools, your host, featuring the company of Inspired

[52:33]

@Text_v004
@Score_JE