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The Tao of Ed – Notes Don’t Work By Themselves
By Mike Mindel | August 3, 2007
I was reading this forum post by PaulS about the Tao of Ed and it really struck a chord.
Here’s the quote from PaulS himself (hope this is okay Paul):
The title of this thread was something I came up with half jokingly. First it was going to be “The Zen of Ed”, but I was pretty sure that I wasn’t using the word correctly. So I looked up “Tao” on Wikipedia and I was amazed to find that it really described what the whole Ed Experience (didn’t they play outdoor rock festivals in the late 1960’s?) is about:
“often translated as ‘Way’ or ‘Path’”
and
“fulfillment in life cannot be attained by forcing one’s own destiny; instead, one must be receptive to the path laid for them by nature and circumstance, which will themselves provide what is necessary”
That’s really the essence of what Ed’s tutelage is about. The technical underpinnings of what Ed teaches are very sound, they always are. Much of that is supported by Dan, Rob and others. But part of studying under Ed is the journey, and if you strip the Yin of what people describe as idle talk, or time killing chatter from the Yang of the technical material, it’s just not as robust an experience.
I’ve heard Ed describe it as something akin to Judo (which I happen to study) where your opponent charges, you gracefully use your force to guide their force, pushing them in the direction that you wanted them to go, which was really just a very particular spot along the path they were moving on under their own force anyway.
My point (and I swear I do have one) is that you can’t just strip out the technical bits and expect them to work as gracefully or as well. As cliche as it is going to sound, you have to do the “wax on, wax off” part of the process if you want to be able to “sweep the leg, Johnny” later.
So my advice (and please, other people who have done The Challenge, weigh in on this) to those among you who are wondering where the beef is:
About content summaries, in past challenges these were produced by lovely and talented participants, and I would expect that to happen again this year.
But if you limit your study just to those, it will be like just reading the Cliff’s Notes, you might get through the test, but you won’t really attain a mastery of the material.
A CAVEAT GUYS!
Although I’ve been putting up daily summaries of the Thirty Day Challenge – you must watch the core training videos and tutorials first.
Let these daily summaries add to your understanding and act as reference material only.
Do the basic work, try not to be impatient, listen to the teacher & you will be rewarded.
Wax on… wax off… wax on… wax off…
-Mike
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Topics: Daily Summaries | 9 Comments »
August 4th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
First, Mike, I enjoy reading your comments.
Your mention that people should not be so critical of Ed’s ramblings is right on. If you eat food that is not seasoned, you will get the nourishment but it is not nearly as good as when it is properly seasoned and you can enjoy the full flavor.
Lyn
August 4th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Note. The quote in italics is from MikeS (not me) on this forum thread.
August 5th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Hi Mike,
I was stunned to see you don’t have a ton of comments here already from 30DCers thanking you for the fantastic notes. I noticed a lot of the usual suspects (and I mean that in the very best of ways) have already made comment, but I would’ve liked to see some more.
You’re doing a fantastic job here, keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Nez
August 5th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Thanks Mike,
We are certainly among illustrious company here at the 30DC. It’s wonderful to have you on board. Since reading your posts the ideas have come tumbling out! Your input has been invaluable to us. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Julie and Pommie Richard in Oz.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
C’mon…he’s not a God in the making. Lay off the worship a little.
August 11th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Yeh.
Exactly.
He’s just some bloke who types fast.
Less worship. More niches.
August 11th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Whatever- still like to say thanks a bunch Mike. It’s much appreciated.
Cat
August 11th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Thanks Cat!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Hi Mike,
The comments are very welcome and provide a live backdrop to the happenings at 30DC.
Keep em coming
Thanks a pile
Anurag