Originally Posted by
Trevor Johnson
As a linguistic comment, just because "ki" is a part of a lot of words, doesn't mean that those concepts are necessarily involved with ki.
Absolutely not. For instance, in an earlier post, I listed "ki gaeru" as meaning "to change one's mind."
And of course it actually means "to change one's clothes".
I was thinking of "kichigae", "changed mind" or "crazy", even though I listed "kichigae" in the same list.
But in fact, most words involving ki do involve it because they are connected like bamboo with a single root system.
When someone says "ki wo tsukete," or be careful, they may mean activate your ki just as much as a westerner would be invoking God when saying "goodbye!" (the origin of which is God be with you) Or than they invoke God when you sneeze. Bless you was originally a frantic attempt to prevent your soul flying out your nose! Nowadays, it's just polite. God is a popular linguistic concept to westerners as much as ki is to asians.
You know, Confucius believed that a word had to have a precise meaning and usage. For instance, if a word means "little white cup", then you can't use it for a little black cup or a small bowl or anything but that exact little white cup.
Just because the popular usage of a word has become obscure and modern people may not know what it means (not everyone even realizes that "goodbye" does mean "God be with you", for instance) does not evacuate the real meaning of the word. Even though people call bowls and black cups by a name that literally means "little white cup", the real meaning of the word remains unchanged. So what you ultimately have there is incorrect usage.
I was asking my wife about these things earlier today.
"Why do we say 'ki wo tsukete' (turn on your ki) but we never say 'ki wo keshite' (turn off your ki)?"
We agreed that your ki becomes tired, fuzzy and unfocused through boredom and inactivity through the day. The usual time that we say ki wo tsukete is when one of us is leaving the house. Turn on your ki! we say. Become aware of the world and tuned in to what's happening around you!
Now, to her, this might be a simple meaning, but I have always thought of it as "turn on your ki".
And when I say "Goodbye," my meaning has always been "God be with you."
Be careful when using linguistic arguments. The meaning of words changes greatly over time, and just because you call everything you don't get "ki" if you're Asian, and "miracle" if you're a westerner, doesn't mean you're right. Just means you don't yet understand it.
Well, no one has yet shown an example of any inconsistent use of the word 'ki' in Japanese language. I think it's the height of cultural arrogance to dismiss these words as things the asians "just didn't get".
Please show an example.
Goodbye and ki wo tsukete.
David Orange, Jr.
-------------------------------------------------------
"That which has no substance can enter where there is no room."
Lao Tzu