My God in heaven, what hubris! If you were a student in my dojo I would put you in the wind so fast you wouldn’t know what hit you. Picture a big hand grabbing you and tossing you down a giant toilet bowl and pressing the lever. End of story.

Golly, gosh, oh gee-oh…there sure are more than enough idiots out there in the world. So, let’s get one thing straight right up front: You are the one that is benefiting from this little exchange – not me! I feel like the Little Red Hen, you are sitting on your ass while I do all the work, but you want to benefit from it, and make your trivial comments and criticisms so you can prove that you are equal. You are not. Equality and respect are not things that some jerk-off politician can give you – they have to be earned through diligent effort. You are a worm that might have the potential to be turned into a butterfly, but right now you are only a worm.

Am I serious when I say that you can’t climb the mountain unless you are healthy, physically fit, intelligent and have the correct mental attitude? You bet your ass I am. What motive would I have for lying to you? Hasn’t it dawned on you yet that the rest of the world is lying to you because they want something from you: your money, your vote, your labor, sex, or your soul. What thing of value have you given to me? Your trust, your loyalty, the time it takes to read what I write? What value are these things to me? And, how real are they if you have to ask if I am serious or not?

You are hopelessly lost! So lost, in fact, that I have serious doubts as to whether I can do anything to help you. Why should I help you? Shugendo isn’t like Christianity, or any other religion, that proselytizes to stay alive. Those religions are parasites that feed off of the weak and fearful. Shugendo is a faith for the strong. We seek community rather than wealth or power. And, our community is a true democracy so that none can lord over another. There is no room in it for physical, mental, or spiritual weaklings.