Changing the Culture of Education around the World!

Training Program

Used by Japan’s Samurai Class
Should be Adopted Worldwide!

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

The present-day systems of parenting and educating in the U.S. and elsewhere obviously fail to provide the physical, intellectual and emotional framework that youths need to even approach their potential as fully mature and responsible adults.

I believe an entirely new cultural paradigm is needed to reform and energize the world’s education systems, and I believe that a modern version of the training undergone by the youth of Japan’s famed samurai class could provide a model for this paradigm.

I have identified the principles and practices that made up the educational and training process of samurai youths, and published them in a book entitled: Samurai Principles & Practices That Will Help Preteens & Teens in School, Sports, Social Activities & Choosing Careers.

The book covers all of the basics of the samurai training—setting goals, discipline, diligence, perseverance, respect for others and one’s self, maintaining a high standard of personal appearance, keeping things in order, living frugally, using intuitive and emotional intelligence, and tapping into cosmic power.

Japan’s famous samurai warriors ruled the country from 1192 until 1868. During the latter centuries of their reign their training went beyond martial arts to include such cultural pursuits as poetry, painting, calligraphy, history, philosophy and social behavior, making them one of the most remarkable groups of people the world has ever seen.

Schooling in the skills and knowledge necessary to produce a samurai began in early childhood, and was a lifelong effort. Training in karate, kendo and meditation were the paths to learning the skills, morality and motivation that made the samurai so successful—and it was the heritage of the spirit of the samurai that made it possible for tiny resource-poor Japan to overcome the destruction of World War II and become the world’s second largest economy in less than 30 years.

I believe the modernized version of this samurai type of training should be incorporated into the educational system of Western all countries—and that now includes Japan.

The introduction of American culture into Japan following the end of World War II in 1945 resulted in the virtual demise of samurai-type training of the young within a single generation. The negative effects of this cultural shift were painfully conspicuous by the 1980s, prompting a growing number of Japanese to individually take up training in kendo or karate and the practice of meditation to reintroduce a sense of order and spiritual power into their lives.

Obviously, parents and teachers must take the lead in creating the environment necessary to build positive samurai-like qualities into the mindset and behavior of students, but I also hope my book will appeal directly to the millions of students who are into Japanese-made manga (comics), video games, super secret agent ninjas, and samurai films.

Samurai Principles & Practices That Will Help Preteens and Teens in School, Sports, Social Activities and Choosing Careers [based on the present-day sports version of the martial arts of the samurai] is available in both digital and paperback versions from Amazon.com and other online booksellers, Borders Bookstores, Barnes & Noble, and other leading retail outlets.

It is distributed to the trade by Ingram Book Company and Baker & Taylor. A detailed description of the book is also available on my website, phoenixbookspublishers.com, along with my other titles on the way of the samurai.
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Copyright © 2007 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente
To see a full list of the author’s 60-plus books, including The Japanese Samurai Code—Classic Strategies for Success, and Samurai Strategies—42 Martial Arts Secrets from Musahi’s Book of Five Rings, go to his personal website: http://www.phoenixbookspublishers.com/.

The Human Sex-Drive & the Life is Sacred God-Myth!

A Social Problem that Cultures Have not Solved!

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

People in cultures that have been profoundly influenced by the Judeo-Christian God concept have been taught that life is sacred, and that only God can legitimately give and take life—human life, that is, since God (it is said) gave mankind dominion over all other life forms (otherwise we would not be able to kill and eat animals, fish, fowls and a variety of other forms of life without committing a sin).

The idea that a God created all life—especially human life—and that life is sacred is so transparently invalid that it should have made any belief in the concept patently impossible. And yet it is one of the primary teachings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The life-is-sacred myth is, of course, a concept created by the founders of Judaism and Christianity as a means of weaning people away from their instincts to mistreat and kill others and to reprogram them to be respectful, kind and cooperative. In the eyes of these ancient founders only a God would be capable of such a miracle, and rightly so.

As it happened, however, the primitive destructive instincts of the human species were so strong that just being told that life was sacred was not enough to suppress these instincts in many people, with the result that mayhem and murder continued to be a distinguishing characteristic of humanity.

In fact, not long after the creation of the life-is-sacred concept, religious leaders themselves began to use violence in the name of their God in an attempt to force others to believe as they did and to obey the rules they had devised in an effort to control all thinking and behavior.

Life is indeed precious to most human beings, but the history of humanity demonstrates that there is absolutely nothing sacred about it. Those who continue to profess belief in the sacred concept merely demonstrate that the human mind can be manipulated like any computer software program, and when confronted with reality they resort to claiming it is a matter of faith, not facts.

It is the universe itself that is the Great Creator. It is infused with an inherent force to create life in forms and functions that are seemingly countless…in environments that are incredibly diverse and extreme. On Earth, new forms of life are discovered almost daily as scientists and others dig deeper into the reality of existence.

Regardless of the form and function of any life form, in whatever environment, life to that particular form is precious, but it is not sacred. All life forms, including humans, are subject to being obliterated, often in an instant, by natural forces or by other life forms.

Life is, in fact, based on life forms killing and eating other life forms—a food chain that is exactly the opposite of the religious concept that life is sacred. Nature creates life and life destroys life in order to survive and grow and become more adept at devouring other forms of life (not counting incidents of human cannibalism, of course).

Human beings are the most advanced form of life known, and some humans are capable of creating masterpieces of art, architecture, literature, music and technological marvels. In many areas, scientists and technicians are literally transforming life itself in “god-like” ways.

And yet, large numbers of human beings are still driven by the instincts of their primitive ids to use force, to repress, to maim and murder to get what they want. This destructive behavior, on an individual as well as on group and national levels, is often done in the name of their God.

There is obviously a great deal of good in cultures influenced by Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but the myths and myopia of these religions spawn and often justify irrational behavior that continues to bring immeasurable suffering, destruction and death to millions of people.

We need a new universal cultural paradigm that is devoid of theological-based myths and ignorance, and is based instead on the positive potential of the human species—a potential that now includes actually becoming god-like in our ability to do good…or evil.
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Copyright © 2007 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente

Boyé Lafayette De Mente is the author of more than 60 books on the etiquette and ethics of business, social behavior in general and languages of China, Japan, Korea and Mexico.
For a list and descriptions of his books, see his personal website at: http://www.phoenixbookspublishers.com/, or type his full name into Google’s Books search box.