Jihi no Kokoro, the benevolent heart, and the two types of people

a while ago, i was doing some research on Maasaki Hatsumi, the inheriter of 9 schools of japanese martial arts, and quite possibly, the last ninja alive. while playing Diablo 2 last night, something he said suddenly made sense.

in Ninjutsu, History and Tradition, he mentioned attaining the Jihi no Kokoro, the benevolent heart. I won't try to paraphrase it, because i don't think i can, so here's a quote from winjutsu site regarding this matter:

By experiencing the confrontation of danger, the transcendence of fear of injury or death, and a working knowledge of individual personal powers and limitations, the practitioner of Ninjutsu can gain the strength and invincibility that permit enjoyment of the flowers moving in the wind, appreciation of the love of others, and contentment with the presence of peace in society. The attainment of this enlightenment is characterized by the development of the jihi no kokoro, or "benevolent heart."

Yes, i know this already sounds like some infomercial or new religion, but it makes sense. if people were able to move above the fear of injury or death, and know their personal power and limitation, then they would achieve strength and invincibility. does that mean that they're going to go and kill everyone? or take over the world? or go berserk? climb walls, break into banks, steal money? possibly. but at the same time, it frees you from the worries you have regarding injury or death, or being a victim of crime.

anyways, to make an amazing idea stupid, i was playing Diablo 2 last night. It had been almost two years since i've played it. when i use to play, i played with a set of rules called "Hardcore". Basically, it means that if my character were to die, the character is erased. all the time, all the investment i had in this "life" would be gone in an instant, as if i didn't do anything at all. Hardcore works on the basis of fear; the fear that you can die any moment, not only from the monsters you fight, but also from other players who have nothing better to do than to kill your character, and find joy in ruining your achievements.

however, before i can play hardcore, i have to play on "normal" mode, where death doesn't matter. still, old habits die hard, and i find that although i was out of practice, there were a lot of things i did that were different than the others. for one, i didn't die. i knew my limits and manouvered in such a way that i didn't die. i wasn't concenred about loot, because i knew i would outgrow the equipment at such a low level. i also noticed deaths a lot more than others did ... simply because in "Hardcore", it's a major even when someone died. Playing "normal" is like playing in a world where lives don't matter. If you throw a thousand lives at any enemy, they are sure to die. In "hardcore", you value your existance a lot more, because it represents an investment of time and energy. You can stand there proudly and say, "I was once on USEast ladder, amongst the top 100, because i didn't die once, and i was just as good as some of the most powerful players on this side of the continent."

and then Dr. Hatsumi's words suddenly made sense. now that i know this, and trust myself that i won't die (easily), i noticed a lot more about the game, from the intricacies regarding skill placement and synergies, the way people are dressed, to how a zombie falls apart after you've whacked it enough times. i started to give away stuff i knew i wouldn't be able to use, and lessened the degree of my packrattedness (ie. hoarding equipment.) i'm not saying that i attaned Jihi no Kokoro through Diablo 2 ... far from it. but the concept made sense.

This leads me to another point. I think there are two types of people in this world: those who live through physical experience, and those who don't. Imagine a movie. There are those who absolutely must see the movie to experience it, with a crowd of other people, in a huge theatre with superior sound equipment, and those who say, i'll just wait for the DVD comes out. then borrow it from a friend, and watch it on my tiny television set with mono sound. it makes no difference to them whether the sound or image is "faithfully rendered", all they want is the story. I would go a bit further to link this to other things. People who want to go to bars, go to clubs to "meet people" ... and those who are content to stay home and "meet people", but the people they meet are in books, television shows, and the internet. Physical interaction is not as important to the second group of people as to the first.

So my question is: Is there really a big difference between experiencing it through something virtual, and experiencing it yourself face to face? obviously, there will be some difference. I'm not trying to compare great arts like martial arts to video games, but i do see a parallel between what i felt and what i was thinking last night, to Dr. Hatsumi's words.