Learning to be the other person.
We are so focused on what we judge to be the best attitude that we forget something very important:
In order to attain our objectives, we need other people.
It is necessary, therefore, not only to observe the world, but to imagine ourselves into the skins of other people, and to learn how to follow their thoughts.
This applies to both love and war.
-不動智神妙錄 (The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom)
Credits: Dongwan’s Naver blog + Absolut Shinhwa
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What he has posted didn’t come directly from ‘不動智神妙錄’ (The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom). His post actually comes from Paulo Coelho’s ‘Like The Flowing River’, and it’s a paragraph taken from an essay titled ‘The Art Of The Sword’.
The full essay is as follows:
Many centuries ago, in the days of the Samurai, a book was written in Japan about the spiritual art of the sword: Impassive Understanding, also known as The Treatise of Tahlan, which was the name of its author (who was both a fencing master and a Zen monk). I have adapted a few sections below:
Keeping calm. Anyone who understands the meaning of life knows that things have neither a beginning nor an end, and that there is, therefore, no point in worrying. Fight for what you believe in without trying to prove anything to anyone; maintain the same silent calm of someone who has had the courage to choose his own destiny.
This applies to both love and war.
Allowing your heart to be present. Anyone who trusts in his powers of seduction, in his ability to say the right thing at the right time, in the correct use of the body, becomes deaf to the ‘voice of the heart’. This can only be heard when we are in complete harmony with the world around us, and never when we judge ourselves to be the centre of the universe.
This applies to both love and war.
Learning to be the other person. We are so focused on what we judge to be the best attitude that we forget something very important: in order to attain our objectives, we need other people. It is necessary, therefore, not only to observe the world, but to imagine ourselves into the skins of other people, and to learn how to follow their thoughts.
This applies to both love and war.
Finding the right master. Our path will always cross that of other people who, out of love or pride, want to teach us something. How can we distinguish the friend from the manipulator? The answer is simple: the true teacher is not the one who teaches us the ideal path, but the one shows us the many ways of reaching the road we need to travel if we are to find our destiny. Once we have found that road, the teacher cannot help us anymore because its challenges are unique.
This applies to neither love nor war, but unless we understand it, we will never get anywhere.
Escaping from threats.We often think that the ideal attitude is that of giving up one’s life for a dream. Nothing could be further from the truth. In order to achieve a dream, we need to preserve our life, and we must, therefore, know how to avoid those things that threaten us. The more we plan our steps, the more chance there is that we will go wrong, because we are failing to consider four things: other people, life’s teachings, passion and calm. The more we feel we are in control of things, the farther off we are from controlling anything. A threat does not issue any warning, and a swift reaction cannot be planned like a Sunday afternoon walk.
Therefore, if you want to be in harmony with your love or with your fight, learn to react rapidly. Through educated observation, do not allow you supposed experience of life to transform you into a machine. Use the experience to listen always to ‘the voice of the heart’. Even if you do not agree with what that voice is saying, respect it and follow its advice: it knows when to act and when to avoid action.
This applies to both love and war.
‘不動智神 妙錄’ (The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom) was written in the 16th century by Japanese Zen monk Takuan Soho. It deals with the myriad practical, technical, psychological, and philosophical aspects of combat. It goes beyond them, however, to discuss how the swordsman can, by concentrating on his art, become an integrated human being. Should you be interested in reading an English translated version of the original book that Paulo Coelho based his essay on, you can read the entire 48 pages HERE =)
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