Samurai

In Japan samurai practiced zazen to master martial art. Martial art is not just physical things. It is a matter of whether he losea or wins. So [laughs] as long as they are afraid of losing their life [laughs], they cannot act in with full ability. Only when he is free from “to kill or to be killed,” and only when he reacts to his enemy's activity, that is only way to win. If he tries to win, he may lose. [Laughs.] So, how he can act without this kind of fear, which will keep him in limited activity is the most important thing. Because they had this kind of problem, they practiced Zen very hard. It is matter of [ laughs], whether he can survive or he not in the battlefield. So he fought his fight in the zendo, not in battlefield [laughs].      --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki  lecture - 69-03-09 - as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC  - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching.