Question
Dear Master Kosen,
When I asked you about martial arts, you answered, “Win before attacking.”
I have turned your answer, “Win before fighting,” over in every direction and have come to regard it as a koan. I asked myself, “Overcome what, overcome whom?” However, I think I have found an answer and would like you to confirm whether I am right or have understood nothing.
I believe we must overcome fear of death and attachment to life before fighting. If we do, the outcome of the fight does not matter, because the end will be the same. If we die, we will have lost nothing and will accept it naturally because we were not attached to life. If we win, we do not lose, but we gain nothing either.
Could you teach me to “win before fighting”?
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
When I answer your questions, I do so simply, not to tie your mind in knots. Keep my answers in a corner and stop worrying about them. They will resurface on their own at the right time. There are times when we know we will lose and must fight anyway. That is the case for millions who will once again go to work on Monday and once again work for others, not themselves. Practice is important; deep understanding comes only through practice. Reasoning is nothing more than maps that show you the way if you read them correctly. But you can read and reread a map until you know it by heart, and it will take you nowhere if you do not use your feet. As they say in Cuba: “Caminar”—walk.
Kosen