01-20-2010, 12:00 AM
When a warrior makes the decision to take action, he should be prepared to die. If he is prepared to die, there shouldn't be any
pitfalls, any unwelcome surprises, any unnecessary acts. Everything should gently fall into place because he is expecting nothing.
A warrior, as a teacher, must first of all teach about the possibility of acting without believing; without expecting rewards-
acting just for the hell of it. His success as a teacher depends on how well
and how harmoniously he guides his wards in this specific respect.
In order to help his ward to erase personal history, the warrior as a teacher teaches three techniques: losing self-importance, assuming responsibility for one's acts, and using death as
an adviser. Without the beneficial effect of these three techniques, erasing personal history would involve being shifty, evasive and unnecessarily
dubious about oneself and one's actions.
There is no way to get rid of self-pity for good: It has a definite place and character in our lives; a definite facade which is recognizable. Thus, every
time the occasion arises, the facade of self-pity becomes active. It has a history. But if one changes the facade, one shifts its place of prominence. One changes
facades by shifting the component elements of the facade itself. Self-pity is useful to the user because he feels important and deserving of better
conditions, better treatment, or because he is unwilling to assume responsibility for the acts that brought him to the state that elicited self-pity.
pitfalls, any unwelcome surprises, any unnecessary acts. Everything should gently fall into place because he is expecting nothing.
A warrior, as a teacher, must first of all teach about the possibility of acting without believing; without expecting rewards-
acting just for the hell of it. His success as a teacher depends on how well
and how harmoniously he guides his wards in this specific respect.
In order to help his ward to erase personal history, the warrior as a teacher teaches three techniques: losing self-importance, assuming responsibility for one's acts, and using death as
an adviser. Without the beneficial effect of these three techniques, erasing personal history would involve being shifty, evasive and unnecessarily
dubious about oneself and one's actions.
There is no way to get rid of self-pity for good: It has a definite place and character in our lives; a definite facade which is recognizable. Thus, every
time the occasion arises, the facade of self-pity becomes active. It has a history. But if one changes the facade, one shifts its place of prominence. One changes
facades by shifting the component elements of the facade itself. Self-pity is useful to the user because he feels important and deserving of better
conditions, better treatment, or because he is unwilling to assume responsibility for the acts that brought him to the state that elicited self-pity.