To Live in Peace

Insofar as the Way of swordsmanship is a way of victory or defeat, it is characterized by the oppositions and dichotomies of self and opponent, winning and losing, victory and defeat, life and death, and so forth. This is the reason for the tension as well as the dead seriousness which arises from it. However, as long as we oppose and antagonize others, we will never succeed in finding peace and living peacefully, no matter how long we may live. We will have to live the rest of our lives in the state of insecurity and agitation. Swordsmen with kokoro (mind, heart, and spirit) from old have taken the greatest pains to transcend their dualistic discrimination and live in the security of absolute peace.   

What I have written above is not limited to the Way of swordsmanship. It may well be said that the same is true of everything in our daily livelihoods in the human world which is based on the “will” to live. 

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– From Introduction to Zen Training: Chapter 5 - Physiological Effects, by Omori Sogen