Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why

by Laurence Gonzales

There is an old Zen story about a young man who passionately wants to become a master swordsman. He goes to the Kundo master and begs to be taught, but the master puts him to work in the garden instead. Every time the student isn’t looking, the master sneaks up behind him and whacks him with a stick. The student is terribly frustrated, and this goes on for months, then years. No matter what the student does, he can’t seem to sense when the master is behind him, and he is constantly covered with bruises. But then one day, the student is in the garden, as usual, hoeing and weeding, and the master sneaks up behind him. He swings. The student ducks. The master misses. The student is overjoyed. He leaps up and shouts, “Now will you teach me swordsmanship?” “Now you don’t need swordsmanship,” the master says.