Even more foolish is one who clings to words and phrases and thus tries to achieve understanding. It is like trying to strike the moon with a stick, or scratching a shoe because there is an itchy spot on the foot. It has nothing to do with the Truth. ZEN MASTER MUMON 1183-1260
Amateur seducers make a lot of mistakes, thinking that their victims enjoy a flood of attention, and that thinking they will lose interest unless they apply pressure. Too much attention early on gives no room for imagination – it suggests insecurity and raises doubts about their motives.
Experienced Hunters
- Never rush into the hunt – Know their prey and choose it carefully
- Do not choose targets by how easily it is caught
- Avoid generally people who are pre-occupied with Work/Business – not time for imagination
- It is always easier to fish in troubled waters – happy people are much harder to seduce
- People with lots of time on their hands are very susceptible. The victim has mental space for them to fill
- The challenge is pleasure – Desire the thrill of the chase
- A life-and-death struggle – the fiercer the better – only gradually the victim becomes aware of the hunter
- Seduction – Should begin at an angle(indirectly)- demands attention
- Whatever seducers do, they must at all costs avoid the natural tendency to crowd the target
- Take a step back; let the provoking thoughts come to the victim as if they were their own.
YORIYASU was a swaggering and aggressive samurai… In the spring of 1341, he was transferred from Kofu to Kamakura, where he visited Master Toden, the 45th teacher at Kenchoji, to ask about Zen. The teacher said “It is to manifest directly the Great Action in the hundred concerns of life. When it is loyalty as a samurai, it is the loyalty of Zen. ‘Loyalty’ is written with the Chinese character made up of ‘centre’ and ‘heart’, so it means the old in the centre of the man. There must be no wrong passions. But when this old priest looks at the samurai today, there are some whose heart centre leans towards name and money and others where it is towards wine and lust, and with others, it is inclined toward power and bravado. They are all on those slopes, and cannot have a centred heart; how could they have loyalty to the state? If you, sire, wish to practise Zen, first of all, practise loyalty and do not slip into wrong desires” SAMURAI ZEN: THE WARRIOR KOANS,TREVOR LEGGETT, 1985
The warrior said, “Our loyalty is direct Great Action on the battlefield. What need have we for sermons from a priest?” The teacher replied, “You, Sir, are a hero in strife, I am a gentleman of peace – we can have nothing to say to each other.” The warrior then drew his sword and said, “Loyalty is in the hero’s sword, and if you do not know this, you should not talk of loyalty.” The teacher replied, “This old priest has the treasure sword of the Diamond King, and if you do not know it, you should not talk of the source of loyalty.” The samurai said “Loyalty of your Diamond Sword – what is the use of that sort of a thing in actual fighting?” SAMURAI ZEN: THE WARRIOR KOANS,TREVOR LEGGETT, 1985
The Conqueror
- Identify their unusual amount of energy – they find it difficult to control
- Always on the prowl for people to conquer obstacles
- Look at their actions in work and relationships
- Love power and tend to be emotional in bursts
- Seduction with a chance to be aggressive – give them resistance and a good chase
The teacher jumped forward and gave on Katzu! shout, giving the samurai such a shock that he lost consciousness. After some time the teacher shouted again and the samurai at once recovered. The teacher said, ” The loyalty in the hero’s sword, where is it? Speak!” The samurai was overawed; he apologized and took his departure. SAMURAI ZEN: THE WARRIOR KOANS,TREVOR LEGGETT, 1985