神社を尽くして天命を待つ
Jinji wo tsukushite tenmei wo matsu
Do your best and leave the rest to fate
The best martial artists don’t focus on the outcome. When we focus on the shohai (勝敗) or “outcome,” our minds have predetermined the place where victory or the end should be. By having a predetermined endpoint, our minds are putting a cap on our tolerance. Thus, if we reach the place where we thought the victory would be and it doesn’t materialize, we run the risk of losing hope and we end up quitting. The problem with trying to anticipate the end is that the true end or outcome of something is completely arbitrary. In Japanese, they say shobu wa tokinoun (勝負は時の運) or “Victory depends on the luck of the day.” Letting go of the outcome and giving up our attempt to control it enables us to live in the here and now where we can focus solely on doing our best. Understanding this, the Japanese say Jinji wo tsukushite tenmei wo matsu (神社を尽くして天命を待つ) or “Do your best and leave the rest to fate.” In the olden days, having a mindset based upon winning or losing was thought of as akinai konjo (商い根性) or “The businessman’s mind.” The businessman is always “calculating” their actions for profit. The warrior has samurai katagi (侍氣質) or “samurai spirit” and is only concerned with being resolute and doing their best. In Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s book Hagakure, he writes, “A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams.” As it is understood in Buddhism, the dream in this sense is a mayoi (迷い) or “illusion or delusion” which keeps us from reaching enlightenment. From the standpoint of the martial arts, through our training, we are trying to reach a similar type of enlightenment called myou (妙). At the level of myou, there is no winning or losing, just sublime movement. Neurological scientists believe that the human brain is incapable of focusing on two things at once. Therefore, to reach this sublime state, we must either focus on winning which will disable us from doing our utmost best or focus on doing our utmost best and disregard the desire to win. If samurai means “one who serves” then we must only focus on doing our best. Today, most of us are not fighting in battles, but we can still use this samurai mindset to better our lives. By not focusing on the outcome, we can just pour ourselves into the act of doing and free ourselves from the confines of achievement which today’s society so greatly covets. That is why the best martial artists don’t focus on the outcome.
Today’s goal: Don’t focus on the outcome; only focus on doing your utmost best.