Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on August 6, 2004.
Zen Saying: Shitenno wa Kongo-zue de iga wo muku (四天王は 金剛杖でいがを剥く) or “Even the Four Ferocious Guardians of the Faith Use the Diamond Staff of Infinite Wisdom to peal the burs off a chestnut.”
What this means is that even very great people have their humanity and suffer as regular humans.
Whether it seems like it or not, I think that all humans have equal shares of happiness and sadness. It is often the people who seem to have all the advantages can suffer and some people who almost nothing to their names at all can be very happy.
I don't think our station in life is due to fate or circumstances or whether we are happy or sad - I think it is all a personal choice. If we focus on the bad things in life, the world will seem very bad. If we choose to focus on the happy or positive things in our lives, our lives can appear to be very happy.
Kisaburo Ohsawa Sensei used to say, "Just practice good Aikido and enjoy. . . " He didn't mean that we can do anything we want as we please, but I think he meant that we should approach the hard and difficult training of Aikido with a positive and joyous attitude. Many students, I see, do not understand this point.
Typically, this saying is displayed with a picture depicting two mountain monks who are famous for their rigorous training deep in the mountains. From a thousand years ago, they are known for their courage and strength. In the picture, we see them using their staffs to break the sharp burrs off the chestnuts. This is pretty funny to me!
Even a great martial artist can show their weakness in the most humane way. Martial arts is not all strength and power and winning - it is after all about being very human.
Watch this video of Furuya Sensei demonstrating and explaining Aikido in 1990