A Battle Once Begun Must Be Won

"A battle once begun must be won. K'ung-ming(an ancient Chinese hero in the novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms) was very strict in his advice to leaders embarking on a struggle. He was, in other words strict with himself. He said 'If even a single person is harmed, it is my personal responsibility.'"

--Daisaku Ikeda

Barbara is still fighting to overcome her cold but is doing much better. We see the oncologist on Tuesday and talk about when her next chemo treatment will be. We are hoping it can wait for next week because we have the great fortune to have been invited (actually she was invited and I get to go with her) to the premiere of the movie Precious next Saturday night at Alice Tully Hall. We are very excited about it and don't want any side effects to get in the way.

But as stated above "a battle once begun must be won" and we don't want to do anything that may delay our victory. Interesting how I feel our winning this battle is a must not only for us, but in order to show actual proof of our practice. Now that may not be news or odd to those who practice this Buddhism but to others it might seem like adding another "burden" (for lack of a better word) to our already heavy load. But that is not true. This is truly a great opportunity since we get to dig deep within ourselves and learn lessons during the process. "If even a single person is harmed, it is my personal responsibility" ... so I must make sure that not one person is discouraged by our struggle. And if I can actually accomplish this there is no bigger victor than myself.