control by means of iron discipline. This is a certain road to victory. (Clavell 1983, 49)Victory for the war leader lay in the discipline of his troops as well as himself. The leader must train himself completely to plan his moves, and the troops must be trained to obey his every command or all will be lost.Trust and harmony are also important issues in these two books. Soldiers must be able to trust their commanders just as the novices trusted the abbots of the desert. Harmony in these 4relationships were equally important. As Sun Tzu explained:Without harmony in the state, no military expedition can be undertaken; without harmony in the army, no battle array can be formed. In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign. Having collected an army and concentrated his forces, he must blend and harmonize the different elements thereof before pitching his camp. (Clavell 1983, 30)Being able to harmonize the soldiers into one working unit relates to the Taoist religion. Taoism puts great emphasis on harmony and balance between people as well as nature. Sun Tzu realized this and made it a central factor in his book. If the soldiers and the generals were in harmony then the commands and the maneuvers would be in harmony, thus allowing a victory over the enemy. The monks of the desert also required harmony as well as humility with their brothers in order to achieve victory over evil. One such example of this harmony and humility is given in this episode:A Brother asked one of the elders: What is humility? The elder answered him: To do good to those who do evil to you. The brother asked: Supposing a man cannot go that far, what should he do? The elder replied: Let him get away from them and keep his mouth shut. (Merton 1960, 53-54)Humility is the way to achieve harmony in the abbot’s way of life, for if the desert fathers can be humble and forgive those who do wrong to them, then they will be able to overcome...
