Force the tiger to jump the wall.

This phrase is one of the famous Chinese saying which means that the tiger have no way out except to jump over the wall to escape. Normally, the tiger is not a jumper and when faced with a dead end, it will do the impossible. In ancient times, this is an advise given by the parents or teachers to the students to leave some space in whatever they do. We should not be so absolute or extreme when handling human beings, otherwise, the outcome cannot be controlled or the conflict will end in a bad taste with unavoidable injuries.

There are a lot of extreme advise like when you cut the glass, you must pull the roots , otherwise, when the spring air come, it will grow again. So, in ancient dynasties, when an Empire falls, the conqueror will make sure that all the people associated to the King is killed completely to avoid troubles in the future. This philosophy has its wisdom and extremism similar to the above sayings.

If we chase and force our enemies to a corner and if we do not allow them the opportunity to surrender and we keep trying to kill them, they will continue to fight until the end and the result is more killing or hurt feelings. Hence, in handling our affairs, it is often that when we win, we should give space for the loser to exit. My father, when he was alive,  always told me that it is a master skill to persuade people to kill themselves rather than you kill them yourself. In simple terms, the loser must admit that you are the winner from the bottom of his or her heart and without any verbal reminder.

In the old days, it is a matter of you win or you loose but the management Gurus nowadays is preaching a win-win situation. This philosophy is a well though negotiation skill which ends in a compromise that the winner do not take all or the loser does not lose all. It is a  barter trade or horse trading technique which ends in complete satisfaction on both sides. The basic theory is that we should control the greed on both sides. A well balanced settlement instead of forcing the tiger to jump the wall which ends in bloodshed and disaster.

So, the Buddhist philosophy of everybody wants to be happy and everybody also wants to avoid unhappiness. With this philosophy, we will understand that the win-win theory easily and we can accomplished all the negotiation with ease and satisfaction.  This is true when the deal is done with sincerity and complete honesty, any malice or intended fraud will disrupt the situation and throw everything off balance. When a cheating heart is involved, the harmony and peace will not prevail and it will end with an eventual winner or loser.

Namaste.