Was the Flame and the Void inspired by military techniques used in the Vietnam War?

Question

I was reading recently about the US military assassin Carlos Hathcock, and specifically noticed the following:

Hathcock once said that he survived in his work because of an ability to "get in the bubble", to put himself into a state of "utter, complete, absolute concentration", first with his equipment, then his environment, in which every breeze and every leaf meant something, and finally on his quarry.

To any Wheel of Time fan, this description looks suspiciously similar to the Flame and the Void. Interestingly, the author, Robert Jordan, also fought in the Vietnam War. I can't find evidence of whether he and Hathcock ever encountered each other or served together, but it makes me wonder whether this was a known technique in the US military serving in Vietnam at the time.

Was Jordan's fictional technique of "the Flame and the Void" inspired by US military techniques like Hathcock's?

Answer 1

No, it's not.

It looks like he's simply channelling Buddhism. The 'void' in the title is a dead giveaway.

According to one Buddhist expert, any object can work as a focus of meditation and not just a 'flame'. In fact, I've never read of a Buddhist using a flame as focus for meditation. Which given its impermanent nature might seem appropriate. But the idea here is not to focus on the outward show but the inward.

It's worth adding that Buddhism doesn't consider ultimate reality as a 'void', that's just another Western mis-use of Buddhist concepts. But then again, this is just a work of fantasy fiction and not philosophy.

edit

It might be worth adding a quote to show how wrong the author is in characterising Buddhism; for example, in the Eye of the World, he writes:

Clear your mind of everything but the stone. Clear your mind, and let yourself drift. There is only stone as emptiness. I will begin it, drift and let me guide you. No thoughts. Drift.

I Buddhism, you are supposed to notice your thoughts ...

Answer 2

Unlikely. Hathcock had been quoted in interviews by WaPo in 1987 that

"I did not enjoy the killing," he says. "A person would have to be crazy to enjoy killing another human being."

And later

(When asked if he ever enjoyed killing) For a long time, Hathcock sits silent, and then he says slowly: "I did enjoy it once. And it scared me. Bad."

I think the comment about Hathcock was somewhat taken out of context. The quote was meant he has full concentration of the task at hand.

"Shooting is 90 percent mental," says Maj. Land, who watched Hathcock win. "It's the ability to control your mind, your heartbeat, your breathing. I first noticed that Carlos was special at the championships. There were thousands of people watching, a band and television cameras, yet it didn't seem to bother him at all."

Hathcock was in his "bubble" -- the same bubble he put himself into as a child in the woods and later in Vietnam. "I was able to shut out every sight, feeling, everything, and simply concentrate on my shooting." Overnight, Hathcock became a national celebrity among shooters (after winning the Wimbleton Cup, the 1000-yard shooting championship). A few weeks later, in March 1966, he was sent to Vietnam.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1987/01/18/the-sniper/d8f84ff6-7c57-4c07-a1ec-9fb46273d499/