I'm sure he did. It would have been unwise not to. Just as military planners make elaborate plans that are useful only up until the first shot is fired.

I think the bigger point is that the strength or weakness of any plan, ethical system, or philosophy of life is only apparent when times are difficult and you are facing a real emotional challenge.

I used to feel like I knew something about life and living, but when my first cousin committed suicide, I was completely unable to do anything constructive for my aunt and uncle to help them with their grief. Waxing on about Buddhist philosophy wasn't particularly useful to them. They were so overcome with sadness, anger, confusion that lofty ideas about acceptance or peace of mind wasn't what they wanted or needed to hear. Perhaps if they had spent years meditating and developing useful skills for processing those emotions, their grief might have been more bearable, but eudaemonia was the furthest thing from their mind.