This is Part 2 of my discourse on Miyamoto Musashi’s 21 Principles of the Dokkodo. This was a code of how to live life that this wise warrior-philosopher recorded for us to learn and benefit from. We can know how to live, but we must Live how to live. He did both. A Heartbroken Warrior desires to do both as well. You can read A Warrior’s Code – Part 1 to learn a little more about this great man. These principles reflect Musashi’s personal philosophy and approach to life, emphasizing self-discipline, independence, and clarity of thought. It was his Path … the way of the warrior. These principles were intended as a guide for living a life of integrity, self-reliance, and simplicity.
I am going to present these 21 principles of living that this master lived by. These are my thoughts and discussion on his views regarding how to be a Heartbroken Warrior. I will address the next four in this write-up.
Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
Balance is a vital concept in eastern philosophy. We are to think of ourselves and how we are to fit into this complex world we live in. We are visitors here and do not own the world. The world owns us actually. Can you cause the ocean to be calm with no waves? We are to integrate into our world rather than dominate it. We are to respect the power of Universal Harmony and find our role as caregivers to this Heaven on earth. We have the power to have Heaven or hell here with our choices and with our humility. When we stand before a vivid nature feature with awe such as the Grand Canyon or any majestic view, don’t you feel small? We are just players in this vast game. We do not own the game. We must have humility and think of our future generations to come with conservation of our planet. We cannot change anything really … not the weather, not the course of time, not anything or anyone, but ourselves. Why do we try to catch the wind? There is equilibrium and an interconnectedness of all things. Have you heard about how trees communicate with each other and their surroundings? Life is sentient. Balance is about aligning ourselves with the natural rhythms of the world and finding peace in that alignment. Balance is a living process and moves with the changes of the world. Life is never fixed and balance is about adapting and finding equilibrium within the ever-changing circumstances. When we can learn how to adapt to change in our lives, we can apply reverence to nature. Balance and respect for all things is a way of living and engaging with the world.
Be detached from desire your whole life long.
Non-Attachment refers to the practice of letting go of emotional, material, and mental grasping that can lead to suffering, clinging, and a sense of dependence on external things. In essence, non-attachment means not being overly connected to outcomes, possessions, or even relationships, allowing oneself to live freely and in the present moment. It is not about renouncing the world or detaching from life entirely, but rather cultivating a balanced and healthy relationship with it. I wrote recently about chasing things. I am very good at chasing love. Love is internal and innate because we have our Creator at our core, like all things. God is only Love. When I attach to the outcomes I desire, I am forever chasing and disappointed and exhausted. When I look inward and find Joy in myself and my actions, then I have the satisfaction I am seeking. It is then that I realize that there is nothing to chase since I already possess what I seek. I am chasing an illusion and saying that God is not Love and not within my soul if I chase what is perceived as outside of me. It is about not allowing external conditions to dictate one’s inner peace. We are to desire and dream, but again there is a balance to be found. We can recognize a goal is important, but not allowing the desire or outcome to dominate your emotional state is the balance. We can work toward it, but we do not have to let it determine our worth, identity or happiness. We are to do things for the fun of doing and the results will come on their own. Ideally, we must accept things as they are and live in harmony with nature without attachment to results or an overemphasis on personal gain. By detaching from desire, we enjoy true freedom. Nothing is permanent. We come here with nothing and only leave with what we learn. Not owning or controlling or a focussing on power requires letting go of the ego. Happiness is not dependent on outcomes, but comes from an inner state of balance and clarity. It’s a practice of letting go by experiencing life without being weighed down by the need to chase, possess, or cling.
Do not regret what you have done.
Do you know that we can actually embrace our past actions and learn from them without dwelling on regret with guilt and shame? Living that way is so miserable. We must understand that everything we have done whether good or bad has been with our own free will of choice. We are in choice every moment. We can choose anything right now. Your hands are not tied. I am sick of people desiring to be victims so that they can receive sympathy. Many peoples identities are tied up in past events and they choose to be complicit. We are not our history. It is just data. Every poor decision is an opportunity to learn and make a better decision that has the outcome you desire. We are not victims and we do not need to take on the identity of the outcomes of our poor choices no matter how extreme. There are no mistakes and there is no sin. Please stay with me based on the former sentence. We learn from mistakes and we are not to judge them. When we judge our actions with shame and guilt and punishment as “sin”, we live in that identity. God doesn’t punish us. God loves us and wants to refine us to be like Christ or Buddha. God is only Love. We are not going to burn in hell for all eternity if we don’t jump through a series of hoops someone told us to jump through. There is karma and there are outcomes from our actions, but not punishment and our identity is not from what we have accomplished or failed at. We can be brand new this moment and release our history. We can be clean this second. Mistakes are how we grow. It is trial and error. This is the only way humans learn. Even if we never jump off a cliff because our parent said we will get hurt, we are only following that advise because we have jumped off something smaller and gotten hurt. We must realize that living in regret and shame is selfish. We didn’t ruin anyone’s life. The offended are in choice to move forward and not let that be their identity as well.
Never be jealous.
I was once told that jealousy is a cancer that will eat you from within. This person that told me this is probably the most unwise person I know and yet a person like that can be a teacher and impart Wisdom. They don’t have to live it even which he doesn’t. Jealousy is a destructive emotion that distracts from self-improvement. It is alive and hungry. Essentially, it is rooted in fear. Remember there are just two root things in this world … Love and fear. The role of fear is to create more fear. Jealousy creates more jealousy.
Clinging and controlling others will eventually betray us to some level and that leads to jealousy. Clinging and chasing is attachment. We know the benefits of non-attachment. When we are betrayed, we are hurt deeply. We are in choice at that moment and can react and grow or spiral with envy, hatred and violence. Jealousy is rooted in not realizing the abundance we have or can have by our choices and true understanding. At times, a person is unable to accept that others have certain qualities, possessions, or achievements that they lack. We can overcome jealousy by letting go of the need to possess or control people or outcomes and learning to accept things as they are. This is reflected in the prior principles.
We must go with the flow of life. Allowing life to twist and turn and not struggle to paddle upstream will kill the virus of jealousy. When we focus on our own unique Path that we alone are allowed to choose for ourselves and not be envious of others’ achievements or possessions, it is then that we can accept and flow with life as it comes. At that point, we will not feel the need to compare or compete which creates terrible unhappiness.
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