This is the third part of my discourse on Miyamoto Musashi’s 21 Principles of the Dokkodo. These principles are a code of how to live life that this wise warrior-philosopher recorded for us to learn and benefit from. The great Miyamoto Musashi and a Heartbroken Warrior desires to Live how to live and not just know what we should be doing or even worse … not know. 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 three in this write-up.
Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
The only thing that is constant is change. Life is full of change. The concept of evolution is so beautiful. Our earth was created to evolve with change. We are to do the same. There is movement in everything. There is even degradation in death. There is an electron rolling around a nucleus in every single thing on earth and there are planets rotating around the sun. Life is moving. Life is vibration and vibration is a moving current. All things have a frequency. So if all things are moving, then all things change. Every cell of our bodies die and are remade every seven years. Doesn’t that blow your mind? That means that you are not even the same human you were 20 years ago. Physically you are brand new. Surely you have the same genetics, but who is to say that you are not evolving at some rate. So we must accept the impermanence of relationships and life. We have to accept the inevitability of separation and maintain emotional resilience. People move. People die. Things break and things get lost. All things eventually are separated from each other. Wouldn’t it be so boring if they did not? Being able to predict everything would not be entertaining. It is our attitude and perspective that brings Joy and fascination. What would we do if we had everything figured out. Humans actually love drama and unpredictability. That is what books and movies are about. They are entertainment and so we have to look at the movement of life that way. It relies on the proper attitude and viewpoint.
It is in separation that growth occurs. We have to adapt and evolve. It is surely sad when someone or something we love dies. We are preparing for the next chapter of life though when this happens. It can require bravery and Trust in the Power and Wisdom of our Creator. We have to acknowledge that we cannot control anything but ourselves, our perspective and attitudes. This is where the challenge and growth occurs. If we are the observers and watchers with equanimity, we can approach separation with grace and hope. I want to say that none of this is easy and it takes relentless practice, but when we practice not only do we get better, but it gets easier.
Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.
People often answer the question of “How’s it going?” with the answer “I can’t complain”. I sometimes hear “No one’s gonna listen to you anyway”. Isn’t that true. Who wants to listen to complaints. I was married to a complainer once and I was whittled down to just joining her out of fatigue. Trauma bonding is such a common occurrence these days. It’s a disgusting habit. It brings a black cloud over a person or group of people. Those people’s friends are as toxic as they are because that is all they know in how to view the world. Everything is less than adequate. It demonstrates sadness and is as the Bible will say it is “the gnashing of teeth”.
Life is beautiful. Heaven can be here and now. Hell however, is what resentment and complaining create. We must adjust our perspective. When we see that so called “problems” are just opportunities for growth. We are never tested beyond what we can handle, it is then that we can see opportunities rather than problems. We should avoid negativity and focus on constructive actions. These negative outlooks and emotions can stunt our growth. Our options will be impeded and invisible when we are hating on obstacles. We may not celebrate when a trying situation occurs that we did not desire. Eventually, if seen appropriately, we can see them as gifts. We can see what came from a door that shut. Sometimes it is an opportunity we never could have dreamt of. We can be catapulted to new heights in ways we cannot envision yet. We must be open and be available to all opportunities.
The opposite of resentment is gratitude, as they represent contrasting emotional states. While resentment involves feelings of anger or bitterness towards perceived wrongs, gratitude focuses on appreciation and thankfulness. The opposite of complaining is appreciation and thankfulness. All of this is gratitude. We can only have gratitude by trusting the process. We have to trust in the care of our Creator. All things and situations are purposeful for a higher good. Even though we may not be able to wrap our heads around the why of a situation, if we look back later we can see that everything always worked out. Everything happens for a good reason and if we adjust our attitude and perspective, we can navigate this life with ease and peace which leads to Joy, Hope and Love.
Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
Emotions are so transient. I can be high one moment and low the next. This is the nature of vibration and frequency. It can be an event that changes the mood or not. We cannot let emotions cloud our judgment or lead us astray. It is so easy to act out of emotion. Remember that emotions are just our barometer to how we are feeling and not our identity at the time. We are to observe our emotions without being the emotion. We can then lift our vibration higher by considering what is clouded by that emotion. We can think about all that is actually wonderful in our lives. We can have gratitude for the Love and care we have from God or family or friends. We can think about our passions and what we have. We can maintain self-control and have equanimity and avoid being controlled by emotions.
Love is not love. God is Love, but we can also love french fries. There is nothing wrong with either types of love, but Miyamoto Musashi is speaking of lower-case love. Lust is wonderful to have before we have a sacred sexual expression with our lover. When we have a respectful and Loving experience, lust can be needed and even sacred. Lust however is usually blinding. It can get in the way of our Path. I have been controlled by my sexual desires before and forgotten about the true course I should be on. Probably all of us have been in this position. We can get lost and have difficulty finding the trail we should follow. We can be derailed to the point of developing an addiction. I know people that a lusting addiction rules their lives. Sex addicts are not to be judged, but like all addictions, they must be understood as blind to the Path of Enlightenment. Any addiction can do this. You are never present and only when we are in the present moment can we achieve and grow and learn.
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