This is the fourth part of my discourse on Miyamoto Musashi’s 21 Principles of the Dokkodo. This wise warrior-philosopher recorded these principles at the end of his life to help us on our own migratory journey of life. They are a code of how to live life that we can learn and benefit from. The great Miyamoto Musashi was a Heartbroken Warrior in my opinion because he understood the complexities and drama of death and change. You can read A Warrior’s Code – Part 1 to learn a little more about this great man and independent research on Musashi can give you much more information. These 21 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. Please keep in mind the context and time period that he wrote. These are at best metaphorical like many ancient texts.
In all things, have no preferences.
When we engage in situations with preconceived notions, we are not seeing with clarity. We are seeing with one viewpoint. Our viewpoint may be correct from how we see things, but there are many angles and experiences that can lend Wisdom to a situation. We can see an event from afar that may be one perspective, but someone in the middle of the action has a completely different view. They may perceive a completely different energy and intention. This other view isn’t better, but can offer other details a different view may not get. I think of a sporting event. A person on the field that is face to face with an opponent will see a play with many features a person on the sidelines cannot see and vice versa. Together, all views make a complete perspective. The issue at hand is need not allow our past experience or our desires for a specific outcome to taint the true nature of what is seen.
If we remain impartial and avoid attachment to specific outcomes, our view will not be clouded with opinion. Often, our past experience colors the facts. This is why one eye witness to a crime will see that situation completely differently than another eye witness. They are both right in their view, but may allow for distortion. We must strive for impartiality and neutrality and be free from favoritism. We might inadvertently favor a friend over someone we do not know.
Our preferences lead to attachment to an outcome. When we are attached to how we want things to be, we are going to have poor judgment with a factual situation. You will see clearly if we refrain from bias.
Freedom is in the present moment. When we have preference, we are in the past or the future. The past uses personal experience as a remedy and the future is a story we create with a desire as an outcome. If we are seeing clearly as it is, without bias, we can make better decisions. A mind unshackled by preference allows the mind to be open to all options and viewpoints.
Be indifferent to where you live.
Musashi was a loner … a drifter, like in the TV show Kung Fu. Being attached to a location or home would hinder his growth and discovery of new experiences which taught him lessons. We live in a different culture, but we can still take this lesson to heart. Material comforts can make us lazy. We can become complacent with the goal of seeking Truth. It is easier to sit on the couch devouring mindless or worse, detrimental negative energy via the stories on the amazing televisions we have for example, than to read inspirational books that question our view of life. The convenience of having anything we want at our fingertips or a touch of a button can hinder growth if we are not conscious and we allow it.
Where we live doesn’t have to be our house. It can be not moving forward in a job or in a relationship. We can live somewhat miserably, yet have an income that is useful, yet unfulfilling. We may not even realize we are sacrificing our integrity for comfort. It is wonderful to be comfortable. However, when we attach ourselves and our identities to our comfortable environment, we often are not growing. We start to become unfulfilled or worse … angry and resentful. We know from the last writing what resentment causes.
Whether you live in a mansion or a shed or a prison cell, you can find Joy with the proper perspective. We can realize that we are provided for and have a roof over our head or clothes on our backs no matter how grandiose they are. It is in perspective that we find happiness. I am not saying that we cannot enjoy beautiful things. We should. We are endowed with such abundance and beauty. We must celebrate and enjoy all of the wonderful things God has given us. We have to live in Happiness, Joy and Appreciation. It is our purpose to have and find appreciation of the wonderful things in this life. However, we should not make this happiness we gain from material possessions a god or idol. We must have the balance to know we can be happy in any situation regardless of the vast disparity in comfort.
Our true home is our Journey and our purpose in life. We are to enjoy what we do and where we are. Our inner self is our true home. Nothing can destroy that house except our personal choices, but a fire or flood can destroy the most wonderful building. If our Joy is in that physical construction, then it can be swept away in a moment. Our inner house is never destroyed if we have built it on a proper foundation.
Do not pursue the taste of good food.
We need food for sustenance. Eating too much is worthless and will make us sick. Eating too little will dwindle our physical being. As in all things, we are to find balance. We must be present with our food. We can make our eating a meditation. We can completely chew our food and be present with the taste and take our time to enjoy each bite. This is appreciation and gratitude. Thích Nhất Hạnh spoke of this as an eating meditation. This is showing respect and thankfulness for the nutritious food we have in front of us. Today, we have so much variety at the grocery store. This is unprecedented compared to what our ancestors had available based on the limited supply and the harvest times in a year. If we do not appreciate what we eat and choke our food down without thought, we are being disrespectful. A warrior’s diet fuels the body and the spirit. We can do this with gracious thought.
We must be balanced. We can celebrate a wonderful meal cooked by a talented chef, but we must not take it for granted or overlook the opportunity that many may not have to eat such a meal. We can eat to live, but when we live to eat, we will be out of balance and become obese in our physical body and our spirit. Again, we must remember the context of when this wise verse was written. Musashi was focused on staying lean in body and mind and unattached to material things in life. This gave him the ability to pivot and move at any moment. This is metaphorical for an effective warrior.
Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
Possessions were a burden to Musashi’s progress. He could not be nimble and move freely if he was carrying items that were unnecessary for his journey or actions. It reminds me of the homeless who find identity with shopping carts full of broken and discarded things. They strive to push them to new places with tiring effort. Yet, they are not needed or even used by them. Those excess possessions are creating worry and fear. It is a type of mental illness that we need more than we use. We have to ask ourselves why we hold on to all these extra things.
We see many types of people of all income and cultural demographics find identity in things that are excessive and unnecessary. Maybe their things are regarded with prestige, yet still a burden and unnecessary. Laziness could be an issue as it takes thought and effort to clear the shelves in our minds and physical spaces. A clear space can give way to clarity of thinking and can relieve maintenance and storage space. We need clarity to clear the shelves and when those shelves are cleared, we receive more clarity as a reward. When we let go we give room for new things. When a door shuts, there is one open. When you hold on to the partner or job that no longer serves you, there is spatial availability for something more suitable to who you are now and what you are needing. Utility keeps us in the present, sentimentality can lock us in the past and we can have difficulty staying present. Our thoughts will drift into the “what if” realm and that is not reality. We either think up new reasons why these things may be necessary or we go into our past to think of reasons they were helpful in our history that is no longer relevant. By staying present and knowing our needs now, we can keep only what is serving us in this moment and not be bogged down with possessions that create fatigue and anxiety.
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