This is the conclusion 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 while here on earth. They are Musashi’s guiding principles for a warrior’s respectful life. I encourage you to take what resonates and create your own unique code for your life and invest in those personal principles you adopt. The great Miyamoto Musashi was a Heartbroken Warrior in my opinion because he understood the complexities and drama of death and change. These principles are ways of a warrior and intended to help us to live an enriched life of integrity.
These are my final thoughts and discussion on his views regarding how to be a warrior. Please keep in mind the context and time period that he wrote. These are at best metaphorical like many ancient texts.
Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
Honor the divine, but do not be caught up with dogma. Even in Buddhism, it says you can be too Buddhist which will scatter your Truth away from Love and onto the letter of the law. Your Path is yours alone and unique. If we were all the same and had to jump through the same hoops to achieve salvation, there would be a checklist we could satisfy and we could then say … I’m good now. A true warrior relies on their own strength and choices that are God given. We have an amazing brain and True Perfect Spirit within that can guide us. To act as if our intuition through these is powerless is blasphemy. True respect lies in embodying the voice within and the actions you take based on this guidance.
We are to Know our spiritual true nature and live by the principles we discover. If we are expecting divine intervention to bring us our dinner, we will go hungry that night. An angel will not show up at our door with the perfect meal we imagine. We must work for this with the skills and abilities we have. It would be insulting to a Creator not to use the most perfect gift of free will and choice. We can use our creativity as a creator ourselves to get what we need since we are all from the Creator of universes. We can devise plans to have all we desire while still being in the present moment and enjoying the Now where true power lies. The balance is that God is always with us and if we are doing our due diligence, we will get a lift and leg up when we need it even without asking.
You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honor.
Honor and Integrity are the only things that will go with us when we die. Those two things will also preserve and protect our bodies. When we respect ourselves we keep our bodies away of harm’s way. By having self-love and not putting toxins into our bodies, we bolster our lives. We exercise our bodies and our minds and get strong when we are loving ourselves. We are not to purposely abuse our bodies because that is disrespecting our God. We are not to hastily put ourselves into dangerous situations. We are to be safe and respectful preserving our existence so that we can live and love and laugh and play and be One with our Creator and each other. This is a wonderful opportunity to be Joyful learning our lessons on our Path.
Our bodies are just a temporary holder of our eternal spirit. Our spirit never dies and will live with the Source of all things forever. Our bodies will die and we must know this. We should not want to die, not because of fear, but because we love living. We have a purpose for every day we live in this existence. We are to achieve and learn and have Joy. However, all good things come to an end and our Journey will come to a close as our purpose here is over for this go around.
Never stray from the Way.
We must all come up with our own code. We must be strong in our decisions regardless of what the prevailing culture or authority says. We must stand strong as a warrior. We all can Know the Way. There are many Ways to the Path to God. Dedication to your unique Path is remaining true to the principles of discipline and mastery that you discover. You can discover this in so many ways.
Imagine a tribe of people that have not met another culture before. We still see some indigenous groups unclouded by Western ideas. They never heard of Jesus or the Buddha or any philosophical ideas other than those they learned from their forefathers. Most indigenous groups have a strong respect for nature and the balance and respect our planet holds for itself. They honor this in their lives and we have so much we can adopt from them.
We can study the philosophies and ancient books we have in our world and learn from them. There are so many Truths we can take. Hermetic principles, Christian values, eastern philosophy and other religions all offer Wisdom on how to live. Nature, our inner voice and silence can teach us as well. These 21 principles are so valuable to understand and live by. We must choose what makes sense to us and not judge others for how they pick and choose their Way. We are all so different, yet still the same. We are to be united brothers and sisters with understanding, unconditional Love and allowance for individual choice. When we do this we show True Love which is the underlying theme of the Way. Live according you your values and Wisdom. Practice living by your principles every moment you are in realization. Love one another and especially yourself. These are the ways of our Creator.
Key Themes of the Dokkōdō
Simplicity: Live a life free from unnecessary things, attachments and desires.
Self-reliance: Depend on yourself and the skills and strength of your will.
Acceptance: Embrace the reality of life as it is Knowing that everything is purposeful.
Discipline: Maintain your focus on your Truth an live accordingly.
Detachment: Avoid emotional and material dependencies as they are transitory in nature.
We can have inner strength, clarity of mind, and live a purposeful life by understanding Musashi’s principles he founded. We must have self-mastery, simplicity, and a focus on what truly matters in life. They are timeless concepts of a warrior. We must be Heartbroken Warriors in this lifetime fighting the cultural powers that want to control us and we must stand true to our beliefs. I believe all life codes should be similar to Musashi’s by encouraging balance, wisdom, strength in our character and be in Union with our Creator.
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