Miyamoto Musashi's Final Work

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dokk%C5%8Dd%C5%8D

by rgrieselhuber • 18 years ago

26 24 18 years ago

en.wikipedia.org

mhidalgo• 18 years ago

1. Accept everything just the way it is.

Not a big fan of that one, I think some situations are out of your control however nothing would have gotten done in this world if everyone followed this moto.

Rod2• 18 years ago

If we did accept everything just the way it is, then we would have to accept ourselves the way we are, too. Since we are motivated by the pursuit of material possessions, comfort, good food, desire and pleasure (among many other things), then I am tempted to conclude that Miyamoto Musashi's work is a little bit self-contradictory.

rgrieselhuber• 18 years ago

This one is a bit of a double-edged sword (no pun intended) but the way I look at that precept doesn't preclude doing something to change the situation. It just means being willing to stare reality in the face and accept (eg. understand) it for what it really is.

bprater2• 18 years ago

Accepting doesn't mean standing in the corner picking your nose for the duration of your life.

If you are really interested in this concept, I highly recommend reading Katie Byron. All her work is about accepting life as it is.

tokipin• 18 years ago

i don't think he meant it as "do nothing." rather, he meant something more like accepting the world as it is given to you, accepting the truth instead of rationalizing, etc

acceptance is a big part of moving on

this isn't just an idealist guess on my part. just from the little I've read from his "Book of Five Rings" it's clear he was a pragmatist. his style/philosophy was essentially "do the best thing in the given situation," not different in spirit from Bruce Lee's style

Prrometheus• 18 years ago

>"i don't think he meant it as "do nothing."

But then again, a lot of eastern ascetics and mystics mean exactly that.

bprater2• 18 years ago

"Do not seek pleasure for its own sake." What do you think he was trying to say?

amix• 18 years ago

I think he meant don't peruse pleasure for the pleasure's sake - e.g. like having sex with a women only because of sex.

stcredzero6• 18 years ago

When you do something like that, you're ignoring lots of other factors that often turn out to be very important.

mark_h• 18 years ago

Thanks for posting that. I read Book of 5 Rings a couple of times when I was younger and still obsessively practising martial arts. I hadn't come across this though.

I don't stack up well against #13 unfortunately! (Unless that's intended as an extension of #2 perhaps; "don't be a glutton")

zach2• 18 years ago

Could you imagine coming to interview at a company that had these "core values" on a brass plate on the wall?

  * Accept everything just the way it is.
  * Be detached from desire your whole life long.
  * In all things have no preferences.
  * You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honor.

I would say I forgot something in my car, then 15 seconds later they would hear screeching tires. No thank you.

stcredzero6• 18 years ago

You have to understand that Musashi is a swordsman. Understand these precepts in that context first, then generalize.

For example, the precept against preferences makes perfect sense for a swordsman. If you prefer a particular attack, then this becomes a weakness. You will tend to see openings for that kind of attack instead of seeing a better opening for a different attack. You also become more predictable.

In the west, a non-swordsman would instead say, "If all you have is a hammer, then everything starts looking like a nail."

Applying the above to computer programming: Sometimes people will implement something in their favorite language despite another being vastly superior for the particular purpose.

The correct analysis and generalization of the other precepts are left as an exercise.

zach2• 18 years ago

No, actually, that goes double for me showing up for an interview as a feudal swordsman. Replace the sound of screeching tires with galloping hooves.

So lack of preference is a strictly tactical precept then. Well, who cares? If someone's supposed to sacrifice their body for your cause, is it because you use the best tactics? Hell no. It can't be passion, nor excitement for change, nor desire for something greater -- he's already disclaimed those.

The presumed motivation is strictly honor, which takes us back to "do what is expected of you," which even then was hardly a new message in Japan. These precepts at best struggle to transcend their cultural trappings.

signa11• 18 years ago

i would highly recommend the beautiful mushahi-miyamoto samurai trilogy by hiroshi-inagaki. very, very nice indeed. it has the feel of 'siddhartha' by herman-hesse, but with samurai scenes.

jcl• 18 years ago

Or read the epic novel "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa, on which the movie is based. Or the "Vagabond" series of graphic novels. All first-rate entertainment, if you like samurai stories.

jballanc• 18 years ago

Soooooooo....basically just Tao-ism?

stcredzero6• 18 years ago

Sooooooo...just a bunch of precepts to turn you into a nihilistic Bushido robot who can make for an efficient killing machine?

cubix• 18 years ago

In all things have no preferences.

Even when it comes to lists of precepts?

hsmyers• 18 years ago

The 'many ways to the top of the mountain' precept covers the existence of other valid precepts.

Miyamoto Musashi's Final Work

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