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GMC Forum _ CHILL OUT _ Dokkodo - Musashi's 21 Rules Of Living According To The Way

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 17 2012, 08:37 AM

As some of you may know, this Summer, I have begun my apprenticeship in the great Miyamoto Musashi's, Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu school of swordsmanship, where I am studying Ken Jutsu and trying to develop myself spiritually and mentally.

This extraordinary man has written a set of 21 rules which he considered of utmost importance so that one can follow The Way, as he called it along his/ her life. Here they are below, so you can read them. It's really strange to read and think about how many of them we break everyday, just because of our habits and they way we are used to live our lives. It's most definitely a challenge to try and live by these rules, even though some of them, have deeper meanings than just the words they are made up of, as all of Musashi's writings have. For instance, it is said that you must constantly re-read his famous book - The 'Gorin No Sho' so that each time if you evolve through practice, as a human being, you will discover another meaning to his words each time. Fascinating, ain't it?

Miyamoto Musashi's Dokkodo.

- The Way Of Walking Alone -


1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.

How many of these rules have you broken most constantly? biggrin.gif I for one am breaking rule no. 13 ALL THE TIME .. smile.gif

Cosmin

Posted by: Gitarrero Oct 17 2012, 08:49 AM

Interesting!

To be honest, I break a few of the rules on this list many times laugh.gif Not that many though.

I don't really understand rule number one...cause accepting things the way they are could also mean there is no need to practice / become a better swordsman / guitar player / human being...but maybe I am getting it wrong.

Posted by: bleez Oct 17 2012, 08:50 AM

QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Oct 17 2012, 08:37 AM) *
Miyamoto Musashi's Dokkodo.

- The Way Of Walking Alone -


1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.

I for one am breaking rule no. 13 ALL THE TIME .. smile.gif

Cosmin

Yeah, so with number 13 Im guessing Mr Musashi wasnt a fan of doughnuts biggrin.gif
I like the these laws though, some seem quite easy to understand but others take a bit of thought to understand them.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 17 2012, 09:02 AM

QUOTE (Gitarrero @ Oct 17 2012, 07:49 AM) *
Interesting!

To be honest, I break a few of the rules on this list many times laugh.gif Not that many though.

I don't really understand rule number one...cause accepting things the way they are could also mean there is no need to practice / become a better swordsman / guitar player / human being...but maybe I am getting it wrong.


I think what he meant with rule number one, was not to get yourself stressed out for a situation which is not the way you want it - for instance: 'Why am I not a great musician?' Because you need to practice and gather experience to get there - accept that and get to it smile.gif

Posted by: bleez Oct 17 2012, 09:02 AM

QUOTE (Gitarrero @ Oct 17 2012, 08:49 AM) *
I don't really understand rule number one...cause accepting things the way they are could also mean there is no need to practice / become a better swordsman / guitar player / human being...but maybe I am getting it wrong.


dunno but it sort of sounds like the Zen type of approach where you accept situations which you cant affect, change what you can but dont waste anytime worrying about what you cannot affect...... I think mellow.gif

****
edit... posted at the same time as Cosmin...... but what he said smile.gif

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 17 2012, 10:17 AM

Well, since we're on the topic, I just received my 'small sword' the Kodachi and a sword stand biggrin.gif Now I have a daisho - which literally means 'big' and 'little' - the sword ensemble which was worn by the samurai in medieval Japan.


Posted by: wollace03 Oct 17 2012, 12:38 PM

QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Oct 17 2012, 09:37 AM) *
- The Way Of Walking Alone -


1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.

How many of these rules have you broken most constantly? biggrin.gif I for one am breaking rule no. 13 ALL THE TIME .. smile.gif

Cosmin


wow... I am not one of the enlighted ones...cause I broke some of them on a regular basis:
10 when I was younger
13 every day
14 huch....I like to collect hings...

a question concerning 20:
if i abandon my body...will I get a better one? smile.gif

but seriously: every religion or way of thinking has some rules and I often wonder why it is so hard for people to just stick to the more imortant ones and make earth a better place to live...

Posted by: Todd Simpson Oct 17 2012, 10:41 PM

This is very close to traditional buddhist teaching of course, which makes sense given the context of his world and the fact that he studied Buddhism for many years. He did like to try to keep religion separate as is obvious from quote #19. smile.gif

Todd


QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Oct 17 2012, 03:37 AM) *
As some of you may know, this Summer, I have begun my apprenticeship in the great Miyamoto Musashi's, Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu school of swordsmanship, where I am studying Ken Jutsu and trying to develop myself spiritually and mentally.

This extraordinary man has written a set of 21 rules which he considered of utmost importance so that one can follow The Way, as he called it along his/ her life. Here they are below, so you can read them. It's really strange to read and think about how many of them we break everyday, just because of our habits and they way we are used to live our lives. It's most definitely a challenge to try and live by these rules, even though some of them, have deeper meanings than just the words they are made up of, as all of Musashi's writings have. For instance, it is said that you must constantly re-read his famous book - The 'Gorin No Sho' so that each time if you evolve through practice, as a human being, you will discover another meaning to his words each time. Fascinating, ain't it?

Miyamoto Musashi's Dokkodo.

- The Way Of Walking Alone -


1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.

How many of these rules have you broken most constantly? biggrin.gif I for one am breaking rule no. 13 ALL THE TIME .. smile.gif

Cosmin


Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 17 2012, 11:01 PM

QUOTE (Todd Simpson @ Oct 17 2012, 09:41 PM) *
This is very close to traditional buddhist teaching of course, which makes sense given the context of his world and the fact that he studied Buddhism for many years. He did like to try to keep religion separate as is obvious from quote #19. smile.gif

Todd


Well, indeed! You can pray and be a religious person, but relying solely on the help of your God is not ok, because that means you will only pray and hope that some miracle will happen. I think this one is more like 'help yourself' - work hard and pray if it makes you feel lighter and closer to spirituality or it gets you into a state of mind where you can be at peace, but do not expect a miracle if you pray and do nothing to make sure your task/ activity/ challenge is achieved.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 18 2012, 08:17 AM

I found some interesting explanations for the Dokkodo - check them out here: http://www.pluginid.com/21-rules-to-live-your-life/

Posted by: Ben Higgins Oct 18 2012, 12:51 PM

This is definitely hand in hand with Zen. The whole 'without desire' basically means that it's ok to enjoy pleasures but you must always remember that these are just temporary and not the root of our happiness and spirit. If you seek fulfilment through sensory satisfaction only then you are weakening your spirit.

Being 'detached' and 'observing' the world is meaning that you let everything be as it is without judgement. What we often forget as that 'we are nature' just as much as the animals and trees. So when us humans are going about our business and living our lives we are just nature being nature. In that spirit we should observe the world and everything in it just as we observe nature being nature without interfering or judging.

A lot of people get confused here because it sounds as if Zen has no morals.. observing people being and doing what they will without judgement. It doesn't mean that you let people commit terrible acts around you without intervening and it doesn't mean you condone bad acts. It simply means that you don't differentiate between something that comes from nature and something that doesn't. You can't look at an act of kindness and say that it's an act of humanity and then look at an act of brutality and say the person is 'not human', a beast etc. All acts, whatever they are, are a reflection of nature and whatever created us. It's said that each person shows the picture of the entire universe within them. One person is a reflection of mankind, its free will and its potential.

Without sounding religious and freaking anyone out, we don't have to like all things we see but we have to accept them as coming from the same source of creation and as such, they are a reflection of it. I might not be explaining it very well but that's the kind of approach of Zen. You can observe the life force in everybody and everything, knowing it all comes from the same ultimate source and know how everything is connected. It just manifests itself differently and wears different faces but all is one.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Oct 18 2012, 01:20 PM

I totally get you mate smile.gif

Musashi rule no.1 - which our German friend was asking about might find a good explanation in your words as well smile.gif

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