Fredrik Haerne
July 13th, 2004, 11:00 PM
A Book of Five Rings was written by Miyamoto Musashi, Japan's greatest swordsman. After having read a thick novel about him I can only say that this man's life was fantastic. He started out as a peasant recruited as a footsoldier, fought in one battle where his side lost and he was nearly killed, and then became a highwayman. His own village caught him and he would have been killed if not for the interference of a young Buddhist monk who had him hung by his feet from the top of a tall tree. He was left there until he had learned to appreciate life, and after a couple of nights a thunderstorm whipped his body with rain and wind and he shouted "I want to live!" He was then taken down, and he apologized for his crimes.
After that he travelled around the country to learn how to live his life to perfection, and studied swordfighting and philosophy. During his wanderings he stopped to live as a rice farmer for three years, simply so as to learn what it was like. Later on he defeated another famous swordfighter who was good with the sword but had no patience for philosophy: Musashi claimed that was why he lost. The duel became famous nationwide. Musashi would also take part in attacking Christian converts, in a time when Christianity had come to divide the Japanese daimyos against each other.
Musashi never lost a duel in his whole life, and somewhere in the middle of the duelling he abandoned swords, which made it too easy for him to win, and instead opted for oars, wooden swords, shovels, branches and whatever else was at hand. He invented a technique for fighting several opponents at the same time which was taught all over Japan. He was the guest at a daimyo's mansion for a long time, until he cursed the "luxury" of living in a house and went to live in the caves, where he wrote his book. There are several museums dedicated to his life in Japan, and when a guy like that has something to say, you listen.
I recommend both the novel Musashi (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/4770019572/qid=1089776609/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-4626446-7444765?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) and the strategy guide A Book of Five Rings (http://www.samurai.com/5rings/); the latter can be read online as the link shows.
Here are a few excerpts from the Rings, with a preface:
Resolute acceptance of death: This idea can be summed up as the philosophy expounded in Ha Gakure or "Hidden Leaves", a book written in the seventeenth century by Yamamoto Tsunenori and a few other samurai of the province Habeshima Han, present-day Saga. Under the Tokugawas, the enforced logic of the Confucius-influenced system ensured stability among the samurai, but it also meant the passing of certain aspects of Bushido. Discipline for both samurai and commoners became lax. Yamamoto Tunenori had been counsellor to Mitsushige, lord of Nabeshima Han, for many years, and upon his lord's death he wanted to commit suicide with his family in the traditional manner. This kind of suicide was strictly prohibited by the new legislation, and, full of remorse, Yamamoto retired in sadness to the boundary of Nabeshima Han. Here he met others who had faced the same predicament, and together they wrote a lament of what they saw as the decadence of Bushido. Their criticism is a reveailing comment on the changing face of Japan during Musashi's lifetime:
"There is no way to describe what a warrior should do other than that he should adhere to the Way of the warrior (Bushido). I find that all men are negligent of this. There are few men who can quickly reply to the question 'What is the Way of the Warrior?' This is because they do not know in their hearts. From this we can see they do not follow the Way of the Warrior. By he Way of the Warrior is meant death. The Way of the Warrior is death. It means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. It means nothing more than this. It means to see things through, being resolved. Sayings like 'To die with your intention unrealised is to die uselessly', and so on, are from the weak Kyoto, Osaka Bushido. They are unresolved as to whether to keep to their original plan when faced with the choice of life and death. Every man wants to live. They theorise with staying alive kept in mind. 'The man who lives on when he has failed in his intention is a coward' is a heartless definition. That to die having failed is to die uselessly is a mad point of view. This is not a shameful thing. It is the most important thing in the Way of the Warrior. If you keep your spirit correct from morning to night, accustomed to the idea of death and resolved on death, and consider yourself as a dead body, thus becoming one with the Way of the warrior, you can pass through life with no possibility of failure and perform your office properly.
"The servant must think earnestly of the business of his employer. Such a fellow is a splendid retainer. In this house there have been generations of splendid gentlemen and we are deeply impressed by their warm kindness . . . all our ancestors. This was simply abandoning body and soul for the sake of their lord.
"Moreover, our house excels in wisdom and technical skill. What a joyful thing if this can be used to advantage.
"Even an unadaptable man who is completely useless is a most trusted retainer if he does nothing more than think earnestly about his lord's welfare. To think only of the practical benefit of wisdom and technology is vulgar.
"Some men are prone to having sudden inspirations. Some men do not quickly have good ideas but arrive at the answer by slow consideration. Well, if we investigate the heart of the matter, even though people's natural abilities differ, bearing in mind the Four Oaths, when your thinking rises above concern for your own welfare, wisdom which is independent of thought appears. Whoever thinks deeply on things, even though he may carefully consider the future, will usually think around the basis of his own welfare. By the result of such evil thinking he will only perform evil acts. It is very difficult for most ridiculous fellows to rise above thinking of their own welfare.
"So when you embark upon something, before you start fix your intention on the Four Oaths and put selfishness behind you. Then you cannot fail.
"The Four Oaths: Never be late with respect to the Way of the Warrior. Be useful to the lord. Be respectful to your parents. Get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of man."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The body of a rock: This is recorded in the Terao Ka Ki, the chronicle of the house of Terao. Once, a lord asked Musashi, "What is this 'body of a rock'?" Musashi replied, "Please summon my pupil Terao Ryuma Suke." When Terao appeared, Musashi ordered him to kill himself by cutting his abdomen. Just as Terao was about to make the cut, Musashi restrained him and said to the lord, "This is the 'body of a rock'."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To attain the Way of Strategy as a warrior you must study fully other martial arts and not deviate even a little from the Way of the Warrior. With your spirit settled, accumulate practice day by day, and hour by hour. Polish the twofold spirit heart and mind, and sharpen the twofold gaze perception and sight. When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true Void.
"Until you realize the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at things objectively, from the viewpoint of laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way. Enact strategy broadly, correctly and openly.
"Then you will come to think of tings in a wide sense and, taking the Void as the Way, you will see the Way as Void.
"In the Void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness."
After that he travelled around the country to learn how to live his life to perfection, and studied swordfighting and philosophy. During his wanderings he stopped to live as a rice farmer for three years, simply so as to learn what it was like. Later on he defeated another famous swordfighter who was good with the sword but had no patience for philosophy: Musashi claimed that was why he lost. The duel became famous nationwide. Musashi would also take part in attacking Christian converts, in a time when Christianity had come to divide the Japanese daimyos against each other.
Musashi never lost a duel in his whole life, and somewhere in the middle of the duelling he abandoned swords, which made it too easy for him to win, and instead opted for oars, wooden swords, shovels, branches and whatever else was at hand. He invented a technique for fighting several opponents at the same time which was taught all over Japan. He was the guest at a daimyo's mansion for a long time, until he cursed the "luxury" of living in a house and went to live in the caves, where he wrote his book. There are several museums dedicated to his life in Japan, and when a guy like that has something to say, you listen.
I recommend both the novel Musashi (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/4770019572/qid=1089776609/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-4626446-7444765?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) and the strategy guide A Book of Five Rings (http://www.samurai.com/5rings/); the latter can be read online as the link shows.
Here are a few excerpts from the Rings, with a preface:
Resolute acceptance of death: This idea can be summed up as the philosophy expounded in Ha Gakure or "Hidden Leaves", a book written in the seventeenth century by Yamamoto Tsunenori and a few other samurai of the province Habeshima Han, present-day Saga. Under the Tokugawas, the enforced logic of the Confucius-influenced system ensured stability among the samurai, but it also meant the passing of certain aspects of Bushido. Discipline for both samurai and commoners became lax. Yamamoto Tunenori had been counsellor to Mitsushige, lord of Nabeshima Han, for many years, and upon his lord's death he wanted to commit suicide with his family in the traditional manner. This kind of suicide was strictly prohibited by the new legislation, and, full of remorse, Yamamoto retired in sadness to the boundary of Nabeshima Han. Here he met others who had faced the same predicament, and together they wrote a lament of what they saw as the decadence of Bushido. Their criticism is a reveailing comment on the changing face of Japan during Musashi's lifetime:
"There is no way to describe what a warrior should do other than that he should adhere to the Way of the warrior (Bushido). I find that all men are negligent of this. There are few men who can quickly reply to the question 'What is the Way of the Warrior?' This is because they do not know in their hearts. From this we can see they do not follow the Way of the Warrior. By he Way of the Warrior is meant death. The Way of the Warrior is death. It means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. It means nothing more than this. It means to see things through, being resolved. Sayings like 'To die with your intention unrealised is to die uselessly', and so on, are from the weak Kyoto, Osaka Bushido. They are unresolved as to whether to keep to their original plan when faced with the choice of life and death. Every man wants to live. They theorise with staying alive kept in mind. 'The man who lives on when he has failed in his intention is a coward' is a heartless definition. That to die having failed is to die uselessly is a mad point of view. This is not a shameful thing. It is the most important thing in the Way of the Warrior. If you keep your spirit correct from morning to night, accustomed to the idea of death and resolved on death, and consider yourself as a dead body, thus becoming one with the Way of the warrior, you can pass through life with no possibility of failure and perform your office properly.
"The servant must think earnestly of the business of his employer. Such a fellow is a splendid retainer. In this house there have been generations of splendid gentlemen and we are deeply impressed by their warm kindness . . . all our ancestors. This was simply abandoning body and soul for the sake of their lord.
"Moreover, our house excels in wisdom and technical skill. What a joyful thing if this can be used to advantage.
"Even an unadaptable man who is completely useless is a most trusted retainer if he does nothing more than think earnestly about his lord's welfare. To think only of the practical benefit of wisdom and technology is vulgar.
"Some men are prone to having sudden inspirations. Some men do not quickly have good ideas but arrive at the answer by slow consideration. Well, if we investigate the heart of the matter, even though people's natural abilities differ, bearing in mind the Four Oaths, when your thinking rises above concern for your own welfare, wisdom which is independent of thought appears. Whoever thinks deeply on things, even though he may carefully consider the future, will usually think around the basis of his own welfare. By the result of such evil thinking he will only perform evil acts. It is very difficult for most ridiculous fellows to rise above thinking of their own welfare.
"So when you embark upon something, before you start fix your intention on the Four Oaths and put selfishness behind you. Then you cannot fail.
"The Four Oaths: Never be late with respect to the Way of the Warrior. Be useful to the lord. Be respectful to your parents. Get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of man."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The body of a rock: This is recorded in the Terao Ka Ki, the chronicle of the house of Terao. Once, a lord asked Musashi, "What is this 'body of a rock'?" Musashi replied, "Please summon my pupil Terao Ryuma Suke." When Terao appeared, Musashi ordered him to kill himself by cutting his abdomen. Just as Terao was about to make the cut, Musashi restrained him and said to the lord, "This is the 'body of a rock'."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To attain the Way of Strategy as a warrior you must study fully other martial arts and not deviate even a little from the Way of the Warrior. With your spirit settled, accumulate practice day by day, and hour by hour. Polish the twofold spirit heart and mind, and sharpen the twofold gaze perception and sight. When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true Void.
"Until you realize the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at things objectively, from the viewpoint of laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way. Enact strategy broadly, correctly and openly.
"Then you will come to think of tings in a wide sense and, taking the Void as the Way, you will see the Way as Void.
"In the Void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness."