My Interpretation of “Dokkodo — The Path Of Walking Alone” — Part 1
Miyamoto Musashi was said to be one of the greatest swordsmen ever in the history of Japan. A large part of this was due to his surreal discipline towards his “way”.
It’s said that he fought in 60 duals, never losing one, with his first one being at the age of 13 against a well-known swordsman, in which he was victorious. During his time, one by one he defeated the top swordsmen in Japan, to solidify his reign as the best swordmaster in Japan.
Not only was he a master of the sword, but he was also an artist as well as a philosopher. A week before passing in 1645 — he wrote down 21 principles in life called “Dokkodo” — in which he expresses his view of life.
“Dokkodo” can be translated as “Walking the path of Aloneness” — to me it does not represent that you have to be a loner, it simply means to follow the path less traveled.
We can use his wisdom to build upon our own discipline. A quality that has been cherished by human beings since the beginning and has been a key catalyst in any successful individual.
By embodying discipline we make sure our independance is respected our integrity is intact, and our dreams are fufiled.
This will be part of a 2-part series based on Miyamoto Musashi's 21 principles.
Below I will attempt to interpret the first 11 with my own understanding.
1. Accept everything just the way it is
One of the key things for happiness is acceptance. Though it’s also one of the most difficult things to do, even though acceptance can be a way to bring instant happiness in life.
If you aren’t accepting things, then you are simply resisting the flow that is life, resistance is tiring, and it causes internal conflict which then tends to lead to negative emotions in a downward spiral.
Often the things we resist are in the past i.e. not accepting that someone has passed or being angry about a previous relationship. These are things we simply can not change and that is why it makes no sense to resist what has happened.
Total acceptance also allows you to live in the now and much more consciously, rather than in the present.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake
This is one I really had to think about.
What I believe Miyamoto was suggesting here is that you should not look for pleasure simply because it feels good. This can lead us down a false path, one that moulds us to become driven by a materialistic nature.
Feeling good and content — does not always come from something that seems “good” on the surface. To achieve greatness for example— is not an easy path, it’s difficult, and can be lonely, though the outcome? That content of achieving what you strived for — is far greater than buying that flashy car to flex which in reality has a “lack of meaning”.
In the modern world, instant pleasure has never been easier to achieve than before, but constantly indulging in this pleasure does not lead to happiness, but to a sense of emptiness, or even addiction.
I believe as humans, having meaning is what truly makes us happy. If you focus on things that you enjoy, the pleasure will exist as a byproduct.
Even if you compounded all the pleasures in life, it still doesn't add up to the feeling of achieving a major goal.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling
While this one may be quite self-explanatory, to put it simply we should not decide on choices that are of high importance in our lives without analyzing the situation.
It’s great to go with your instinct, and “go with the flow”, but when these are crucial choices in life, we should also make sure to know what we are getting into. Whilst most importantly, also have a plan should things not go the way intended.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world
You are who you are, nothing more and nothing less. You are not the car that you drive and you are not the size of your bank balance.
It’s fine for others to think of you as funny, cool, rich, and successful, but if you place a large importance on them and start to identify with what these words represent then you’ll lose yourself and live a reactive life, instead of living one that is proactive to your surroundings.
Accept who you are, be humble, know your strengths and weaknesses, and don’t over-qualify yourself from the world but definitely don’t underestimate your potential.
The world and everything in it are truly amazing, see it, explore, make the most of everything and take nothing for granted.
5. Be detached from desire your whole lifelong
To be detached means, to not be affected negatively by the outcome of an event or situation. When things don’t go our way, we should not let it control us.
Therefore, being detached from desire your whole life long means that you shouldn’t let the outcome of the things, affect what you want in life.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t care if you fail, but if we worry needlessly about the outcome of things, we focus more on the problem, rather than the solution and it projects negative emotions such as fear.
If we do this often it trains our brain to think like this.
Sometimes we may not achieve our goals, and that is okay, but we should not worry about failure to the point where it hinders our chance to even try and achieve that goal.
If something doesn’t happen then be ok with that, and realize that most things in life are abundant.
6. Do not regret what you have done
When I look back at some of the more questionable things I have done in the past, one of my favorite sayings is.
“I’d rather regret the things I did do rather than the things I didn’t do”
Things don’t always go our way in life, though if we never try, then we will also never be able to realize these potential outcomes.
As long as it’s within reason, we should never regret the things we have done, as the feeling of not doing them often comes with a bar greater amplified feeling of regret.
We should not simply regret things we have done in the past, we can’t change this. Instead, we need to look at it, as a lesson to learn from, to enable and empower us more to in the future.
7. Never be jealous
What is jealousy? Why do we feel jealous?
Take this scenario for instance, of someone being jealous of another person's wealth.
If we are jealous because of someone’s wealth, this is a sign that we need to change our ways of thinking.
Instead — be glad that there are people out there, that have proven, that this wealth is achievable and that there is a way for you to potentially gain that same wealth.
Dwelling on jealousy will not make the situation any better and has a negative effect on our desires.
Instead, use that energy spent on your jealousy to form your path to achieve your destiny.
Being jealous of someone’s happiness and success, can lead to a false sense of reality, you never can know what these people feel beneath the surface. More often than not, deep down they’re unhappy.
In my experience fitting in with societies norms doesnt make you a happier person, it just makes you more socially conditioned.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation
According to the Buddha, attachment is the source of all suffering, why? Because if we become attached, then this introduces the possibility of losing what we have become attached to — separation. At times this feeling of separation can become unbearable.
Separation can arrive in many different forms, such as losing a partner, a pet, money, possessions, or anything of the sort that is important to us.
I think what Miyamoto is referring to here is once again, to live in total acceptance of what happens and don’t hold on to things that have not gone our way.
We control the choice to be angry or happy at all times. We become severely attached to our pets, but ultimately we know we will outlive them when the time comes for their passing.
We should not dwell on what we have lost — but instead on the experiences, we gained.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others
Resentment and complaint aren’t going to get you anywhere in life, it will only hinder you to be troubled by negative emotions which leads to stress.
Stress is a secret killer, it can change us without knowing until it’s too late, it may change the way we carry ourselves, and communicate with others to the point where this “stressful state” takes over our persona and becomes our norm.
The more frequently we put a brain in a certain state (sadness), we are training our brain to get into that state easier.
He mentions resentment towards others and oneself, both bringing their own challenges.
With regard to the resentment of others.
Imagine in a work setting, the office culture is bad and you feel like you are being mistreated. If we allow these “attacks” to affect us, it only empowers that individual over us more.
While you’re wasting time, thoughts, and energy on this, that individual is simply living their life, and advancing onwards.
This is one of the oldest tricks of manipulators, where they try to “Get to you” and they will live “rent-free” in your head, while they go about their life.
The best way to counter this, is to not be bothered by their offense, it makes them powerless and they can’t lead you down the path they wish, and with a clear head, you can easily avoid any traps.
Resentment over oneself is something that I struggle with.
I am too hard on myself when it comes to my mistakes, failures, weakness, etc. I have a pretty high standard and would get agitated when I fall short of my goals and aspirations. I would question myself with a bunch of “If only…”
This mindset will not help you advance and only keep you stuck in the past. When you’re having a financial crisis, do you dwell on this thought and cry, and let it get to you? Or do you think of a way to conjure a plan so you can solve this problem?
When we start to feel this anger and resentment — we should take a moment and reflect “Why am I bothered by this?”, “Is it really worth my time”? More often than not the answer is usually “not at all”.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love
Love and lust can be very powerful weapons, yet it’s a double-edged sword and at times can lead us to make bad decisions while blinded by them. Miyamoto believed that it’s better to not rely on them, and rather on your mind and knowledge over emotions, and use it simply as a tool in your arsenal.
We must be in control of our lives the whole time, but we are welcome to enjoy the power of love and lust along the way.
11. In all things have no preferences
This was an interesting one, and not should be dismissed.
Obviously, we all have preferences over things Sweet vs Sour, and Cars vs Motorbikes, but this is not the point of the message.
People can be so one-sided or comfortable towards their preferences that it holds them back from new experiences.
If we always choose the same things or act the same way as it's in our comfort zone, then we will never be able to experience anything new in life.
Having no preferences is about, not letting preferences control your emotions and mindset. We don’t always get out preferred choice in things, and sometimes the things which we think we prefer, are not what's best for us, because we have not given other choices a chance.
Conclusion
There you have it,
The first 11 principles of the Dokkodo — I hope you enjoyed this read. I have been writing lately to help me reflect on how I have been living my life as of late, which I have not been too happy with. This is part of my attempt to “get back on my path”.
I hope that sharing this — May also help to guide others to get back on the path that they wish to follow.
Stay tuned for part two, which will cover the final 10 remaining principles.
