Miyamoto Musashi is one of the most legendary
samurai and is famed as Japan’s greatest swordsman - undefeated in more than sixty duels. After he escaped death during the Battle of
Sekigahara, Musashi became a ronin. Aside from being a swordsman, he was also
a philosopher, artist, and well-learned Buddhist. Before he died, Musashi left us with twenty-one
principles named Dokkōdō. These are timeless rules that can inspire
us today to live well. The majority, if not all, of these rules,
help us to establish one thing: ‘focus’. Focus is the quality of having a concentrated
interest or activity on something. Needless to say, ‘focus’ was a crucial
component in Musashi’s life, or what he called ‘the way’, which is a life of ongoing
practice. His writings reveal that his lifestyle revolved
around restraint, sacrifice, discipline, and

not being swayed by pleasure. These virtues were all established by or in
support of being able to ‘focus’. Especially when he spent time apart from society,
Musashi was only concerned with perfecting his skill, while aiming for enlightenment
by the Way of the sword. This three-part series elaborates on the twenty-one
principles from Musashi’s Dokkōdō. The first part explored the first seven principles. This second part will explore how to live
a life of ultimate focus, based on the next seven principles. Please note, the elaborations in this video
are based on existing philosophies, the author’s interpretations, and reasoning, and are intended
to be an inspiration for present-day life. 8) Never let yourself be saddened by a separation. Separation can take place in several ways. We can be separated from someone temporarily
because of traveling, relocation, or permanently because of death. We can also become separated from certain
objects, like personal items or money.

For most of us, the separation from what we
love leads to suffering. As we’re attached to the object or person
we’re separated from, we experience an intense feeling of lack, as we believe that what’s
taken away from us belongs to us, and is part of us. In Buddhism, this idea of possession is delusional. Many Buddhists would agree that we don’t
truly own anything outside of our mental faculties; even our bodies aren’t our own as we don’t
fully control them. Musashi, being a ronin and a Buddhist, was probably
aware of this delusion of possession, as well as the burden of attachment to objects and
people. His way was one of solitude and practice,
and therefore he couldn’t afford to be saddened by separations, because life is full of separations:
all things come and go, whether it’s people, stuff, or wealth - especially for a ronin
who’s traveling from place to place.

Attachment to the people he met and the places he visited would have led to continuous grief. Instead, as a ronin, he had to embrace the temporary nature of things, including the inevitable conclusion of life, which is death. In his Book of Five Rings, Musashi wrote that the way of the warrior is the resolute acceptance of death. For a warrior, life is surrounded by death; the death of the people he slays, of the people that fight by his side, of the people he failed to protect, and, of course, the risk of being killed himself. Like no other, Musashi must have realized that death awaits us all. By being aware of this, and accepting the impermanence of life, we'll have an easier time when we encounter it. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others. It’s very common for people to spend insane amounts of time resenting and complaining

about the world. The traps of resentment and complaint are
very easy to fall into. For one with a critical eye and strong opinions
on how life should be, there’s always something to complain about. But when we find ourselves in a continuous
state of resentment about the world, it means that we’re focused on others and not on
ourselves. For someone who’s dedicated to a life of
ongoing practice, spending time resenting and complaining about the world, or one’s
own life, is detrimental. The world is beyond our control. People will act in ways that don’t comply
with our ethics and values all the time. People will behave foolishly, rudely, ungratefully. People will dislike us, try to interfere with
our lives, treat us unjustly, try to take advantage of us. Furthermore, life isn’t fair. We don’t get equal shares of the pie. We aren’t equally gifted, equally handsome,
equally healthy.

Trying to change this is a sincere ideal created by the human mind, but it’s almost impossible to achieve, as we’ll find nature working against us all the time. From a Buddhist point of view, we shouldn’t spend too much time trying to change the world, and we should especially refrain from resenting what is. Instead, it’s much wiser to focus on ourselves, live the best life we can, while being accepting of those who don’t. Or as Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius put it: “be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.” Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love. In a previous video, I’ve explored the different types of love with selfless love called ‘agape’ by the ancient Greeks on one end, and selfish love called ‘eros’ on the other end. Musashi seems to point to eros in this case, which is a form of love motivated by lustful

desire, also known among Buddhists as ‘romantic
love’. In many of today’s cultures, we see that
romantic love is elevated to the status of ultimate concern. This human experience is almost seen as divine
and, thus, worthy of our pursuit and sacrifice. Musashi clearly wouldn’t have endorsed the
way we treat romantic love today. This probably wasn’t just because lust and
love are so distracting, and would have been harmful to his progress as a swordsman, but
also because he was a Buddhist. And Buddhists don’t buy this sacralization
of romantic love. In fact, they are aware of the dangers of
being guided by it. Like any other feeling, love and lust can
overcome us. But we have the choice whether or not we engage
with these feelings. Instead of letting ourselves be blindly guided
by romance, it’d be wiser not to forsake our ability to think rationally so we stay
grounded and focused on our path.

People tend to make very unwise decisions
while enchanted by lust and love; from choices that affect their work or violate personal
boundaries, to violence and even murder. 11) In all things have no preferences. The problem with preferences is that we create
a dependency when it comes to the state of the outside world. When we come across something that we prefer,
we’re happy. But we incur what we don’t prefer or even
dislike, we’re disappointed. As we don’t have anything to say about what
the environment presents to us, by having preferences we’ll give outside circumstances
the power over our mood. Our equanimity will depend on whether or not
the circumstances are preferable. This is kind of an inferior way to go about
life. Musashi encountered many different people,
objects, and situations, but had to keep a tranquil mind so he wouldn’t stray from
his path. Strong preferences would have been harmful
to his practice. So, it’s wise to keep our preferences in
check, and instead embrace whatever fate overcomes

us and make the best out of it. This way, we can never go wrong, and thus
the quality of our focus remains independent of the result. 12) Be indifferent to where you live. As a ronin, Musashi wandered over Japan, staying
in many different places, from castles to caves. But regardless of where he lived, his way
remained the center of his life. People nowadays put great emphasis on their
living environment. They care a lot about their homes,
the neighborhood they live in, the kind of furniture they possess. But when we’re too attached to having certain
living conditions, we’ll get anxious when these conditions are threatened. When our living situation is truly unsafe,
it’s, of course, no luxury to abandon that place. But, oftentimes, it’s simple dissatisfaction
with current circumstances that makes people look for another home. Some people are quickly bored and unhappy
with their current home and believe that moving will take away this dissatisfaction.

Unfortunately, the sense of fulfillment that follows after moving into a new place is only temporary. Because wherever we go, we always take ourselves with us. Satisfaction and dissatisfaction happen within, not outside. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where we live if we’re content within ourselves. By being content with our homes, no matter how simple and small, we’ll have one less thing to worry about, and are more likely to stay focused on our purpose. 13) Do not pursue the taste of good food. Many, if not most, people indulge in the pleasure of the tongue by enjoying a good meal. Some spend long evenings wining and dining, consuming drink after drink and course after course. But foodies, beware: this behavior has its downsides. Miyamoto Musashi discourages the pursuit of good food. His exact reasons for this aren’t known, but when we look at what other philosophers had to say about this, we might get an idea.

The ancient Stoics, for example, were also concerned about food. They encouraged people to eat simply. Founder of Stoicism, Zeno of Citium, observed that when people get used to eating fancy, expensive meals, they stop appreciating the simple foods. When our appetites become oversaturated, we’ll only crave more extravagant and stimulating ways to satisfy the pleasure of eating. Immoderate eating habits could very well turn into gluttony, which leads to health problems. We’d say that a glutton enjoys and appreciates food, while the opposite may be the case. Voracious eaters and drinkers usually don’t take time to eat mindfully, and with an appreciation for the dish in front of them. Instead, they compulsively consume as much as possible, to be temporarily relieved from the pain of food cravings. What we could do instead is eat ‘mindfully’ and in limited amounts, and train ourselves to not give in to cravings.

By doing so, we’ll be less attached to taste,
and our cravings for food will weaken, so we’re less likely to overeat. At the end of the day, the purpose of eating
is nutrition, as we need fuel to live and thrive. 14) Do not hold on to possessions you no longer
need. It seems like Musashi already knew the benefits
of a minimalist lifestyle. His life as a ronin didn’t lend itself to
having possessions. Traveling Japan, staying in different places,
fighting duels, perfecting his skill, possessions would only have been a burden. Besides his two swords, he only needed the
basics to survive and practice. Some people tend to collect possessions as
if the accumulation of material goods increases their happiness. This could be the case for a while but, mostly,
it only creates a hunger for more. Eventually, the more we own, the more weight
we carry on our shoulders until we become servants of our possessions instead of the
other way around.

Clinging to our belongings as well as the pursuit
for more creates anxiety; the fear of losing what we have, and the fear of not getting
what we want. But when we have a higher purpose and are
able to achieve higher levels of happiness, there’s no point in chasing all these material
possessions anymore. In Buddhism, when one finds contentment in
stillness, without needing entertainment like television or music, chasing possessions doesn’t
make much sense. What it all comes down to is the ability to
travel light, like a ronin, so we can focus on what matters. Thank you for watching.

Miyamoto Musashi | A Life of Ultimate Focus

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