be mindful of your feelings. Your thoughts dwell on your mother. [Music] Afraid to lose. What's that got to do with anything? Everything is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. [Music] Never be saddened by a separation. This is one of the 21 principles of Dokodo by Miyamoto Musashi. This principle deals with attachment, loss, and commitment to the way. To give context to this, we should first look at the life of Musashi. He was a ronin or a traveling samurai warrior. His purpose, at least at first, was to be the best swordsman he could be. He was a disciple of the way and pursued self-mastery his whole life long. He wandered Japan for decades, challenging and defeating the best Samurai around in single combat. He had to stay razor focused on his training and self-discipline, for death was the consequence of failure or mind lapses in attention on this path of the warrior. He made friends. He met women and

he probably fell in love a time or two, and had to learn how to deal with loss over and over. Just think about being a ronin in the 1600s Japan. You're not really wanted anywhere. You spend a few months in the city, you know, training with the sword Masters, dueling to the death with some of the most badass martial artists out there, making some friends, you know, maybe falling in love, but then inevitably having to move on. Every time he left a city or a place, he had to wrestle with the pain of Separation alone in the wilderness. Hence, he gained a unique perspective on separation that can only come from bearing loss repeatedly and ever striving for perfection. In the way Musashi spent decades traveling alone, spending months at a time in the wilderness, completely focused on his training. In this atmosphere, think of all the pain every single time he had to go through a separation and how much that would plague his mind. He had to find a principled path for dealing with this, and I think he did. I mean, the man

wrote Dokodo, which is the way of walking alone or the path of aloneness. Now, I think we can take wisdom from Musashi and wisdom from stoicism, which also echoes the idea of bearing losses with equanimity, and apply it to the modern day. For we all have to deal with breakups, with losses, with loss of a parent or a pet, or moving away from home towns, moving away from friends, and all of that can either hinder our path or invigorate our path. So, let's dive into it. Musashi was a Zen Buddhist, or at least heavily influenced by Buddhist ideas. Attachment is a major theme in Buddhism and many other philosophies and is regarded as the root of suffering. Musashi probably realized through repeated separations that attachment to places or people disturbed his mind and obstructed his training and path. It brought him away from excellence. Fear of separation and separations themselves led to unnecessary suffering again and again until he committed to the principle of detachment.

as a traveling Warrior, he had ample opportunity to practice Detachment, and he did it over and over until he learned to view all separations as an opportunity for something new. Attachment makes you vulnerable to weakness, fear, and mediocrity. When you are attached to something or someone, you become fearful of losing them, and you try to control what is not in your control and hold on. This creates anxiety and distraction. I'm sure so many of us can relate to this fear of loss can be paralyzing. It's why Tyler Durden says in Fight Club, what you own ends up owning you. Many people stay in toxic relationships or fail to go live their lives because they're attached to something or someone that is comfortable. They're scared of loss and overly affected by separations. Breakups are hard; separation sucks. But if a fear of loss rules your life, you'll never truly live. The key is to find enough courage and Warrior Spirit to say yes to life if change comes and bear your losses with dignity.

I think Seneca and Musashi would well agree on this principle, for it is a reflection of the stoic ideal. The stoic ideal is a man who lives in accordance with nature, his own nature, and is self-content in both War and Peace, viewing Mankind from a higher level and the gods from their own. Seneca goes on to further state in Letters from A Stoic that the wise man does not desire to lose friends, but if he does lose a friend, he bears the loss with equanimity. Like all ideals, the stoic ideal is a guiding light but not always within reach. Losses and separations hurt, there is no denying it. When you lose what you love or what you are attached to, the mind can descend into its own personal hell. Anyone who's experienced or is experiencing heartbreak knows what I mean. What if you and I fall short of this stoic ideal and feel terribly grieved by a loss? I think grief is natural, and we shouldn't suppress it. It's there for a

reason, let it run its course, but also don't dwell in it any longer than necessary. Grief is there to open your eyes and heart and acquaint you with the transience of reality, but loss shouldn't crush you; on the other hand, it should light you on fire. Instead of swirling and lacking longing, use the pain to sharpen your spirit. Use separation as an opportunity to reinvent yourself and reinvigorate your training. I remember going through a breakup high in the mountains and feeling so much anxiety and grief and despair that I was unable to focus really on anything else. It zapped all the peace and joy of being high in the mountains in the winter and made it really difficult to focus on my training and on my work. Each day, I was presented with the option: do I dwell in what was, or do I use it as fuel to move forward into a new life? Only when you lose everything are you free to do anything, Tyler Durden said. Now, I'm not saying to leave everyone in your life behind and purge all

attachments and become a Buddhist. But if separation does come to you, bear it well like a warrior. It's all training, it's all there for you. In separation, the key point to know is this: the mind is lying and feelings are visitors. Those negative thoughts and longings are no different from a drug addict's craving for the dope. Treat them as a challenge in separation. Treat all ill feelings as a passing addiction you must weather as you fully commit to the way. Bear the loss well, for this too shall pass. Don't get too caught up in the past, but rather let separation renew your spirit as you turn your eyes to the next horizon. Thanks for watching, wisdom warriors. I'm Christian. If you want to get more content on philosophy, the Warrior's Way, and personal development, make sure that bell notification and subscribe. I really appreciate the like button and all the comments below. I'll see you at the next video on Musashi and stoicism.

"Never be Saddened by a Separation" Miyamoto Musashi and Seneca

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