
Dokkodo by Miyamoto Musashi  - stopachka
http://www.stepanp.com/?p=372
======
muraiki
An interesting story about Musashi, and what may have influenced some of what
he wrote prior to his death, was his encounter with the monk Takuan. Musashi
saw a snake approaching the monk in mediation, and witnessed the snake simply
crawl over Takuan without any fear. But as the snake approached Musashi, it
recoiled to strike, then ran away. Musashi was grieved because he felt that
what he had cultivated was lacking -- he had developed his fighting skill so
much that nothing would approach him. In contrast, Takuan demonstrated a deep
peacefulness and naturalness that led to all, even a snake, accepting him.

As to how much of this is legendary or not, I'm not certain, but it's
something to contemplate.

~~~
muraiki
Oops, that should be meditation, not mediation!

------
peteretep
When I worked as a dating coach, one of the most common mental tics we had to
work to get out of students was an obsession about being "in the right".

This manifested in all sorts of ways that would totally kill social
interactions: correcting a girl on some factual detail in some story she was
telling; saying hateful things to girls to "reject them first" at the first
sense that she might not be totally interested; not being willing to take
chances in social interactions; a complete unwillingness to touch girls, ever,
for any reason; and most importantly, an inability to HAVE FUN.

The above is fact; my conjecture about /why/ (which possibly isn't) was that
often these guys had been battered about mentally and socially by people, and
their mental refuge for their self image was the "correctness high-ground".

Anyway:

\- If you want to live a life full of "being right" and not having much fun,
these rules look excellent.

\- If you are unable to discern between eating great food from time to time
and total all-out gluttony, if you follow these rules you will avoid gluttony.
The same applies to most of the others (avoid pleasure for pleasure's sake?!
Get a grip)

\- If you get a geek boner at the idea of being a samurai, print these out and
put these above your bed

There are many, many great spiritual books encapsulating the small amount of
good advice in this list, but really the above is a recipe for navel-gazing
piety.

Going to excesses of gluttony or austerity are for the mentally weak, rather
than winning life philosophies.

~~~
stopachka
Take don't seek pleasure for pleasure's sake.

Which guy do you think does better with women:

The one that goes up to a girl looking for sex?

Or the one who is confident in himself, and goes up to the girl for the
experience of it, to make friends, and depending on if the girl is cool or
not, pursue something deeper?

\-------------

I'm not sure how any of these principles prevent you from being an awesome
confident guy that gets women.

Maybe these rules that you're talking about are just made by guys to prevent
themselves from doing what they're scared of.

But, don't these principles suggest to do exactly what you're scared of?

~~~
peteretep
Please understand that I am answering this from experience - four years
working as a full-time dating coach - rather than as what "should happen":

The answer is the first, and also, the second guy is kidding himself.

If you want to be an awesome confident guy that gets women, be an awesome
confident guy that gets women. If you're seeking to define yourself by Living
Like A Samurai, you have a weak model of self, and need to learn that life
happens in shades of grey, rather than in absolutes.

~~~
stopachka
I think I get where you're coming from. A lot of this can be interpreted as a
way to shun yourself from the world and not face reality. But can't anyone do
that with anything helpful?

I lived in Colombia for a while, and partied a lot. Met tons of girls, along
with guys who tried using what a lot of dating coaches teach, but it only
restricted them...they defined themeselves absolutely by what they did.

Then again I met a ton of guys who used what a lot of dating coaches teach to
be awesome confident guys that get women.

Maybe it all comes down to striving to be awesome confident guys, and defining
yourself by anything--especially in absolutes--goes against that. That's why
anyone that says they're a samurai, or a pick up artist, might not go very
far.

Hence the idea that philosophy or dating lessons are not at fault, it's the
people who interpret them.

~~~
peteretep
> A lot of this can be interpreted as a way to shun yourself from the world
> and not face reality. But can't anyone do that with anything helpful?

There are lots of texts on rising above worldly pleasures, and some are very
good. I'm a particular fan of Ekhart Tolle's work, and I enjoyed the Tibetan
Book of Living and Dying... The Tao of Pooh, and the Te of Piglet got me
through a difficult adolescence.

As with any idea, though, simplifying it too far tends to lose important
subtleties. The mental austerity mentioned in the original post is likely to
strike a resonant chord with many men who wished they had better self-control,
and who wished they were acting with more general agency in their life. Men
are complete suckers for certain ideals of manhood, certain archetypes that
are well presented. If this is something that interests you, I can strongly
recommend the books Iron John by Robert Bly, King Warrior Magician Lover by
Robert Moore, and the excellent Way of The Superior Man by David Deida.

I find this quote by Alan Watts particularly poignant, and perhaps an antidote
to the original post:

"We thought of life by analogy with a journey, a pilgrimage, which had a
serious purpose at the end and the thing was to get to that end, success or
whatever it is, maybe heaven after you’re dead. But we missed the point the
whole way along. It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing or to
dance while the music was being played."
(<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4>)

------
weego
I've never been sure whether I'm someone who genuinely takes something from
these things or whether I just like the idea that I might be able to. The only
passage I have really ever had stick with me is from the Hagakure and I've
felt applies nicely to how I see efficient dev:

 _Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige's wall there was this one: ''Matters of'
great concern should be treated lightly.'' Master lttei commented, "Matters of
small concern should be treated seriously." Among one's affairs there should
not be more than two or three matters of what one could call great concern. If
these are deliberated upon during ordinary times, they can be understood.
Thinking about things previously and then handling them lightly when the time
comes is what this is all about. To face an event anew solve it lightly is
difficult if you are not resolved beforehand, and there will always be
uncertainty in hitting your mark. However, if the foundation is laid
previously, you can think of the saying, "Matters of great concern should be
treated lightly," as your own basis for action._

tl;dr You should be prepared for issues that are of great significance so that
the actual decision process becomes easy. It is the small issues that arise
day to day that you should put great attention to.

------
w1ntermute
> For anyone that’s striking out, or wants to make change, I think his life
> holds a lot of lessons. Eji Yoshikawa’s “Musashi” might be the best start
> for you, if you want to read one Japan’s classical novels, and get a bunch
> of resolve.

Alternatively, anyone looking for something easier to digest should check out
_Vagabond_ , an award-winning manga by Inoue Takehito that chronicles
Musashi's life.

~~~
hiena03
The problem with Vagabond is that it's not finished. I read Musashi after
reading Vagabond because I didn't want to wait for the chapters anymore. Both
are great and you should know there are mayor differences specially in Sasaki
Kojirō character.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagabond_(manga)#Differences_wi...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagabond_\(manga\)#Differences_with_the_novel)

------
gwern
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dokk%C5%8Dd%C5%8D>

------
kiba
What Miyamoto Musashi seems to be the fluffy inspirational type, rather than a
serious reflection on how to achieve things.

~~~
npatrick04
Given musashi's unparalleled swordsmanship, fluffy seems like a poor
description. His life was a very direct reflection of his philosophy.

~~~
kiba
I meant what he wrote seems fluffy.

