Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – Death and the Modern Warrior
Posted By Randy on November 7, 2012
Earlier this year, on the subject of The Book of Five Rings – The Definitive Interpretation of Musashi’s Classic Book by Stephen F. Kaufman, I wrote –
Musashi was perhaps the greatest swordsman who ever lived, and yet it would be a mistake to approach the Book of Five Rings as a guide to learning the most efficient methodology for killing with a sword. Likewise, it would be completely erroneous to say that what lies within its slim covers represents a bloody minded treatise born of an archaic mindset wherefrom ruthless extermination awaits anyone or anything that stands in our way. Being a swordsman, Musashi speaks from a swordsman’s perspective, but what he has to teach far transcends the narrow focus of physical conflict resolution by cold steel. His Truth is no dusty anachronism.
The words “warrior” and “samurai” commonly conjure images that are the antithesis of peace. Of the latter is the added demeanor of disciplined killers brandishing hair trigger lethality. This is wrong thinking that can no more be applied to Mr. Kaufman’s latest work – The Way of the Modern Warrior – Living the Samurai Ideal in the 21st Century – than it could to his interpretation of Musashi. The samurai ideal is no bloody minded anachronistic mindset. It was, is, and always will be relevant in all aspects of human endeavour. It truly understands Death as defining all that is inevitable and necessary to Life. To quote The Way of the Modern Warrior –
The samurai ideal is contemplative towards the finality of a situation or physical death. Most people confuse the attitude of death with the extinguishing of life, and in this they are confused. The idea is not to die in vain. Enlightened people, samurai or not, prefer dying to be meaningful and purposeful. Yes there is the formality of physical death, but there are many other forms of “death” that occur in a person’s life. The death of an old way of thinking may be a more rational approach to the samurai ideal.
I’ve written before that Nature doesn’t waste resources creating different definitions for the same problem, thing, or situation. Death is like that. Think on this until next time, and add to the discussion here with the Wildest of abandon.
Randy,
Well put and succinct blog post. Being a Warrior in this time or in the past was and will always be more than killing. If you have to kill then either a lot of things went wrong or you did or didn’t do the actions needed to head off the final solution.
As you have stated there are many deaths and most go through these without even realizing it until it is too late to change.
Thanks,
Jim
Is the conflict worth the price of death? Is it worth the possible injury to fight? Those who know the Spirit of the Thing know all things are the universe, so for the universal warrior, to strike anyone is to strike an aspect of himself. Thought and speech are martial art as well. Does the warrior strike himself down by ritual suicide during internal conflict? No, he does not. The true warrior explores every avenue to peace until all paths are exhausted, reacting to the energy that threatens him in equal measure. But if the warrior is forced into aggressive negotiations, he will strike whole heartedly with great resolve. Shoot first and ask questions later, is the opposite of the true way of the warrior. Best to stay in the question. Great post Randy! And much gratitude to Hanshi Kaufman!
Thank you
What can I say? You write inspiring shit, inspired shit happens!