About Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi was a Japanese samurai who lived between the years 1584 – 1645. His track record was 61 wins and 0 losses in single sword duels and he is considered one of the best swordsman of all time. He lived a life of discipline and sacrifice. Here are the 21 rules he lived by.
1. Accept Everything Just the Way It Is
There are things in the world that are out of our control. These things should just be accepted for how they are and we should not get angry by them. This is for example how people are, how the government is and how unfair some things are. The world is how it is and not how we want it to be and does not care about our opinion. The only thing we can change and improve for sure is ourself. We should accept change and be willing to change.
2. Do Not Seek Pleasure for Its Own Sake
Avoid doing things that only give you short-term pleasure. If you keep doing things that only give you short-term pleasure you will eventually become addicted. Too much pleasure leads to an empty life with many regrets.
Pleasure should instead come from and be a side-effect of pursuing you long-term goals or spending time on what’s important to you. You should enjoy the process in reaching your goals. Choose discipline over pleasure. Ask yourself “Am I doing for the sake of getting pleasure?”.
3. Do Not, under Any Circumstances, Depend on a Partial Feeling
Important decisions should be made based on facts and rationality and not on emotions and feelings. Bad decisions are usually the result of acting on impulsive emotions. You want a clear and calm mind when making decisions.
4. Think Lightly of Yourself and Deeply of the World
Be humble and stop thinking about yourself more than necessary. Stop thinking that you are special and that you are entitled to and deserve things. Understand that you are just a very small part of this world. Instead think more about the world and how you can contribute.
5. Be Detached from Desire Your Whole Life Long
Buddhism says that desire is the root of all suffering. Our desire is usually for something external (money, good job, status, etc) and we will only be happy once we get it. But after we achieve our goals, there will always be the next thing we want. So it’s good to know when enough is enough. The solution is to understand that all the things we want can be found within us and be thankful for what we have. Many of our external desires and problems are often caused by internal problems (insecurity, loneliness, lack of confidence, etc).
It’s good to have goals since it gives your life a direction but don’t let not having something make you sad. Also good to be patient when pursuing your goals.
6. Do Not Regret What You Have Done
The past can’t be changed so don’t waste time in regret. Having regrets will only slow you down. The only thing to do is to learn from your mistakes and move on.
7. Never Be Jealous
Being jealous is just a waste of time and energy and helps no one. It will just make you a more angry, sad and negative person overall. Don’t burden yourself in being jealous.
8. Never Let Yourself Be Saddened by a Separation
Everything we own in life is temporarily such as objects, relationships, our job and our life. We are born, we meet other people, we do things, we live, we grow old and then we die. This is how life is and we should not be too sad about it.
9. Resentment and Complaint Are Appropriate Neither for Oneself or Others
Stop complaining because it does not help anyone and no one likes to be around a person who complains a lot. Complaining on things and feeling resentment towards people just gives them more attention. It’s better to just stop it and let go of these things, this will save us both time and energy. It’s better to instead take responsibility for our life and the results we have and stop blaming other people for our mistakes.
10. Do Not Let Yourself Be Guided by the Feeling of Lust or Love
Don’t make decisions only based on love and lust. Many of these decisions lead to regret because they are not made with a clear mind. It’s easy to get blinded by love and lust and we end up doing things that are not good for us. It’s better to take a step back and think through before making these decisions.
It’s easy to be blinded by love. Two common mistakes / traps are:
- It’s easy to fall in love with the idea of how we think a person is or how we want them to be versus how they actually are. We start to ignore red flags, start to do things that are out of character, start to compromise on our values and eventually the relationship fails.
- It’s also easy to fall in love with our own ideas because we think they are special or that we have invested a lot of time into them. What happens is that we ignore feedback from others and stop being open to other suggestions which eventually leads to failure.
11. In All Things Have No Preferences
Preferences is how we want to do things and how we want things to be. Having a lot of preferences closes off our mind to other suggestions. This is to remind us to instead stay open minded. The more preferences we have the less flexible we become and this will cause us to miss out on opportunities and better ways to do things.
12. Be Indifferent to Where You Live
It can be that we are not satisfied with how we feel in our life and think that moving will change this. What happens is that we might feel better short term but it’s only a matter of time before our problems return. Our internal problems will not be solved if we move to a different place or upgrade our standard of living. Don’t try to fix an internal problem with an external solution. How we feel in life depends more on what we do than where we live.
13. Do Not Pursue the Taste of Good Food
It is recommended to eat food for the sake of health and not for taste and pleasure. Food should be seen as fuel for the body. You will stop appreciating simple food if you eat expansive and tasty food all the time. People overeat because they can’t control their cravings.
14. Do Not Hold on to Possessions You No Longer Need
If we no longer use something we should throw if away or give it to someone who can use it. We should not be attached to things because we will waste time and energy thinking about it. Get rid of old things so there is room for new things.
15. Do Not Act Following Customary Beliefs
Just because something has been done the same way for a long time does not mean it’s the right way. Instead of believing what everyone is saying we should try to find out and figure things out for ourselves. Live your own life and find you own path in life. Don’t follow everyone else all the time.
16. Do Not Collect Weapons or Practice with Weapons Beyond What Is Useful
Focus on and master only the things that matter to you. Focus on mastering a few things instead of being ok at many things. Don’t try to be good at everything, there isn’t enough time and energy for that. Think carefully before choosing what to master, you can for example ask “Will I have regrets if I don’t learn or do this?”.
17. Do Not Fear Death
Death is inevitable and part of life. We should not fear it because it’s going to happen anyway. Constant fear of death can prevent us from living our life to the fullest. Instead let the fact that the time you have is limited motivate you to do the things that are important to you and stop doing things that are a waste of time.
18. Do Not Seek to Possess Either Goods or Fiefs for Your Old Age
Don’t spend all your time saving for the future when you are old or when you retire. Instead live in the moment. We miss out on the here and now if all we think about is the future.
19. Respect Buddha and the Gods Without Counting on Their Help
If you believe in gods then respect, believe and pray to them. But when it comes to living a good life it’s all on you. Don’t hope for someone to come and save you because most likely it won’t happen. Take responsibility for your own life and make your own decisions.
20. You May Abandon Your Own Body but You Must Preserve Your Honor
Live with integrity and don’t compromise on your values or what you think are important. Self respect and confidence are both important and they are earned by not lying to yourself, by keeping your promises and living honorably and authentically.
21. Never Stray from the Way
Look for personal growth and improvement. Your goals in life and the things that are important to you should be your highest priority. Don’t do things that are not related to them. Don’t give in to random temptations and desires. Once you found things to dedicate yourself to don’t give up on them. Once you have chosen a path be disciplined and stay on it because it’s the only way to a happy life.
