The two bloggers I admire most in the whole blogging world (Maria Popova and Austin Kleon) do everything against the rules. They read lots of books and then quote them in their blog posts. Whenever I need soup for my soul, I go to their blogs and read until my heart and soul id full.
I often wonder why don’t I reach for old books when I want to read something. I own quite a few of them, and I keep adding to my collection but when the time comes to choose something to read, I reach for a new title.
Why?
Perhaps, somewhere in the back of my mind, I have this belief that a new-age writer would build on the previous knowledge and would have more profound insights. Whereas quite the opposite is true. We, the new-age writers, are reinventing the wheel. We are trying to discover the same truths which our predecessors had already discovered centuries ago. With lesser distractions (no TV, internet, smartphones, and social media) they had time to go deep.
So today, I read an old book during my exploration time (I wrote about it in last week’s letter). I came across this gem from a Goodreads list.
A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy was written by Miyamoto Musashi, shortly before his death in 1645. Miyamoto Musashi was an undefeated Japanese swordsman. Toward the end of his life, he retreated to a cave to live as a hermit, there he wrote five scrolls describing the “true principles” for victory in the martial arts and on the battlefield.
What could I have learned from a seventeenth-century swordsman?
Apparently a lot.
Musashi was thirteen years old when he won his first dual and by the age of twenty-eight, he traveled from province to province dueling with the warriors from various schools. He had sixty encounters and never failed to win.
But when he reached thirty and looked back at his past, he realized his victories were not because of having mastered strategy. He reckons, “Perhaps it was natural ability, or the order of heaven, or that other school’s strategy was inferior.”
So he went on the quest to find the “true principles” and came to realize them when he was fifty.
He writes:
“There are various Ways. There is the Way of salvation by the law of Buddha, the Way of Confucius governing the Way of learning, the Way of healing as a doctor, as a poet teaching the Way of Waka, tea, archery, and many arts and skills. Each man practices as he feels inclined. .. [A] warrior’s is the twofold way, the Way of pen and sword, and he should have a taste for both Ways. Even if a man has no natural ability he can be a warrior by sticking assiduously to both divisions of the Way.”
In the book, Musashi explains the Way of Strategy. The Way of Strategy is different from the way of the warrior.
“Generally speaking,” he writes, “The Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death. Not only warriors but priests, women, peasants and lowlier folk have been known to die readily in the cause of duty or out of shame, this is a different thing.”
Whereas the Way of Strategy is to overcome men. It is to gain victory by crossing swords with individuals or enjoining battle with large numbers. Its aim is to win on the power of strategy. Strategy matters a lot. Immature strategy can cause defeat and even death.
Here are a few quotes from the book:
“…there is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.”
“All men are the same except for their belief in their own selves, regardless of what others may think of them.”
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.”
“You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain”
“Whatever the Way, the master of strategy does not appear fast….Of course, slowness is bad. Really skillful people never get out of time, and are always deliberate, and never appear busy.”
“There is no one way to salvation, whatever the manner in which a man may proceed. All forms and variations are governed by the eternal intelligence of the Universe that enables a man to approach perfection. It may be in the arts of music and painting or it may be in commerce, law, or medicine. It may be in the study of war or the study of peace. Each is as important as any other. Spiritual enlightenment through religious meditation such as Zen or in any other way is as viable and functional as any “Way.”… A person should study as they see fit.”
Who could say, these insights are three hundred years old? And who could say they are relevant to swordsmen only?
The two hours I spent with Miyamoto Musashi this morning were an absolute delight. It was like sitting with him in a cave and listening to his
Miyamoto Musashi had a significant impact on Japanese culture. He is considered a Kensei, a sword-saint of Japan, a unique double-bladed swordsman, writer, strategist, and philosopher.
Later I found three-part video series which tells more about his life and explains his philosophy in much simpler terms.
The Way of the Ronin (Dokkodo)
I would never have found such a treasure without dwelling in old books and without a dedicated exploratory time.
Want to read lots of books but don’t have time? Watch this 7 minutes video. It will change how you read books, forever. It has changed mine.