Last time I said that I would speak of how Musashi uses the skills of a carpenter to explain the path of a warrior. But before I do that, I feel that I need to explain something else. The path or as it is called by Musashi “Heiho”, which literally means “path to enlightenment”. What is important here, is the fact that Musashi speaks of a path, not a goal, an endpoint, an achievement. In this master swordsman mind it is the way that you do something that is much more important than what you do or what you accomplish with it. So, success is not the goal, but the way you do something.
This is very hard to understand for our success driven, result oriented, goal driven society. How can you approach anything, without thinking of success, failure and the ultimate result of achieving your goal? Remember in the last article, how I spoke of the resolute acceptance of death? Try to combine those two thoughts.
If you have accepted death, or whichever ultimate outcome you may choose for your current challenge and not worry about it, then you are free to make sure you get there in the correct way. Translating this into a regular SCA type situation, where you are about to enter a tournament or a high level fighter practice, don’t worry about being bested. Worry about fighting as well as you can, as cleanly as you can and allow yourself the small successes of accomplishing achievable results you have set for yourself for that time only. That would be one interpretation of Heiho.
Now onto the promised comparison Musashi draws between a carpenter and a warrior. For one thing he explains how a carpenter, much like a general, is working on a “great scheme”, symbol for this, in Chinese being the same as that for “carpenter”. As such the master carpenter, just like the commander of warriors, when he wants to build a house, must know which wood to put where and whom to put to work at it. Straight, beautiful lumber us meant for visible use, where strength may not be as important, while gnarled, dense wood should be use in places where its strength will help support the house. As such, a general must know how best to use his forces and the single warrior must know his own strengths and weaknesses. Another analogy he draws is that of tools. A carpenter has a variety of tools that he cares for himself, keeps them sharp and in top condition. Every task he has to complete he completes fully, exactingly and efficiently. The result may not be warped, the joints must be aligned, the planes smoothed. Now think of your fighting.
Your tools are your armor, your weapons and whatever other equipment you use on the field. You take care of your tools in your spare time and make sure they are in top condition. Your skills are honed with practice and with time, as you learn all the aspects of building “a house”, you will eventually become a master carpenter/warrior. Your work is the work you do with your weapons on the field. Do your work well, exact and as perfect as you can. Smooth all planes, carve every nook and cranny, make sure all joints are aligned. But as you do this, think of how it is more important how you get there and not where you will be when you get there.
Musashi says one thing in this section that finishes this letter quite well: “The teacher is the needle and the disciple is the thread.” This is a metaphor I find quite fitting for what Musashi is speaking of. Think of it, next time you are faced with highly skilled opponent. As we are moving about in Musashi’s “Earth” chapter, I will discuss next time how Musashi speaks of a breadth of knowledge, how it is important to know so much more than just sword fighting. As he calls it “from one thing know ten thousand”.
Back to part 2
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