Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Precept 6:
Do not regret what you have done
“Accept the pain, cherish the joys, resolve the regrets;
then can come the best of benedictions—‘If I had my life
to live over, I’d do it all the same.’” — Joan McIntosh
Monk:
Musashi says straight out, “Do not regret what you have done.” That
is a very broad, all-encompassing statement. He doesn’t say, “Think
long and hard about what you are about to do,” or “Spend some time
in thought over how your actions might affect others.” Nope, nothing
of the kind. Musashi is not addressing the process that leads to
action, but simply advocating that we choose, act, and move on.
There is value in living in the moment, at least in certain aspects of
one’s life, and I don’t know how much more you can be in the
moment than by following this protocol. Nevertheless, we cannot
spend our entire existence in that state since we don’t learn from the
past or plan for the future.
So, let’s talk about the past for a moment. There is a powerful aspect
of life that doesn’t live in the past. The old saying is, “I don’t live in
the past, but I can visit.” This is a fine and healthy statement.
Musashi is not suggesting that we not revisit past actions but rather
he is telling us to not attach emotion to what we have done. Regret is
an emotion and in Musashi’s world an unchecked emotion could
easily cost a warrior his life. Regret is a backward emotion, it allows
us to revisit and though slow reflection make a thorough examination
of each moment in time. As a learning experience it can be powerful,
but as an obsession living in the past is clearly dysfunctional.

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Musashi’s utilitarianism and stoicism rise strongly in his statement of
how to handle regret. Do you think Musashi would be upset if his
house burned down? I suspect not. Do you think Musashi would give
two thoughts to the fact that he inadvertently burned down a
neighbor’s home while mistaking it for a rival’s? I suspect neither
would move him much emotionally; he couldn’t afford the luxury... Or,
is what I just called “luxury” an essential aspect of humanness?
In the Abrahamic religious traditions, having regret for what you have
done is healthy and wise. Regret makes us ponder our actions, how
those actions affected others, and what it means for our relationship
with the divine. This thought pattern is communal in nature, whereas
Musashi’s thought pattern is exactly the opposite. In fact, he turned
his back to the gods of his ancestors. He had no ties of social
responsibility from any domain, secular or religious. There was
nothing to regret, let alone any emotion of regret to work through.
This may have worked well for the feudal warrior, but if everyone
were to adopt that attitude society would devolve into chaos and
anarchy since there would be no strings that tie us all together. This
is where living in the moment fails. Apology and forgiveness are not
possible without regret.
These two elements, sincere apology and requesting forgiveness,
are critical elements found in virtually every major world religion.
Musashi glides unencumbered past these two elements of social and
religious action like a man’s shadow rolling over an uneven stone
wall on an afternoon walk. Without regret it is very hard for society to
function as disputes amongst individuals turn to into fights, fights
become feuds as friends and relatives take up arms seeking
revenge, and the circle of destruction rolls on and on gaining
velocity, scope, and scale.
To be clear, Musashi never says, “Don’t review what you have done,”
just “Don’t regret what you’ve done.” Healthy observation allows for
review of mistakes and errors, how a person might have achieved a
more favorable outcome to a situation if he or she had acted
differently. Observation allows for audit. Musashi never excludes that

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idea of learning from what you have done, but he clearly says don’t
spend time apologizing for your actions or asking forgiveness.
Honestly that’s pretty extreme... I’m afraid that he has gone full on
sociopath here. It reminds me of the criminal who is not sorry for the
crime, just upset that he or she got caught.
Observation of an action and regret for taking the action are two
different items. Observation is an intellectual act while regret is an
emotional one. One is of the head, the other of the heart. To act only
from the head, only on information is not being truly human. Acting
only on the emotions of the heart is not sustainable either, there
must be a balance. This interplay between the head and the heart is
necessary for a complete human experience. Musashi may have
held no regrets but on a deeper plane he missed many great human
experiences that make this life a vibrant tapestry. I cannot condone
this precept.