Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Warrior:
I agree with this precept much more than the first of the 
Twenty-one
Precepts of Hojo Soun
which states, “Above all, believe in the gods
and Buddhas.” Hojo Nagauji (1432 – 1519) was a general of the late
Muromachi
Period who in his later years became a priest, taking the
name Soun. His precepts, or rules for the daily life of the common
warrior, were written sometime after he became a priest. And while
there is a strong tone of self-reliance throughout the precepts, the
first stating to “Above all, believe in the gods and Buddhas” seems to
reflect his religious trainings and beliefs rather than the more
pragmatic stance of Musashi’s nineteenth precept. Even the
placement of the two within each of their twenty-one precepts seems
to reflect quite a difference in the importance of religious beliefs.
I believe that Musashi’s pragmatism in not counting on Buddha or
the gods to help more adequately serves the warrior than Soun’s
admonishment. I believe that warriors should act rather than pray. It
should be noted that 
The Twenty-One Precepts of Hojo Soun
also
state, “To worship the gods and Buddhas is the correct conduct for a
man.” Again, this perspective seems to reflect more on his religious
beliefs than Musashi’s pragmatism.
In 
Living The Martial Way: A Manual for the Way a Modern Warrior
Should Think
by Forrest E. Morgan, the chapter on religion and
mysticism opens with this quote from Musashi’s 
The Book Of Five
Rings
, “The Way of the warrior does not include other ways, such as
Confucianism, 
Buddhism, 
certain 
traditions, 
artistic
accomplishments, and dancing…” The quote is found in 
The Earth
Book
of the classic text. Musashi then goes on to state that although

---

these are not part of the Way, if you know the Way widely, you will
find the Way within everything. Each must pursue his particular Way.
For Morgan’s purposes, the quote works well for his chapter helping
martial artists reconcile their martial arts training with their own
personal religious convictions.
However, if you look further, you see that Musashi wrote about these
different paths in the Introduction of 
The Earth Book
, where he
differentiated the paths of the warrior class, the path of Buddha, the
path of Confucianism, the path of healing, the path to teach, and so
on. He makes it a point that each person specializes in his area of
interest and few are inclined to devote themselves to the path of the
warrior. Again, we find Musashi looking at things from a very
practical viewpoint. It is akin to saying, if you are a doctor, practice
medicine; if you are a lawyer practice law; don’t do both.
[35]
So what we can discern from reading both the precept above and
the relevant passages from 
The Book Of Five Rings
, is that
Musashi’s stoic, disciplined philosophy was more pragmatic than
religious. This fits with my own personal philosophy and teaching. I
do not mix martial arts and combative training with religious studies.
Nor do I believe that a higher power will protect me and that is why I
train.
I once had a person tell me that he didn’t need self-defense training
because Jesus would protect him. For his sake, I hope he never
encounters a criminal intent on doing him harm. I’m guessing he
never heard the old saying, “God helps those who help themselves.”
I’m pretty certain Musashi would agree with that saying too.