Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Warrior:
I have to agree with Musashi on this, as it really is the only way for a
warrior, or anyone else for that matter, to live life. In fact, this precept
reminds me of something co-authors Lawrence Kane and Kris Wilder
wrote in 
The Big Bloody Book of Violence: The Smart Person’s
Guide for Surviving Dangerous Times
. In their excellent book, the
pair wrote, “Be a realist. It is vital to see the world as it truly is in
order to keep yourself safe. Test your assumptions regularly, learning
from a variety of reputable sources to hone in on the truth. And,
importantly, be willing to change your thoughts or actions if you
discover that you were wrong.”

---

What “is” already is. That is the way it already exists. Refusing to
accept the reality of the immediate moment is an exercise in futility,
and something a warrior such as Musashi would refrain from
attempting. Accepting everything just the way it “is” is simply being a
realist, and as Kane and Wilder pointed out, a vital ingredient to
keeping yourself safe. I have no doubt Musashi would agree with the
passage I quoted from the 
Big Bloody Book of Violence
, as he had
more than his fair share of bloody violence in his lifetime.
This does not mean one must accept that what “is” must remain as it
is, however. Nor does it suggest that you cannot create your own
destiny and future. But it does reflect on the fact that we can only live
in the present moment. No change will ever occur in the past, and no
change can ever happen in the future. Because when the future
arrives, it will be “now.” The only actions we can take are now, and
thus we should focus on the moment, not what may or may not be
up ahead. I know this is getting a bit deep, and may feel esoteric, but
realize that any future changes are caused by actions done in the
now and are not realized until the future becomes the present. When
you think about it this way, the only reasonable and practical thing a
person can do is accept things just the way they are and live in the
present moment to create future desired outcomes.
The acceptance of how things are really is a powerful concept,
compounded when you fuse it with living in the present moment.
Spencer Johnson actually wrote a short little book titled 
The
Precious Present
, which was later repackaged into the slightly longer
The Present
. In these works, Johnson shares how living in the
present moment can make you happier and more successful, today.
It’s not difficult for me to picture Musashi as the old man in Johnson’s
story.
Accepting things the way they are is not passive. It doesn’t resign
you to leaving things the way they currently are; it’s just accepting
that that is how they are in the current moment. It’s a starting point in
reality, which is a must to create a variation in an uncertain course of
events. Your alternatives to acceptance are avoidance and denial,

---

neither of which embraces the warrior philosophy Musashi sets forth
in his precepts and writings. And neither of which lend to effecting a
positive change for the future.