The Way of the Modern Ronin, Part 10

Essays and Thoughts on The Dokkodo

Part Ten

Resentment and Complaint are Appropriate Neither for Oneself or for Others

"Clouds gather around the Enso." The clouds represent fleeting thoughts. The enso represents the stable, grounded mind of the Budoka.

Have you ever been around a co-worker or an acquaintance who seemed to whine or complain almost all of the time? I had an acquaintance years ago - a fellow budoka - who trained with me at the karate dojo of my youth. He was the kind of guy who others in the dojo didn't want to be around because he made everything about himself. If he hadn't achieved something, anything, then it simply wasn't his fault. It was the fault of society, the situation in which he was raised, the fact that his genetics could have been better - the list could go on and on.

There is nothing worse than this sort of pettiness.

Success has nothing to do with the support you receive, or don't, not ultimately at least. Truly great practitioners of the martial arts, truly great strength athletes, and truly great "Zennists" don't make excuses for their "lot" in life. They don't whine or complain. And they are never resentful. They simply do whatever it is that they must do in order to achieve their goal(s). The question I always ask people is, "how bad do you want it?" If you want something with your whole being, then you won't let something such as genetics or your "life situation" hinder you from achieving your dream.

To succeed, you must learn to live an examined life. And this will only work if you are truly honest with yourself. If you do complain, then now is the time to stop. And if you don't typically complain, now is the time to observe yourself so that you do not begin. Keep in mind that complaints begin as thoughts - thoughts that need letting go before they solidify into resentment or negativity. Like passing clouds, you must learn to observe them with detachment, and watch them come and go. It is their nature to come and go - to come in spurts, and sometimes in waves, but always ephemeral, fleeting, and without ultimate existence. To use some Japanese Budo imagery, mountains represent enduring truths - dharmas, in Zen parlance - whereas clouds that gather around mountains are misty and without any true substance. Even if many storm clouds gather around the mountain, dark, ominous clouds perhaps, capable of generating lightning, thunder, and fury - even these clouds will not last!

Musashi adds a minor twist to this maxim, but one that I find to be interesting and purposeful. He says that resenting and complaining are not only inappropriate for you, but for others, as well. Why did he add this? He didn't make such a proclamation with the other maxims - all the other maxims are directed solely at the reader of The Dokkodo, and are not concerned about what others do, or how others think. I believe this is Musashi's way of saying, "Stay away from negative people and negative influences if you want to be successful." Being around the negative energy of a resentful complainer can sap your energy too, only because of the heaviness of negative energy. How many times have you been around a negative person with the intent of uplifting that person with your own positive energy, only to find that person's negative energy overwhelms your own positive vibes? Perhaps even more often than you realize.

"It is not our thoughts that trouble us, but we who allow ourselves to be troubled by thoughts," goes the paraphrase of a popular Zen saying. I will only add to it with this: the mountain can't be troubled by the clouds unless it allows the clouds to trouble it. Be the mountain.

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