C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  Essays and Thoughts on  The Dokkodo Part Thirteen Be Indifferent to Where You Live Ronin at dusk Compared to some of the more philosophical musings in The Dokkodo , this one just seems as if its straightforward stoic advice.  But is it?  Could there actually be more to this maxim than what is on the surface?  I think the answer is yes... and no. Many musings in The Dokkodo - this one, and the others of a similar bent - or much of the advice given in The Book of Five Rings   is  meant to be philosophical, while, at the same time and without distracting from the philosophical aspect of it, are also supposed to be straightforward.  You "practice" this maxim by doing exactly what Musashi says to do.  When you do this, the living philosophy  of it begins to make itself known to you.  And everything appears to take on the appearance of what the Buddhists call "One Taste."  Your life - your actions and your thoughts, and all that f...

Essays and Thoughts on The Dokkodo Part Five Think Lightly of Yourself, and Deeply of the World A scroll depicting kami Hachiman dressed as a Buddhist monk (courtesy of Wikimedia). The Bodhisattva Hachiman was well-loved by Taisen Deshimaru, the author of The Zen Way to the Martial Arts (quoted below). As with  most  of Musashi's musings, this one is another that seems at odds with modern sensibilities.  This is, of course, because the modern person's values are almost always the opposite  of the sayings in The Dokkodo .  Yet - and here is where "modern man" gets the most confused - when you think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world  you actually become much happier, more joyful, and more in love with life.  As the Dalai Lama says (and this is a paraphrase), "the purpose of our lives is to be happy."  But he adds that "happiness is not something ready-made, but comes from your own actions."  And how do you achieve this elusive happin...

  Essays and Thoughts on the "Dokkodo" Part Three Do Not Seek Pleasure for its Own Sake Miyamoto Musashi in his prime, wielding two bokken; woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (courtesy of Wikimedia) The 2nd maxim of Musashi's Dokkodo  is "do not seek pleasure for its own sake."  When I first read the Dokkodo  many years ago, this one struck me as a little odd, or I probably thought it was too "outdated" - a maxim from ancient Japan that didn't apply to us today in the modern world.  But I couldn't have been more wrong. First off, don't try to make this maxim - or the others that follow - more or less than what they are.  Most of these - as with all teachings from a Wisdom Tradition - have both the "surface" meaning, and that which is "below the surface", so to speak. On it's "surface", this maxim is fairly simple and straightforward.  When you seek pleasure for the sake of pleasure alone , you WILL run in...

 Happiness Sucks and the Zen Way to Contentment C.S. sitting on his zabuton as he prepares for meditation I once read of a study dealing with music and happiness.  The study had two groups of participants listen to a composition of classical music.  The first group was told to simply listen to the music.  The second group was told to listen to the music and to try to have the music cultivate a sense of happiness within them while listening.  Afterwards, both groups were asked how happy listening to the music made them feel.  Interestingly, it was the first group that said they felt really happy while listening to the music.  The sense of simple bare attention, without attempting to alter the atmosphere through "being" happy, was enough to create happiness without effort. We live in a culture - and this is especially true if you're like me and deal with the "health and wellness" community - that is in the middle of a "happiness boom".  But the trut...