C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  Essays and Thoughts on the "Dokkodo" Part Four Do Not, Under Any Circumstance, Depend on a Partial Feeling Sasaki Kojiro (right) engages Miyamoto Musashi on the shores of Ganryū Island (courtesy of Wikimedia). The 3rd maxim of Musashi's final masterwork is one of my favorites.  And, yes, I understand that in Zen you should not "pick and choose".  For instance, the 3rd patriarch of Zen is often quoted as having said, "the great Way is not difficult for those who do not pick and choose... if you wish to see the Way then do not hold opinions for - or against - anything."  That quote aside, this one is still one of my favorites. On with the commentary... We rarely make poor decisions - in life, in the dojo, in the gym - when we are decisive.  Even then, if our decisive actions do  fail, we will not regret what has been done.  For in holding nothing back, we have nothing to regret! In his book No Fear Zen: Discovering Balance in an Unbalanced World , Rosh...

  The Way of the Samurai Selections and Commentaries from Yamamoto Tsunetomo's  Hagakure , the Classic Exposition on Zen and the Japanese Warrior Code of Bushido courtesy of Wikimedia Part Two: Become as One Who is Permanently Dead "I have found that Bushido means to die.  It means that when one chooses between life and death, one will quickly choose the side of death.  There is nothing else to consider.  One simply makes up one's mind and pushes ahead...  When one has to choose between life and death, there is no time to worry whether one's objective has been achieved.  All of us prefer to live, so we can always find a reason to stay alive.  If one lives as one intends to die, it is cowardice... If one dies when one intended to live, it might be regarded as a vain death or as craziness, but one will not incur any shame.  This is to be a real man of Bushido.  If every morning and every evening one dies anew, one will become as one perman...

  The Way of the Samurai Selections and Commentaries from Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure , the Classic Exposition on Zen and the Japanese Warrior Code of Bushido Portrait of Yamamoto Tsunetomo I. Everything is in the Present Moment "There is nothing outside of the present moment.  Life is nothing but a series of moments following one after another.  If one becomes aware of this fact, there is no reason to be in a hurry and no reason to be searching around for anything.  All one has to do is hold to the present moment and get on with life.  Yet everyone lets the moment slip from their grasp, believing that there is something else over and above the present moment and hunting all around for it, losing their awareness of the here and now.  It takes a lot of practice to learn to hold continually to the present moment and to not let it slip.  However, once one has found this realm, even if one cannot remain in it constantly, it is already the real thing....