Miyamoto Musashi is a legendary swordsman who fought in numerous wars and dueled over 60 opponents, winning all of them, with his first duel occurring at the age of 13 years old.
The Book of Five Rings is Musashi’s gift to the world, his wisdom, written inside of Reigandō cave–which can be visited from the Japanese city of Kumamoto–shortly before his death.
The book of Five Rings contains 5 chapters, five rings that link together:
- Earth
- Water
- Fire
- Wind
- Emptiness
In the beginning of the William Scott Wilson translation of The Book of Five Rings, Wilson writes:
“Much has been made of Musashi’s Buddhism and, paradoxically, his lack of the same. In the very beginning of The Book of Five Rings, he tells us that before starting the book he “bowed in veneration to Heaven, worshipped Kannon,3 and stood before the Buddha.”4 A few lines later he informs us that “in writing this book I am not borrowing the ancient words of Buddhism.”
Miyamoto Musashi Respected The Gods
Musashi respected the Gods, but did not rely on them for his way of life. Below is his opening statement in the Earth chapter, the first chapter in The Book of Five Rings:
“I have named my own Way of the Martial Arts the “Two Heavens, One Style,”1 and after many years of discipline have thought to describe it in a book for the first time. In the first week or so of the Tenth Month in the Twentieth Year of Kan’ei [1643], I climbed Mount Iwato in the province of Higo on the island of Kyushu, bowed in veneration to Heaven, worshipped Kannon,2 and stood before the Buddha. Born in the province of Harima, I am the warrior Shinmen Musashi no kami Fujiwara no Genshin. I have now reached the age of sixty. From long ago in my youth I set my mind on the martial arts, and had my first match when I was thirteen. My opponent was a martial artist of the Shinto Style, Arima Kihei, whom I defeated. At the age of sixteen I defeated a strong martial artist by the name of Tajima no Akiyama. At the age of twenty I went to the capital and met with famous martial artists; and although I fought a number of matches, I was never unable to take the victory. After that, I went from province to province, from place to place, and encountered martial artists from many different schools; and though I fought as many as sixty matches, I did not lose even once. All of these were events occurring from the time I was thirteen until I reached twenty-eight or twenty-nine.”
Miyamoto Musashi | The Book of Five Rings
Buddhism
Musashi did not mention the Buddha, or other religious aspects for the rest of the book. He followed his path while the Gods watched. Observe that he never asked for help from any deity in his writings. He mentions he bowed in veneration to heaven; the word ‘veneration’ means expressing respect or awe for a holy individual or concept.
In Musashi’s 21 Precepts for Life(Dokkōdō), Precept 19 states: “Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.”
He served his Gods through his path. We all serve our Gods through the path.
We are not here to receive help from the Gods, but to show the Gods what we can do; how strong our mastery is.
Venerate the Gods but do not rely on them to aid you on your path.
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