Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Precept 20:
You may abandon your own body but
you must preserve your honor
“The difference between a moral man and a man of honor
is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it
has worked and he has not been caught.” — H. L.
Mencken
Monk:
Musashi’s words are in direct conflict with the world we now have.
We live in a time nowadays where somebody can take the most
private parts of their life, their most personal acts, and hang them
around their neck proudly for all to see. Today the body is placed
above honor in virtually everything and practically nobody thinks
twice about it. Playing upon lust and desire it is easy to use one’s
body to gain celebrity for instance, albeit for a flashing moment.
Honor is thrown on the trash heap of humanity as we stampede to
get a glimpse of someone’s naked body part, sex tape, or salacious
activity. In a world of celebutantes, it is not the act of the peering that
is so weak but rather the inability to control the desire to do so.
So, what then is honor? I like the story we have all heard of about
the samurai who was sent to execute a prisoner for some
transgression. When the two men met the man who was supposed
to be executed made the other angry by spitting in his face and
calling out insults. This resulted in the executioner turning and
leaving without comment. He did so not out of cowardice or breach
of duty, but rather because the execution would have been
performed in anger. That was not the task that he’d been sent to do.

---

Consequently he waited until he calmed down and then returned to
chop off the other man’s head. This is a great example since the
outcome was the same but the divergence of intent made all the
difference in the world.
Internal honor is something that is very important. I’m not talking
about saving face or appearing to do the right things, but rather in
knowing that while mysteries may surround man all things are known
to the divine. The question then becomes do we not rob, rape, or
murder somebody because our moral and ethical code given to us
by God tell us that we should not do so, or do we not do it because
we’re afraid that we’ll get caught.
In the early eighties, horrific child molestations by Catholic priests
and others associated with some branches of the church came to
light. The magnitude was and is incalculable. Those priests who
molested their parishioners held no honor. They used their positions
of trust within the community to groom their victims and perform
egregious acts. They had no ethics, no morals. In fact, they likely
had no religion either as surely they must have known not only that
they were doing the wrong things but also that God was fully aware
of every heinous act whether or not they ever came to light with the
secular authorities. Clearly these men did not abandon their bodies
in the protection of honor, but rather flipped the concept on its head
to satisfy their perverse desires. In doing so they destroyed lives and
crushed families. This is an extreme example of what Musashi
speaks about with this precept, exactly what he warns against.
What Musashi says throughout the Dokkodo is that our essence is
the most important thing we own, far beyond any positions,
accomplishments, or awards. His admonishment that it is better to
forsake our own bodies than to tarnish our sacred honor was as
meaningful when he wrote it as it is today. In fact it’s arguably a
precept that is needed even more now than ever in history, at least in
much of the world. The challenge is that it is a deep concept, one
that can be very hard to live with. To uphold this precept means that
even in the smallest of things you must keep your honor. Calling out

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a pedophile is easy; we can all agree that their behavior is
abominable. Period. There is no gray area, none whatsoever.
However, there are places that on a daily basis and in the smallest
places of our lives will challenge us to do the right things even when
no one is looking. Things like showing up at meetings on time every
time, obeying speed limits, or sticking with an exercise routine come
to mind, but examples are legion.
This is where the battle for our honor lies. It is in the small, the
simple, and the outwardly unknown, the things that the majority of us
came face-to-face with on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis that
mean the most. If we can do all the little things right, the big things
often become easy.