Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Teacher:
The concept of honor runs throughout the martial arts. It is rarely
defined in clear and concise terms, but nevertheless it is put forward
as an important idea. While I know what honor is, much like St
Augustine responded when asked about the nature of time, when
pressed for a definition of honor, I find it hard to find the right words
to explain it.
In some ways honor might be cheapened into a version of caring
what others say, feel, or think about us, but I resist this path. There is
a small part of the concept of honor that does involve how we are
seen by others, but this is more in the area of our personal legacy.
This is because once our life is over, we are no longer there to
answer questions about what did or did not motivate us to make
certain decisions that we made. Actions are remembered, results
can carry on, but our motivation remains unknown or is swiftly
forgotten.
I think a better concept of honor is in being personally comfortable
with all you have done and how you have lived. When you are old,
will you be comfortable with how your life unfolded and the decisions
you made or are there going to be memories that haunt you? Not
just things you regret or wish you had not done, but things which
make you feel ashamed… This is very different from being
concerned over how others might view your life.

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Avoiding actions which might bring one to a state of feeling ashamed
is probably, to me, at the heart of this precept. Living honorably
means never having these moments where you feel that shame over
your actions. Your decisions may not have been perfect, or the
results of your actions may have been very far removed from what
you anticipated or intended, but the decisions were made by you
according to your personal code and values.
To reach this state, one must live mindfully. Each action and choice
will be weighed against your concept of right and wrong. In this way,
you will make the correct choices and never need to feel such
shame.
Of course, this does not mean in any way that you will have a life
free from mistakes. No one is perfect so mistakes happen. It is
simply impossible to account for every possibility when life is filled
with independent variables. But if you can approach life with
mindfulness, these mistakes should be fewer in number and when
they do occur they will not be caused by selfish oversight. Our errors
will be pure and simple mistakes; hence will not be a cause for
shame in our old age.
And if one has truly reached a level where they no longer fear death
as taught in an earlier precept, then even threats against their life will
not cause them to forsake honor.
In this way, I can agree with this precept.
If you have a code of conduct, a set of personal rules and lines
which you will not cross, and a set of standards by which you make
your decisions, then this precept is not only doable, it can set you on
a path to a better place in your life.