Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Warrior:
It is interesting that Takeda Nobushige (1525 – 1561) wrote
something similar in The Ninety-Nine Articles, which are precepts he
wrote for the benefit of his son. In it he wrote, “One should not be
excessive in refined pleasures. In Shih Chi it says, ‘When the
banquet is in full swing, there will be confusion. When pleasure is at
its height, sorrow appears.’ In the Tso Chuan it says, ‘High living is
like drinking poisoned sake: it is unthinkable.’”
Both men seem to look at pleasure negatively, and Musashi’s stance
to not seek pleasure for its own sake resembles Proverbs 21:17 from
the New International Version of the Bible, which states, “Whoever
loves pleasure will become poor, whoever loves wine and olive oil
will never be rich.”
Another Stoic, Epictetus (55 – 135 AD), also warned against
pleasure in general when he wrote, “If you are struck by the
appearance of any promised pleasure, guard yourself against being
hurried away by it; but let the affair wait your leisure, and procure
yourself some delay. Then bring to your mind both points of time:
that in which you will enjoy the pleasure, and that in which you will
repent and reproach yourself after you have enjoyed it; and set
before you, in opposition to these, how you will be glad and applaud
yourself if you abstain. And even thought it should appear to you a
seasonable gratification, take heed that its enticing, and agreeable
and attractive force may not subdue you; but set in opposition to this

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how much better it is to be conscious of having gained so great a
victory.”
Despite the fact that it’s a common theme, I have to disagree with
Musashi and the others when it comes to this precept, “Do not seek
pleasure for its own sake” and the negativity toward pleasure in
general. However, this is predicated upon a person’s ability to
condition their mind as to what pain and pleasure are linked to. This
is due to the fact that what drives our behavior is instinctive reaction
to pain and pleasure, not intellectual calculation.
Maybe it’s because I’ve listened for years to Anthony Robbins
saying, “What you link pain to and what you link pleasure to shapes
your destiny.” But the bottom line is I think Tony is right, and that pain
and pleasure are the driving forces in our lives. We do things out of
our need to avoid pain or our desire to gain pleasure. I also think
Tony is right when he says, “The secret of success is learning how to
use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you.
If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls
you.”
This isn’t necessarily a new concept either, because there is a quote
attributed to Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) that states, “The aim of the
wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.” The two have been
linked for centuries, and I prefer to link pain and pleasure to the
appropriate things in order to be led by the carrot rather than pushed
by the stick. I believe it is perfectly acceptable, and actually
preferable, to seek pleasure if you have aligned pleasure with the
right activities and outcomes.
It’s the alignment then that causes a problem, because whose
morals determine which are the right activities and outcomes that we
should seek as pleasurable? Would we then succumb to a
hedonistic society that Musashi’s precept seeks to steer us clear of?
I don’t know.
I’m not an advocate of wanton hedonism, but neither do I advocate
following Musashi’s second precept on its face value. We can direct
our own associations to pain and pleasure and use this force to

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change our behaviors and accomplish great results. We can learn to
condition our minds to link pain and pleasure to whatever we
choose. We must then just ensure that what we choose is correct.
And I’ll let you ponder upon and choose just what that is.