Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Precept 3:
Do not, under any circumstances,
depend on a partial feeling
“Mixed feelings, like mixed drinks, are a confusion to the
soul.” — George Carman
Monk:
On my last trip to England I was able to visit some significant
historical sites. A highlight of the trip was when I was able to put my
nose inches from the protective glass that covered one of the most
important documents in history, the Magna Carta, which was written
in 1215 and signed by King John of England at Runnymede. I was
gobsmacked. Here I was standing in front of THE Magna Carta
Libertatum (Latin for “The Great Charter of the Liberties”), an
underpinning of Western civilization. Among other things, inside this
document was the kernel of the United States Constitution’s Fifth
Amendment.
The Fifth Amendment is famous for protecting people from self-
incrimination. Simply put you are not required to answer any
question that might incriminate you in a court of law. Publicly we look
at people who “Plead the Fifth” and think, “They must be guilty.” But,
in actuality, we really don’t know if they’re guilty or not, we can’t
possibly know since the facts haven’t been adjudicated yet.
However, we have jumped to a conclusion already haven’t we? Is
this right? Is it fair? Is it mature?
Oftentimes opinionated individuals are considered bold, decisive, but
that is really not the case. In fact, not having an immediate and

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conclusive opinion as soon as we hear about something is wise; it’s
not a sign of mental feebleness in any way, shape, or form. To hold
one’s decision until facts are known is a sign of having a mature
thought process. Further, we need not have an opinion on
everything.
Wisdom is based on and within life experience. Actors will lead a
scene with a motion and then follow immediately with an emotion; it
slows the moment, gives viewers an instant to prepare and then
allows us to enter into the emotion they wish to portray.
Nevertheless, the real world is reversed from that approach. The
emotion ignites internally and then the action follows. Consequently
being able to understand the emotion, the information that ignited the
emotion, and the response that may be forthcoming is often difficult
but the insight can be profound. It involves daily practice in both
small and large moments. If you think that is easy I stand before you
as living proof that the process is both challenging and full of failures.
Musashi in a short, ten-word sentence explains that going with your