Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Precept 10:
Do not let yourself be guided by the
feeling of lust or love
“To see a man fearless in dangers, untainted with lusts,
happy in adversity, composed in a tumult, and laughing at
all those things which are generally either coveted or
feared, all men must acknowledge that this can be from
nothing else but a beam of divinity that influences a mortal
body.” — Seneca
Monk:
There are many famous stories of how love and lust have led to poor
decisions and bad choices but the lives we have lived are more
immediate than any parable. We have all made bad choices when it
comes to lust and love. Not knowing the difference between the two,
immaturity, or just maybe youthful naiveté, we have all in some
moment been under the spell of one, or both of these emotions.
Guarding against uncontrolled lust is laudable, but Musashi fails with
this precept as he does not differentiate between the results of these
two emotions in a person’s life. There is a difference between lust
and love that is as large as the Pacific Ocean. This lumping together
two different emotions into one warning shows a curious lack of
understanding in the life philosophy of the famous swordsman.
Lust is an intense desire, and usually attributed to the sexual realm
in modern thought, but it can also apply to power, fame, or several
other matters too. Lust is also listed as one of the traditional “Seven
Deadly Sins” used to educate Christians as to what to avoid in order
to live a better life. Being listed as one of the Seven Deadly Sins

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places lust in the pantheon of serious emotions and traits that can
never lead to a good outcome; things that all good and well-
intentioned people must all avoid. Nevertheless, lust is timeless and
ever-present.
We all know that lust should be controlled, but it’s not easy. In
Dante’s Purgatorio, the penitent walks within flames to purge himself
of lustful thoughts and feelings. In Inferno, un-forgiven souls of the
sin of lust are blown about in restless hurricane-like winds symbolic
of their own lack of self-control to their lustful passions in earthly life.
The challenge is that the only time humans stop having the feeling of
lust is when the first spade of dirt is dropped on our graves.
So, managing our lust is really about co-existence. It is about living
with the desire, recognizing it, and acting is a manner that is
appropriate anyway. Some religions and sages who agree with
Musashi offer ways of dealing with lust, some offer prayer, others
reconciliation, some counseling. Musashi, however, offers no lecture,
no path, no tools, he only says, “Don’t.”
Mature love, on the other hand, is a choice. The act of love occurs
before the emotion. Lust is the opposite; the emotion is set before
the action. You can see how the reversal of these two acts and
emotions, when switched, are very different animals. Decisions
based in lust never seem to work out; they are not sustainable and
are a quick path to downfall. On the other hand decisions made out
of love are sustainable.
Love is a choice. Love is a verb, not a noun. Love is an action. And
love requires that something of one's self must be given freely to
others. This is not the world Musashi knew or built around himself. I
have no answer, nor do you, but it should be pondered, “Was the
swordsman biologically capable of the act of love, would his brain
allow such an act?” Some indications, such as his problems at home
as a child, his lack of need for human companionship, a few other
personality traits and actions give flight to the question of his
physiological makeup and socialization.

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For whatever reason, whatever pathology, Musashi missed the mark
when he recommends that we should stay away from one of the
most elemental of all human emotions, love. Love isn’t an emotion
per say, it is an action, a choice, one that we can and should all
make.