Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Insurance Executive:
This precept appears to be a tweaked Buddhist teaching that
suggests you not acquire material things just for the sake of
acquiring. I must admit this is a tough one to follow because,
according to my husband, I’m “a hardcore shopper.” Of course, I
refuse this label. I think of myself as an enthusiastic shopper without
the word “hardcore” attached to it.
As it relates to weapons in general, Buddhism teaches nonviolence,
although depending on the teacher, there are times when it’s
permitted, such as in war and self-defense. Case in point, on one
occasion when the Dalai Lama was asked about self-defense, he
answered, “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be
reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”

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Having spent time in Zendos and Buddhist temples, and seeing how
some people act holier than the Buddha himself, or at least put on
airs to, I’m sure this sent a shockwave through their psyches. While I
admit I never got to know such types intimately (deliberately so), I
will nonetheless hazard a guess and say I doubt they share the
same familiarity with violence as does the Dalai Lama. In fact, I’ve
read articles by some of this ilk that say using violence in self-
defense is wrong. .
Musashi seems to be saying this: Because weapons give us the
ability to defend ourselves and others, they should be used only for
this purpose and not as a toy for entertaining ourselves. If so, the
assumption would be the great swordsman never ever trained for the
sheer pleasure of exercise and fun with a very sharp toy. Well, I don’t
believe this for a second. Forty plus years as a swordsman is an
awfully long time to never pause for a little enjoyment with one’s
weapon.
Since the precepts were written in the twilight of his years, when he
spent his time, perhaps the majority of it, writing, sculpting and
painting, it’s not a stretch to think he had mellowed a little from his
years of travelling the land and challenging people to battle.
Similarly, many police officers today retire to never shoot their gun
again. A few keep sharp with occasional visits to a shooting range, at
least for a few years, while others (arguably most), put their weapon
in the bottom of their socks drawer where it collects lint.
The words “beyond what is useful” are curious. Who can say what is
useful? Is one gun in your sock drawer enough? Maybe… unless the
threat comes in your back door, 60 feet from your bedroom dresser,
or a carjacker jumps in your car 25 miles from your sock drawer. My
husband and I have weapons—not all of them guns—within a few
strides of every entry point in our house. A pacifist might cry that this
is extreme and psychotic, that is, until the threat attacks him in his
weaponless house as he is eating a bowl of granola.
Perhaps Musashi is telling us to walk the middle path even with our
tools of self-defense. Are there people obsessed with weapons? To

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answer that we would first have to define the word “obsessed” and
my guess it’s a word few people would agree on. My husband told
me he once saw a police reservist at the firing range looking at a 45-
caliber semi-automatic he had just bought from a real police officer.
He was holding the gun in his palm, completely lost in thought with a
dreamy, faraway expression on his face, as he caressed the side of
the weapon as if he were petting a kitten. My husband said it caused
him great concern and hoped that the young man, who probably
worked as a box boy at the local grocery, wouldn’t make the evening
news for shooting passersby on Main Street.
Collect whatever weapons you like. Think of them in terms of their
usefulness in self-defense as well as in whatever way you enjoy
them recreationally. Do so being cognizant of every safety practice
applicable to each weapon—gun, sword, axe, knife—and think of
them as just one other aspect of your life, not all of your life.