Dokkodo (The final wisdom of Miyamoto Musashi, Sword Saint, rendered into hokku by Morien MacBain, esq.)
1. You must accept things / whether hard sun or hard rain / like a wayside stone.
2. Honey fills the comb, / but do not seek life's pleasures / only for themselves.
3. No partial feeling / is ever worthy of trust- / Taste the whole berry!
4. Take yourself lightly, / but think of the world deeply / while warm daylight lasts.
5. Long life’s finest cut / severs life from desire- / That is swordsmanship!
6. A dry river bed / is like regret for what's done- / Find another course.
7. Take what comes to you, / do not claw at rice- / Never be jealous!
8. Life separates us / like ever-parting seasons- / Truth is not sadness.
9. Complaint helps nothing ,/ and resentment even less- / Drop them by the path!
10. Lust and love bloom sweet,/but make poor guides on the way-/ Walk with open eyes!
11. At harvest table- / cut away all preference, / and taste what comes next.
12. Find yourself at home / in palace or cold bear's den / with indifference.
13. Eat the ripe fruit- / but do not pursue good food / for its taste alone.
14. Open your hands- / Let things you don't need fly off / like birds to new trees.
15. Custom is a chain- / rivers flow rightly untaught; / find your own beliefs.
16. Don't collect weapons / or practice their ways-/ beyond that which is useful.
17. Do not fear your death- / This advice is the hardest, / but the sweetest fruit!
18. Old age needs little- / Do not seek to store riches / for some far gray day.
19. Craft your own marvels; / respect Buddha and the gods- / Do not count on them.
20. Abandon your life- / Give your body to be burned, / but keep your honor.
21. Only one last thing- / Walking alone in high grass / Don't stray from this Way!
This is an adaptation of the twenty-one precepts of Miyamoto Mushashi's Dokkodo into haiku form.
The Haiku (known during period times as Hokku) is a form (waka) of Japanese poetry. Each is meant to consist of three phrases, totaling seventeen syllables (on or morae). Usually divided in a 5-syllable, 7-syllable, 5-syllable pattern (although some period exceptions exist). Most incorporate a kireji or "cutting word", and a kigo, a word that directly or by implication or tradition relates to a season of the year.
Kireji are traditionally located at the end of one of the three phrases, and fulfill a role much like the caesura in western poetry, or to the volta in a classical sonnet. It may briefly cut the stream of thought, provide closure, or provide linkage or parallelism between the adjoining phrases.
Haiku began in the 14th Century as the first three-line section of a collaborative verse form known as Haikai no renga. One person would compose the first three lines, and the other would link the final two lines of seven-syllables each. This created a 31-syllable poem of five phrases structurally identical to a tanka. Because the first three lines set the tone and imagery, they took on the privileged position in the process of composition, and eventually the composition of such three-phrase groups became the dominant form on their own.
Although modern Haiku written in English are usually composed in three lines, Japanese, hokku/haiku, especially those written in period, were traditionally presented as a single line, as I do here.
Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, philosopher, writer,, graphic artist, and ronin (masterless samurai). He became renowned for his two-sword dueling style and his unparalleled record of success in 61 duels. He is considered a Kensei (sword saint), and was the founder of Nito-Ichi-ryu swordsmanship. He is best known for his masterpiece of strategy The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho), and his much more obscure Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone), which was composed during the last week of his life as a gift to his favorite disciple Terao Magonojo. The principles of the Dokkodo express an ascetic and stoic way of life.
The 21 precepts of the Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone) are:
1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honor.
21. Never stray from the way.
Bibliography:
Musashi, Miyamoto (2018). Complete Musashi : The Definitive Translations of the Complete Writings of Miyamoto Musashi—Japan’s Greatest Samurai. Alexander Bennett. La Vergne: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4629-2027-3.
Tokitsu, Kenji (2006). Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings. Trans. Sherab Chodzin Kohn. Weatherhill. ISBN 978-0-8348-0567-5.
Sato, Hiroaki. One Hundred Frogs: From Renga to Haiku to English, Weatherhill 1983, ISBN 0-8348-0176-0
Shirane, Haruo (2004). Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-10991-8.
Dokkodo
(The final wisdom of Miyamoto Musashi, Sword Saint, rendered into haiku by Morien MacBain, esq.)
1. You must accept things / whether hard sun or hard rain / like a wayside stone.
2. Honey fills the comb, / but do not seek life's pleasures / only for themselves.
3. No partial feeling / is ever worthy of trust- / Taste the whole berry!
4. Take yourself lightly, / but think of the world deeply / while warm daylight lasts.
5. Long life’s finest cut / severs life from desire- / That is swordsmanship!
6. A dry river bed / is like regret for what's done- / Find another course.
7. Take what comes to you, / do not claw at rice- / Never be jealous!
8. Life separates us / like ever-parting seasons- / Truth is not sadness.
9. Complaint helps nothing ,/ and resentment even less- / Drop them by the path!
10. Lust and love bloom sweet,/but make poor guides on the way-/ Walk with open eyes!
11. At harvest table- / cut away all preference, / and taste what comes next.
12. Find yourself at home / in palace or cold bear's den / with indifference.
13. Eat the ripe fruit- / but do not pursue good food / for its taste alone.
14. Open your hands- / Let things you don't need fly off / like birds to new trees.
15. Custom is a chain- / rivers flow rightly untaught; / find your own beliefs.
16. Don't collect weapons / or practice their ways-/ beyond that which is useful.
17. Do not fear your death- / This advice is the hardest, / but the sweetest fruit!
18. Old age needs little- / Do not seek to store riches / for some far gray day.
19. Craft your own marvels; / respect Buddha and the gods- / Do not count on them.
20. Abandon your life- / Give your body to be burned, / but keep your honor.
21. Only one last thing- / Walking alone in high grass / Don't stray from this Way!
This is an adaptation of the twenty-one precepts of Miyamoto Mushashi's Dokkodo into haiku form.
The Haiku (known during period times as Hokku) is a form (waka) of Japanese poetry. Each is meant to consist of three phrases, totaling seventeen syllables (on or morae). Usually divided in a 5-syllable, 7-syllable, 5-syllable pattern (although some period exceptions exist). Most incorporate a kireji or "cutting word", and a kigo, a word that directly or by implication or tradition relates to a season of the year.
Kireji are traditionally located at the end of one of the three phrases, and fulfill a role much like the caesura in western poetry, or to the volta in a classical sonnet. It may briefly cut the stream of thought, provide closure, or provide linkage or parallelism between the adjoining phrases.
Haiku began in the 14th Century as the first three-line section of a collaborative verse form known as Haikai no renga. One person would compose the first three lines, and the other would link the final two lines of seven-syllables each. This created a 31-syllable poem of five phrases structurally identical to a tanka. Because the first three lines set the tone and imagery, they took on the privileged position in the process of composition, and eventually the composition of such three-phrase groups became the dominant form on their own.
Although modern Haiku written in English are usually composed in three lines, Japanese, hokku/haiku, especially those written in period, were traditionally presented as a single line, as I do here.
Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, philosopher, writer,, graphic artist, and ronin (masterless samurai). He became renowned for his two-sword dueling style and his unparalleled record of success in 61 duels. He is considered a Kensei (sword saint), and was the founder of Nito-Ichi-ryu swordsmanship. He is best known for his masterpiece of strategy The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho), and his much more obscure Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone), which was composed during the last week of his life as a gift to his favorite disciple Terao Magonojo. The principles of the Dokkodo express an ascetic and stoic way of life.
The 21 precepts of the Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone) are:
1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honor.
21. Never stray from the way.
Bibliography:
Musashi, Miyamoto (2018). Complete Musashi : The Definitive Translations of the Complete Writings of Miyamoto Musashi—Japan’s Greatest Samurai. Alexander Bennett. La Vergne: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4629-2027-3.
Tokitsu, Kenji (2006). Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings. Trans. Sherab Chodzin Kohn. Weatherhill. ISBN 978-0-8348-0567-5.
Sato, Hiroaki. One Hundred Frogs: From Renga to Haiku to English, Weatherhill 1983, ISBN 0-8348-0176-0
Shirane, Haruo (2004). Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-10991-8.
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