Musashi’s tale is a classic tragedy of a warrior. When trained to the top, fittest of all, effective and almost invincible, in the end you notice that all the things that could’ve provided the real victory, you have left in the hands of fate and fought instead a fight in someone else’s powerplay. Musashi is a classic soldier in a sense that he missed the goal, the end of his path, the fulfillment – the inner fire. Or maybe it was there all the way, but unsure and with weak mind, unable to grab the fate in his own hands. It is left to reader to decide if the soldier himself ever even understood this tragedy of his life.
To be a successful soldier – or a warrior – it is very essential to automate your mind and body. Certain things that serve the survival has to be taken to the level where you no longer have to think anything. You have to be “faster that thought”. There’s a trap in this. Usually the same successful “way of survival” (in certain environment) starts spreading in the other areas of life. That strengthens the structures of mind, ties you to certain environments and patterns and most important of all – makes it almost impossible for mind to change or see other points of views. One becomes as a weapon – functional, cold, and unable to bend. All the things you need in effective violence, but the things that stand in the way of individual and collective development.
I like the Sun Tzu’s teachings. Though I think he is not a warrior in the concept of war. He is a strategist, politician and a leader, but not a warrior in a sense that many other “classics” of war are. For example Clausewitz, Warden and many others have the focus in the battle itself. Sun Tzu has the focus in the victory and always, when possible, he advised to avoid the battle. He talked a lot of the thing I spoke above – in the battle, you are unable to see or lead the big picture. The choice is made when you engage the enemy and at that point the options are reduced to zero. This is the situation which is not recommended when you fight for a goal, for a victory or for your inner flame – it is a favorable situation only when you seek to fight or die.
The battle itself leaves a lot of empty shells. When you have not the inner fire, the goal, you are mere a soldier. Soldier’s mission is to fight ‘til death. Not for a cause, not for a victory, but to death. And there’s nothing noble in it. The constant presence of death is like a driver for a discipline – it makes it easy to slip into structures you have created for survival. Presence of death is a motivator for the weak mind; the courageous avoid this and even when they face it, it doesn’t provide the effect because the fear is missing. When trained right, all you have to do is to induce the fear and you do the right thing. You whip your mind into it’s place and nothing does it better than fear of death. But warriors seek to avoid this. They know they lose the ability to think, they know the choices are made when you have to face death. They are no longer in control but rather controlled. This is what Sun Tzu tried to teach. The glory is not in the battle, it is in a victory and this separates the people who have the inner flame, the cause, from the people who are mere empty shells, in search of something higher than themselves.
But warriors and soldiers in the concept of war are the weakest and simplest pieces of chess on the board. They are brought in when all the other options have failed. They are the last choice, the machinery of death or life, 1’s or 0’s. There is no nobility, there is no honor and there is no glory in this. As Sun Tzu teaches – the true warriors and strategists are the people who play the game, stay in charge and avoid the battle. The concept of warrior is noble and honorable – when he lives old without ever picking up his sword to get his words heard and still is able to change the world.
This requires true discipline and focus. It’s a sign of a refined mind and strong sense of ethics.
Violence, battle, fight are built-in, easy way for weak minds who are unable to create or innovate. There’s never nobility in pulling a trigger – it is the dead end. The last option and with it you usually lose everything you tried to fight for. Whatever the outcome.
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