"Free your mind,
then your mind will naturally be natural. "
Soho Takuan, a Zen priest with his ingenuity managed to "capture" Takezo in a dark cell at Ikeda's castle. There for three years, Takezo was detained to explore the piles and books. Starting from the art of war from Sun Tzu, Taoism, books about Zen to the volumes of books on Japanese history. Reverend Takuan, always being harshly advised the famous and recalcitrant takezo Takezo to obedient undergo such heavy training.
One of his suggestions is:
"Think of this room as your mother's womb and be prepared to be reborn. If you look at it only with your eyes, you will not see nothing but the unlighted and closed cells. But look closely, look with your mind and think. This room can be a source of enlightenment, a fountain of knowledge found and enriched by wise men in the past. It's up to you, is this room a dark room or a room full of light? "
After three years of learning, Takezo gets enlightened and freed and can wander again. At that age of 21 years, Takezo started his life back as Miyamoto Musashi.
Miyamoto Musashi, Or so-called Musashi, was a very famous samurai and ronin in medieval Japan. He was thought to have been born sometime around 1584, and died in 1645. His real name is Shinmen Takezo. Musashi's word is another pronunciation of "Takezo" (kanji letters can have many pronunciations and meanings). Musashi has full name Shinmen Musashi No We Fujiwara No Genshin.
Born in a village called Miyamoto in 1584, Musashi was born as Munasai Takezo. Takezo's childhood is not happy. He did not get along with his real father, Munasai Hirata, a landowner samurai. Takezo always throws a harsh criticism of his father's martial arts, causing an underage armpit between father and son. Such a situation makes Takezo run away to leave home to live with his uncle who was not yet 13 years old.
But at the age of 13 years, Takezo was able to conquer a swordsman sword Shito-ryu named Arima Kihei. His opponent was torn down and beat him with a stick to death. Then at the age of 16, Takezo fights with a tough samurai and re-emerges as the winner. From then on, Takezo decided to go adventurous following the "Way of the Sword".
The peak battle for Musashi is against Sasaki Kojiro, his youngest and most formidable rival. Kojiro was an ideal swordsman at the time: his lineage had no disgrace and his distinguished teachers; and with disciplined training, he succeeded in creating an amazing sword-playing technique. But in the end Kojiro's head broke out by Musashi's sword slashing on the fight on Ganryu Island, April 13, 1612.
Musashi's fight against Sasaki Kojiro was a turning point for him. Prior to that, he believed that the art of warfare was the key to victory in every battle. But after defeating Kojiro, Musashi realizes that strength and skill are not the only ones that can be counted on to triumph:
"When I was thirty years old and contemplating my life, I realized that I was a winner not because of the incredible ability in martial arts. Maybe I have a natural talent or not deviate from the natural principle. Or, can it be that martial arts that do contain a defect? After that, with much greater determination to achieve a clearer understanding of deep principles, I practice day and night ".
Then, what would have enabled Musashi to defeat Kojiro if not for the satisfaction of fighting skills? For Musashi, the victory of a battle lies in principle or spirit, not deceit and dishonesty. In the Book of Five Rings, Musashi writes:
"The way of art is direct and true, so you must firmly seek to pursue others and subdue them with true principles".
After the fight Musashi decided to retreat from the fight, because his guilt to bring the death of his opponent. Musashi then settled on Kyushu island and never left him again, to seek solace and seek true understanding. In his previous loneliness Musashi succeeded in completing his book entitled The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin no Sho) which shows all the search and spiritual achievement and the answer about how to find and practice the way.
There are nine points that Musashi taught for all of us:
Think by throwing away all the dishonesty.
Set yourself on the road (the right one).
Learn all the art.
Understand the path of all work.
Understand the advantages and disadvantages of everything.
Develop a sharp eye in everything.
Understand what the eye does not see.
Pay attention even to the smallest things.
Do not get involved in things that are not realistic.
Continue to part 2
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