Every leader who has lived life successfully has followed few guided principles of his own with which he has won all his battles. Dokkodo also known as the "The Path of Aloneness", "The Way to Go Forth Alone", or "Way of walking alone" is one such work of a great successful man.
It is a short work by Miyamoto Musashi. So often he is only seen as one of Japan's greatest swordsmen and duelist, but he was so much more. Musashi was philosophical, artistic, and lived a life way beyond the legendary Japanese swordsman, philosopher and the author of the book "The book of 5 rings". In the final years of his life, Musashi retreated to a cave to life his life as a hermit. It was here that he finally put his words to write "Dokkodo", the path walked alone, a week before he died in 1645 in which he shared a set of 21 profound principles and how they can help us live a more meaningful and disciplined life. Each of these 21 principles address a different perspective to life.
The 21 principles of Dokkodo:
1. I did not infringe upon the way of successive generations.
2. I sought not seek pleasure for pleasure's sake.
3. I harbored no biased feeling.
4. I thought lightly of yourself and profoundly of the world.
5. I succumbed not to greed for the duration of my life.
6. I held no regrets for past deeds.
7. I was never jealous of others over matters of good and evil.
8. In all things I never despaired over partying.
9. I never had malice towards others nor they towards me.
10. I steered clear of the path of attachment.
11. I held no preferences for anything.
12. I cared not where I lived.
13. I sought not the taste of fine food.
14. I possessed no old items of historical consequence to pass on.
15. I adhered not to superstitious beliefs.
16. Apart from weapons, I sought not superfluous trappings.
17. I spurned not death in the way.
18. I sought not the possession or fiefs for my old age.
19. I respected the deities and Buddha without seeking their aid.
20. I abandoned my body but not my honor.
21. I never drifted from the way of combat strategy.
These 21 profound principles of the Dokkodo can help us live a more meaningful and disciplined life.
