Scholarch's Blog

Dokkōdō: 21 precepts

This is the first of three quick posts before I turn in for the night.

I wrote yesterday that I'm engaging with five texts throughout 2026 as part of my self-improvement journey. While I have physical copies of the other four works on my shelf, Miyamoto Musashi's Dokkōdō is brief enough that it can be a file on my computer.

Tangent: There are some versions of it on Amazon, released rather recently. From what I can tell, they're part of the AI slop that's proliferated in the e-book sphere, because of course that's a thing.

For the purposes of this post and my larger endeavour, I'm referring to this citation:

Machida, T. (2012). The last words of Miyamoto Musashi: An attempt to translate his "Dokkôdô". Bulletin of Nippon Sport Science University, 41(2), 199–211. https://nittaidai.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/1222/files/41-2-199-211.pdf

(The scholar in me finds assurance in the footnote on the first page of the article; this effort in translation passes muster in my books.)

Here are the 21 precepts for living, written by Miyamoto Musashi shortly before his death in 1645 (pulled from the cited document):

  1. I will not oppose the ways of the world.
  2. I will not seek pleasurable activities.
  3. I will give preference to nothing among all things.
  4. I consider myself unimportant, but not the world so great and so deep.
  5. I will be free of desire throughout my entire life.
  6. I will not regret my deeds.
  7. I will not be envious of anybody, good or bad.
  8. I will not be sad when I must take my leave of any way.
  9. I will not seek excuses and will hold no grudge against myself or others.
  10. I will not indulge in the way of passionate love.
  11. I will not seek elegance and beauty in all things.
  12. I will have no luxury in my house.
  13. I will have no delicacies for myself.
  14. I will not own anything that will one day be a valuable antique.
  15. I will have trust in myself and never be superstitious.
  16. Weapons are of the highest importance to me, I will not concern myself with other things.
  17. I will always be prepared to die on this way.
  18. I will take advantage of no treasure or manor in my old age.
  19. Buddhas and Gods are worthy of adoration but I will ask them for nothing.
  20. Even if I sacrifice my life I will not sacrifice my name.
  21. I will never deviate from the way of Heihô.

These constitute "The way that I go alone" in the year ahead. Granted, these are precepts authored by a warrior in 17th-century Japan. Our contexts are different, and so must be the interpretations. Nevertheless, I'll follow the spirit of the advice if not the letter, and my interpretations of the guidance is material for subsequent posts.