“In Emptiness exists Good but no Evil.

Wisdom is Existence.

Principle is Existence.

The Way is Existence.

The Mind is Emptiness” (Musashi, p. 112).

Likely the most abstract and confusing of the 5 chapters in Musashi’s Book of Five Rings is the Emptiness chapter. “Emptiness, of course, is nothingness” which Musashi states is the Way of his chosen style of martial arts (Musashi, p. 108). This is confusing and rather vague leaving the reader (you and me) to imagine what Musashi means. Musashi says that “to be in the world and see things poorly, [and] to be unable to distinguish one matter from another and to regard this as Emptiness… is not the true Emptiness” (Musashi, p. 108). Musashi seems to be saying that only seeing the world as something evil or inherently bad is not the true Way. Manson would likely agree with Musashi as he says that “all the meaning in our life is shaped by [an] innate desire to never truly die” (Manson, p. 198). Manson believes that although it is important to recognize and be comfortable with our own death, we should still seek to do things that allow our memory to live on, therefore recognizing the good in life and distinguishing between the bad (death) and the good (our self-image). This aligns with Musashi as Manson attempts to distinguish one matter from another in life to allow us to determine what is good and what is bad for ourselves, in essence following the true Way.

Furthermore, Manson and Musashi complement each other quite well in this chapter as Musashi demands that “[the warrior] polishes the two hearts of his mind and will” meaning that one should seek knowledge and be confident in their ideals and values, and that “[the warrior] sharpens the two eyes of broad observation and focused vision” meaning that one should both understand the entirety of a situation as well as the minute details (Musashi, p. 109). Manson, as a guide to life compliments this in that he gives us a compass by which to determine which knowledge, ideals, and situations to give a f*ck about. This compass is death. By using death as the compass Manson suggests that you can “choose values that stretch beyond serving yourself, that are simple and immediate and controllable and tolerant of the chaotic world around you” (Manson, p. 206).

So how does this help us as college students? The reoccurring question. First, I think it is important to touch on being able to distinguish one matter from another is important. Musashi wants us to follow the true way and to do so we need to be able to understand the differences in situations. Let’s say that you have an exam next week, and a close friend of yours has recently been in a horrific car accident (hopefully that never happens). It is obvious that the car accident is bad, something we should recognize and the test is also bad (something most students don’t look forward to, essentially making it bad) so if both are bad how do we differentiate? Well studying for the test is good, but also visiting your friend in the hospital is good. Again, we find a dilemma. Now I want you to apply Manson’s thinking to the situation, use death as a compass to determine your values. Is the test going to set a precedence that stretches beyond yourself? Probably not, although you still want a good grade and will likely find time to cram before the exam it is not in itself that bad. But is visiting your friend in the hospital setting a value that stretches beyond yourself? Yes, it is. In this way we can use Musashi and Manson to differentiate between situations and set values and ideals that stretch beyond ourselves.

Now let’s apply this same thought process to a situation that is less important, say you want to go to the gym but a friend of yours wants you to come over and have a couple of drinks, and you don’t see this friend often. Both of these situations are good but which one reaches beyond yourself? Now you might think going and having a drink or two, or ten (whatever suits you) with a friend reaches beyond yourself, which maybe it does. Yet, the gym is entirely self-serving, so let’s go have that drink! Or not. Because actions are multidimensional. You do not have to choose between the two, you have more options than that, options that will better suit your values and ideals. Maybe you invite your friend to the gym and then agree to have a drink afterwards which would likely be the best option. By differentiating between the good and the bad, and even the better, you can practice the true Way.

Let’s also look to hone your two hearts and two eyes. You can use the same method discussed above to also hone your knowledge and values. For example, I can spend my time learning the intricacies of the Game of Thrones story line or I could spend my time studying for that exam next week. The intricacies of Game of Thrones might be interesting and exciting but aside from conversations among friends it is mostly self-serving whereas studying for that exam will help me do well in my classes, which in turn allows me to graduate and join the workforce. This in the end will reach beyond myself whether I am providing services or manufacturing new technology. So, by using this logic it is best to value the knowledge I will need for my exam and learn the large and small details of that knowledge, not of Game of Thrones. By using this scale, we can achieve the true Way of Emptiness.

Nolan Harris