Essays From The Master

It is held in the Hagakure that the way of the Samurai is found in death i.e. the acceptance of death as a fact of life. The core of Komuso Nin Do is to prevail i.e. to not only survive but thrive over all that would hinder life. Both are warrior ways but one accepts that no matter how life is lived it has but one end and the other that values making the most of life and living by any means. For all of the beauty and discipline of the Samurai and the culture it protected it fails because it focuses on the end, it focuses on what could be and what others think. Komuso Nin Do, and all forms of the Silent Way, focuses on life, living and the eternal present knowing that what was is not now and what could be is not yet. For all the smoke and shadow of Komuso Nin Do its aim is to enable those of its path to build themselves and overcome all things that would limit life or take away the vitality of that life. In choosing the path of the Komuso one elects to confront one’s fears and all the other inner foes that stem from the negative shadow of one’s self and thus choose to build one’s life and how it will evolve. To do this one must be able to defend one’s self, provide for one’s self and be able to come and go freely in life so that one can see that what one values is protected and made to increase. Komuso Nin Do views what the masses see as death as change and since change its constant it is part of the present and eternal as a part of life or the consciousness of the present.

If death is understood as change and change is part of life then by controlling the change by building one’s life one is investing in the eternal nature of life. Much in life can and will drain vitality from which arises such things as sickness, aging and the like but vitality can be kept and revived if need be. The adept of Komuso Nin Do acknowledges that the greatest honor is to live and thrive and has nothing to do with what others think or feel. The adept of Komuso Nin Do prizes how they think and feel not those around them, with the full understanding that what they value only applies to them and those they invest in. If one is secure in one’s own thoughts, feelings and values and they allow one to thrive and one holds to them it can be said that one has honor because one is true to one’s self not because of notice by others. To understand that the aim in life is to prevail over what hinders it rather than that life has a fated end is to choose to defy the limits of mass consensus and invest in a larger reality in which life or consciousness goes on so long as it is fed. Quality of life comes from what feeds one’s consciousness and allows one to thrive in spite of the circumstances that arise in the course of living that life. If one’s consciousness is fed with things that stimulate the vitality of the individual then the quality of one’s life will be good and if it fed by things that do not then the quality of life will not be as good as it could be. This is why martial methodology is one tool among many within Komuso Nin Do as one expression of the Silent Way.

This understanding of prevailing versus death points to the roots of Komuso Nin Do in Shugendo setting it at odds with other paths rooted in other sources. By making one’s focus prevailing rather than passive acceptance of a fated end one is choosing to make the most of one’s life though it last forever or if it be done in the next moment. Making the most of life means having enough so that one is not in lack and able to both give as one chooses and find joy in the moment no matter the circumstances. If the present is accepted as being eternal then the trials in the present become means to cultivate and test one’s powers and knowledge as an individual with which one can shape one’s portion of reality. If one accepts the trials of life as being chances to cultivate and refine one’s self then one has the option of understanding one’s existence as being whatever quality of adventure one chooses.