~ War Scroll: The Book of Five Rings
The Go Rin No Sho
“The Book of Five Rings“
The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) is a text on kenjutsu and the martial arts in general, written by the samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi circa 1645. It is considered a classic treatise on military strategy, much like Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and Chanakya’s Arthashastra.The modern-day Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū employs it as a manual of technique and philosophy.
The Five Books
Although it is difficult to grasp it from the book, Go Rin No Sho, these books are actually the teachings which Musashi preached to his students in his own dōjō. Despite the ideas from others, the books are not based on any other school of teaching.
“Go Rin No Sho” calligraphed in Kanji
The Go Rin No Sho
- The Book of Earth: serves as an introduction, and metaphorically discusses martial arts, leadership, and training as building a house.
- The Book of Water: chapter describes Musashi’s Ni-ten ichi-ryu style, , or “Two Heavens, One Style“. It describes some basic technique and fundamental principles.
- The Book of Fire: refers to the heat of battle, and discusses matters such as different types of timing.
- The Book of Wind: is something of a pun, since the Japanese character can mean both “wind” and “style” (e.g., of martial arts). It discusses what Musashi considers to be the failings of various contemporary schools of swordfighting.
- The Book of the Void: chapter is a short epilogue, describing, in more esoteric terms, Musashi’s probably Zen-influenced thoughts on consciousness and the correct mindset.
~ Miyamoto Musashi
(c. 1584–June 13 (Japanese calendar: May 19), 1645),
also known as Shinmen Takezo, Miyamoto Bennosuke
or by his Buddhist name Niten Doraku.
* Robert Greene quotes from The Book of 5 Rings in both The 48 Laws of Power and The 33 Strategies of War, two large treatises on war, power, and strategy.
Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_five_rings
~cave canem~ vvvv
Your description on the book of the void, or Book of No-Thingness, is not wrong but it is lacking in a bad way. He sends you away with an important message that you will echo back to yourself through all the years to come.
LOL Understandable Jash, but this is a simple paraphrase from Wikipedia.com. The idea is just to give someone the basics of the books and for them to go and actually “read” them for themselves. This book could arguable be the “most important” of Musashi’s Go Rin No Sho, yet the most difficult to “understand” and more open to individual interpretation.
“In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness.”
In the above quote, Musashi speaks of “virtue and no evil”. This may mean “goodness and banishment of evil” or “purpose and non-existence of good and evil”, and the exact meaning is open to debate. ~ Wikipedia entry