The Ground Book: Part II

Earth (chi/ji) by Nao of japanesecalligrapher.com

Part I focused on the “spirit of winning,” i.e. success with any weapon. Here we look at Musashi’s “Benefit of Weapons in Strategy”:

“There is a time and place for the use of weapons.

If you learn ‘indoor’ techniques, you will think narrowly and forget the true Way. Thus, you will have difficulty in actual encounters.”

The opening line of this section of the Ground Book is a familiar tune; hippies, witches, and the biblically inclined might recognize “a time and place for the use of weapons” as a more visceral translation of “to everything there is a season.” But whereas the song, code, and verse might tend toward feel-good mantra, Musashi gives us a cold and practical reason: ignoring time and place narrows the mind.

The text I omitted between the first line and the last two sentences discusses examples of using indoor weapons for indoor encounters. Musashi, in giving these examples, did not want to dogmatize indoor “techniques” of fighting, hence:

“If you learn ‘indoor’ techniques, you will think narrowly and forget the true Way.”

LSAT tutors encourage the student to practice in a controlled environment. When tutors say “simulate test-day environment,” they often suggest working in a quiet space, alone. This is ridiculous. If the student wants to simulate the true unpredictability of test day s/he should find a place where noise and beautiful and/or smelly people abound. Learning and using the “indoor” test-taking technique of manufactured silence will, I promise, prompt “difficulty in actual encounters,” i.e. the $136 test day experience.

Meditation is the same way. If your yoga teacher or meditation teacher puts emphasis on a quiet environment or gets irked by normal environmental noises (traffic, people, the bawling of feral cats) turn tail and run. The teacher is not offering a technique of self-control or self-annihilation. They are peddling self-assertion by way of denying what is natural to the environment. Not accepting one’s environment inflates its importance. This leads to blaming the environment for progress not made. And, much like a Scooby-Doo villain, ends in the affirmation of the ego via the belittling of something else: “I could have done it were it not for those [insert scapegoat].”

The true Way of Strategy is what the LSAT student and the meditator pursue. Actions (weapons) should fit time and place, but time and place should not dictate practice. Practice is perpetual and ever-changing. The goal is to become infinitely aware of one’s environment while not becoming infinitely caught up in it. If the environment gets its hooks in you, there’s no way you’ll hit 172, remember your next breath, and in some cases, see the next day. But if you acknowledge the environment’s hooks, you can slip by unscathed, free, and victorious.

(Thanks to Nao and Alice of Japanese Calligrapher. And just becuase it's not above the fold, doesn't mean it's not still there. Help Japan here, here, or here.)