A book composed of aphorism and mini-essays, the Hagakure captures many of the ideals of the Samurai spirit in the same way the Enchiridion delivers an outline of Stoicism, or the Tao te Ching a guide to Taoism.

Unlike those books, however, there are many sections of the Hagakure that are unable to be ported into everyday use. For example, if someone humiliates your boss, you're not likely to consider going off and slicing off the offender's head with a short sword.

But there are many sections that render beautifully into modern life, including ideas of single-minded dedication, circumspection, fealty to values and cultivating a sense of mortality with a mind toward ridding oneself of needless anxiety.

One of my favorite quotes:

"According to what one of the elders said, taking an enemy on the battlefield is like a hawk taking a bird. Even though it enters into the midst of a thousand of them, it gives no attention to any other bird other than the one that it has first marked."

Again, perhaps not everyone is about to march off into battle this afternoon, but clearly we can take away from this section the value of concentrating on a goal to the exclsusion of other potential aims.

---

I've made a simple "metronome" soundtrack available for download at my site for any artists — writers, designers, graphic artists, painters, etc., who can listen with headphones while they are doing their work. Check out the related post.

And while you're there, you can purchase my book, The Stoic Artist — a field manual for creating the productive artistic life.

---