Ignorance – Parts Per Billion

The Book of Five Rings – the Book of the Void

The final book from the Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi may seem like a last page reading with very few paragraphs but it gives deep insight into the knowledge that is yet to be gained by the person and the knowledge which lies beyond the limits of the humanity. The Book of the Void is the most concise treaty on the extent of our knowing, our ignorance and that knowledge which we would never know due to the mortal limitations. Miyamoto Musashi’s idea of the absolute wisdom through the concept Void transcends the boundaries of human life and time.

Miyamoto Musashi’s philosophy for 21^st century

After disseminating his lifelong wisdom in a very systematic way through four books named as the Ground Book, the Water Book, the Fire Book, and the Wind Book representing the philosophies to fight the battles, wars and survive through the challenges of the life, Miyamoto Musashi concludes his learnings in last book – the Book of the Void. On the scale of writing, it is not even a book. The readers will feel like they are reading the last page of the book. This shortness of the last book – the book of Void is very intentional by Miyamoto-san. Again, as his suggestions go – one has to really appreciate what he is trying to communicate – the wisdom that which cannot be expressed, conveyed through words.

The main purpose of the Book of the Void is to make the readers aware of the things and the wisdom that they can never know. There is one danger in this process especially for those who learn only by themselves (-without a real teacher always in front of them) which Miyamoto-san was very well aware of. He tries to complete this cyclical process of gaining wisdom through self-learning in this Book of the Void.

“What is called the spirit of the void is where there is nothing. It is not included in man’s knowledge.”

First, he clarifies what this is all about. Miyamoto-san first brings out the elephant in the room that there will always be something that you could never know.

“By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the Void.”

The Void thus represents the wisdom that lies beyond all that can be known by every human being. Now there is one catch in this idea. A normal person who has just started his journey on the path of wisdom will not know everything initially. So, whatever he/she does not know right now is new for him/her. Does this new wisdom which that person was unaware, which discovered during the journey represent the Void? The answer is – No. The Void is not the gap between your current understanding, current knowledge, and the knowledge you are yet to gain or understand. The Void is that which can never be known even when ‘everything that is there to know’ is known completely. And that itself is really humbling. It is about the limits of how we learn, understand the world around us. Miyamoto-san as the great teacher makes every reader aware of what the limitations of our understandings are. He wants everyone to understand that even when you know ‘everything that is there to know’, there still will be something left out because of the limitations of the ways we perceive the reality.

“People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This is not the true void. It is bewilderment.”

Here, Miyamoto-san very smartly makes the reader aware of what they call the Void may be and mostly will be the knowledge they are yet to gain. Again, as I explained earlier, the Void is not the gap between what you know and what all there is to be known by you. For every learner, whatever they haven’t experienced before will be new knowledge to them (which literally is the definition of ‘new’!) That will create the illusion of Void for them but the path is way long for the pursuit of true wisdom. We have this tendency of treating every new experience we come across as a very special experience and there is nothing wrong in it, but also creates an illusion of knowing the special wisdom in the person. This instigates the illusion of knowing something extraordinary, of knowing everything in the mind of that person.

Miyamoto-san thus advises the readers to recognize the confusion between the common knowledge and the real Void – the knowledge lying beyond everything that can be known.

In very simple and short words, Miyamoto-san is trying to show the expanse of the true ‘wisdom of life’ to the readers so that they will be humbled by what very small amount they know and they can know throughout their limited lifetime. Miyamoto-san idea of Void is intended to remain on the path of learning throughout the life with the awareness that there will always be something beyond our current understandings of the nature.

Being aware of the infinite extents of that which can be never known, one creates the curiosity to know everything that is there to know; it also brings in the humility for what very little one knows.

The idea of Void by Miyamoto-san is about intellectual humility and the limitations of how we understand the world around us.

Let us keep the idea of the Void aside for now. The things that we can know, the wisdom that we can have themselves are so vast in their expanse that a single mortal life cannot be sufficient to learn and grasp each and everything that is there to know. This will easily overwhelm a new learner rather everyone on such journey. Miyamoto-san knew this hence he proceeds with the ways to clear this confusion and such overwhelming feelings.

“To attain the Way of Strategy as a warrior you must study fully other martial arts and not deviate even a little from the Way of the warrior. With you spirit settled, accumulate practice day by day, and hour by hour. Polish the twofold spirit heart and mind, and sharpen the twofold gaze perception and sight. When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void.”

In simple words, the way to get everything big is to start small and build over it, follow the truest path step by step instead of getting overwhelmed by the length of the journey. Once the person becomes aware of the process, the things built over the time will help him/her to distinguish between the that which is known, that which is yet to be known and that which can never be known.

You will notice in every part of the Book of the Five Rings especially in the Wind book, Miyamoto-san suggests to learn the techniques of the other schools from a broader perspective. Even after being the greatest swordsman of his time, he was completely aware that there will always be something which can improve his existing techniques. There will always be some better ways to do the same thing. This newer, creative, and out of the box thinking is only possible for the person who understands the limitations of his mind, who is truly humble even after gaining all the wisdom in the world. Only the idea of the Void can show a complete scholar the extents of what he/she knows.

Miyamoto-san mentions the spirit of heart and mind which are emotional and intellectual aspects of personality. He further mentions the perception and sight which are the abilities to see beyond what is shown and to see the bigger picture. The journey for the true wisdom is about development of our emotions, intellect, perception, and vision. That is what life actually is! What a thought by Miyamoto-san!

“Until you realize the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at the things objectively, from the viewpoint of the laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way. Know well this spirit, and with forthrightness as the foundation and the true spirit as the Way. Enact strategy broadly, correctly, and openly.”

Miyamoto Musashi holds the last but the most important (and the secret trick) in the journey for the wisdom of the life. Actually, he already hinted this secret in the early part of the Book of the Five Rings. Miyamoto-san explains that when the person on the journey for the wisdom will reach the ultimate spot (and not the end of the journey- the journey has no end – it continues in the Void) then he/she will realize that the vast expanse of knowledge that they were getting overwhelmed in the early part of their journey are actually created from the main true path of the absolute wisdom. The vast expanse of the knowledge was created due to many deviations from the ultimate path. The absolute wisdom will have that clarity as Miyamoto-san explains. That is the exact reason why he already said

“If you know the way broadly, you will see it in everything”

Once you get the absolute clarity of what you know then you will never feel the need to know each and everything. You are zero and infinity at the same time, you are nothing and everything at the same time. You will try to understand everything based on the absolute wisdom you already have as all the remaining knowledge is just a deviation from that absolute wisdom.

“In the void is virtue and no evil.”

The acceptance of that which can be never known will actually make the person humble. Many will think that the idea of not knowing everything will actually create maniacs due to that unsettling urge to know everything but the exactly opposite will happen. When one accepts that the journey for the wisdom is a never-ending, then the smartest choice is to embark on this journey with minimum possible baggage. The true scholar will get rid off every deviated knowledge from the path of the true wisdom to reduce their load in this journey, they will use their limited but ultimate wisdom in every possible and new way to understand the new knowledge and the knowledge which cannot be known.

You must appreciate how great thought Miyamoto-san put forward many years ago with close to zero resources. That is what is great about the Book of the Five Rings and especially the Book of the Void.

The Book of Void actually speaks about everything through the idea of nothing. This can be put down into some words only by the scholars like Miyamoto Musashi. That also the reason why the Book of Five Rings is not just a guide for war strategy and the ways of the warriors. The Book of Five Rings is more than that, it is about the ways to live a life full of true wisdom. True wisdom holds everything in the idea of the awareness of nothing.

The Spirit of the Void for the modern world

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance”
Confucius

The initial realizations of the idea of the Void are presented to make the readers aware of what small they actually know and what vast they are yet to know. When one accepts that there is still more to know and learn many things and even after knowing/learning everything, there will be something which can never be known due to the limitations of human life, at that exact moment the person becomes the container to the ultimate wisdom.

Void and the Incompleteness of the Mathematics

Modern mathematics and the development of completely new mathematical concepts are based on the world-famous Gödel’s incompleteness theorem. In simple worlds, certain truths in a system must be accepted true without a proof (and there are no contradictions to them till now) to prove all the remaining truths of the system. If in such system a new fact arises which cannot be proven by any existing truths and is never contradicted then such non-contradicted and unprovable truth will create bigger system of newer truths. (you can read in detail about this in my older post). The new uncontradicted, unprovable truth in the system lies out side the existing system of truths. It can be only understood by the person who is open to new possibilities outside the existing system.

The Void and The Dunning-Kruger Effect

Miyamoto-san even in his days was aware of this world-famous psychological effect now that we have a proper name for it. Miyamoto Musashi knew how half-knowledge – limited knowledge creates the illusion of knowing everything and can even blind the master of masters personality. He wanted the new learners to remain humble not get overconfident during the start of the long journey and he knew that the one who has traveled enough through this journey will have the humility for what great they have achieved. (see my older post to know more about the Dunning Kruger effect)

“The opposite of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge”
Stephen Hawking

The Void and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Modern Scholar

Miyamoto-san’s idea of the Void also highlights how we are only able to learn what we are able to grasp. This actually creates a biased learning process, which is dominant in those who learn things on their own. Even for people who are masters of their fields and have proper guidance available externally, it is impossible to learn something new and groundbreaking unless they are receptive towards it. Ralph Waldo Emerson in his world-famous speech The American Scholar explained how exactly this learning works. (read in detail about the American scholar in my older post1, post 2, post 3)

The Void and Einstein

Einstein’s idea of relativity was rejected by many scholar scientists in the early stages because they were unable to accept and understand the ideas of higher dimensions in the fabric of the space-time. (That is exactly why Einstein is known as a peerless genius!) So, you can only learn what you are able to perceive and grasp. Miyamoto-san’s philosophy of Void encourages to become open to that which cannot be known which lies beyond our grasp.

The Void and The Quantum Mechanics

While we are on the cusp on the quantum mechanical revolution in modern world, it was Max Planck in quantum mechanics’ early emergence when he quoted about the nature of the reality we live in and our inability to understand such quantum mechanical reality. Upon understanding the mind-boggling nature of the quantum mechanics Max Planck maybe got a peek into the Void – that which can never be known due to our physical limitations. For a swordsman as Miyamoto Musashi, the philosophy of the Void stood the test of the time.

It also shows how absolute wisdom remains consistent throughout the times, branches of knowledge and generations. (find more about how we have realized the existence of Void through one interesting concept in QM in my older post)

Conclusion

Thus, the Book of Void by Miyamoto Musashi is about remaining humble about the extents of the knowledge we have right now, the knowledge that is yet to be known and the knowledge that is beyond the limits of our understanding which is the real Void.

The concept of Void clarifies three main points:

– 1 –

What you know is very small compared to what all there is which can be known.

– 2 –

You can know everything that is there to know and when you will know everything that can be known you will understand that everything that can be known is just the result of the many deviations from the absolute knowledge.

Knowing everything is not about understanding everything individually like a memory bank, rather it is knowing a thing in its entirety and every perspective

This clears one fundamental doubt which everyone has in their own learning journey. We think that if we know many things then we will have knowledge of everything. For the same reason we think that a wise man has many tools in his bag to deal with every problem.

But it is exactly opposite when it comes to the concept of wisdom through Void.

A wise man knows single concept which touches all that is there to know, this single concept brings in the clarity. A true wise man never carries a bag full of different tools to solve different problems, he carries the distilled understanding of how to develop the tools according to the problem.

Thus, once you are able to know everything that is there to know you will find a single thread connecting to all such fields of knowledge. You will never get overwhelmed by the amount of information and expanse of the various fields of the knowledge. That single thread of your wisdom will bring clarity, will bring in virtue in your life, will calm down your mind

– 3 –

When you will succeed in knowing everything then you will truly understand the boundaries of how you understand the universe. This will be the moment when you will accept the existence of the true Void. This acceptance will make you humble and even after knowing everything that is there to know you will embark on the new journey of that which can never be known. That will be your transcendence.

One has to very deeply think and understand and appreciate how Miyamoto Musashi in his very short but important “Book of the Void” distilled the fundamental wisdom of humanity. No wonder this concept of Void is always peeking its head out in different events, different lives, different breakthroughs, and different eras of the humanity. The truest wisdom always remains consistent throughout and it never fears to upgrade itself based on the new learnings. The Book of Void is about what small amount we actually know, what vast ocean that is there to know and what massive expanse lies beyond that ocean as the Void – the world beyond our understandings.

Links for further reading:

Food for thought only at $1

“Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.“

“A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely shape his circumstances.“

– James Allen, As A Man Thinketh

The best thing about books is the value they provide compared to their cost. Books are the materialistic vessels which contain streams of the incomparable, unbound and unfathomable ocean of knowledge. I will discuss one such small- yet very impactful book by James Allen called “As A Man Thinketh”

The book is the epitome of common saying “good things come in small packages”. This book is mere collection of seven essay-like chapters which emphasizes on the importance of our thoughts /thinking and their impact on our life, circumstances, success/ failure, body. This small self-help book is the perfect distillate of the ideas in philosophy related to our thoughts – our thinking. Nobody should miss this book.

The author James Allen intended this book to remain concise, compact. James Allen was a British philosopher, poet and is called the pioneer of self-help movement. Buddha and his teachings – one of the influences on James Allen seem to reflect themselves in this book. He also calls this book “little volume (the result of meditation and experience)”. The book is also said to inspire one of the bestsellers called ‘The Secret’ which focuses on the Law of attraction.

Let us dive into the seven short yet insightful ideas explained in the book ‘As A Man Thinketh’.

1. Thought and character

Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruit.

James develops this idea from the logic of Cause and Effect. Anything we do will have a favorable or unfavorable outcome which decides whether it will make us happy or sad. If sweet or sour fruits are the effect then their cause is the action taken.

But what is the cause to the effect of taking an action?

James expresses ‘the thought’ as the cause for actions. We are what we think. Our every minuscule, insignificant seeming yet impactful thoughts and their collection make us who we are which thereby enables us to act in a specific way. Some may consider this as a behavior, the attitude of a person. James wants to make readers aware of the control they can have on their life by having control on their thoughts, thereby the actions they will take and the outcomes of these actions

Man is always the master even in his weaker and most abandoned state; but in is weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his “household”

2. Effect of thought on circumstances

The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours; that which it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires, – and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.

Here, in the second part James expands the idea of cause and effect of our thoughts causing our “attitude” which causes our actions in a specific way giving us “our character”. This idea is also somewhat similar with the thought expressed by Carl Jung- Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst as follows:

“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.”

– Carl Jung

This reinforces that the thoughts are responsible for every action we take. No matter how spontaneous they may seem but they are the outcomes of our deep, hidden thoughts and they may remain unconscious for us. That is why James says “soul attracts that which it secretly harbours”. These conscious, unconscious thoughts inspire actions in a specific manner and the outcomes are revealed as the mannerisms of the actions taken. Hence, our thoughts give birth to the circumstances around us.

Justice

The idea of reaping what we sow is central here. James calls it ‘the exact justice’. Rather than circumstances shaping the person, James highlights that the person is the cause of his circumstances which are linked to his/her attitude which is ultimately linked to the thoughts.

Ignorance

James expands the idea of circumstances to the desires, wishes of every person. In almost every case a person has the solution for the problem right in front of her/him, but they chose to ignore because it will cost them to change themselves and the anxiety associated with changing themselves.

If one eliminates this ignorance of the obvious yet anxious seeming change/ improvement, then she/he will become free. This means that one has to sacrifice her/his current attitude, current thought to improve personally thereby to improve the circumstances.

Good and Evil

James clears the idea of being good or being bad. In simple words, they are considered as a superficial tag or quick judgemental opinion of every person.

There are many examples in everyone of our lives when we feel that the dishonest man got the success and honest man failed greatly.

According to James’s idea of “Exact Justice”, the person having complete and absolute knowledge would have gone beyond good and bad, success and failure. She/he would consider them as a part of their evolution, part of their ongoing experiences.

Blessedness and Wretchedness

James discusses here the idea of suffering which seems to be influenced highly by the teachings of Buddha. Desires are the root of suffering. James calls the suffering as the effect of wrong thought. When one loses the harmony with her/his thoughts then only she/he suffers.

Blessedness hence is originated from the right thought, however materialistically poor a person may be and wretchedness is originated from the wrong thought, however materialistically a rich may be. Right thoughts meaning the harmony of a person with his doings and ultimately the thoughts responsible for them.

Introspection

Again, based on the law of justice of the universe, James establishes that, once a man accepts that his thoughts are responsible for the conditions around him, he starts tuning his thought in a way to change the conditions, people and their behavior towards him. This is possible only by the power of Self analysis and introspection, James says.

This seems like the core inspiring idea behind the development of the book called “The Secret” which calls for the Law of attraction.

Good and bad Habits

The collection of continuous thoughts in certain way creates a channel of certain continuous actions thereby creation of routines leading to the formation of habits. Our thoughts even may seem untouchable, non-physical but they manifest themselves into our actions in a specific way thereby swiftly developing our habits. These then create the circumstance of certain outcome.

James calls it as the “crystallization” of thoughts into habits and further “solidification” of these habits into the circumstances.

3. Effect of thought on Health and The Body

The body is delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, and habits of thoughts will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it.

James considers the body as a servant of the mind. In simple words, the body is the materialistic extension of our untouchable, non-physical thoughts. Hence, thoughts drive the body and the health. That is why a healthy mind will always crave for healthy food, healthy and hygienic habits. The neat and healthy living is the effect of the neat and healthy thinking.

With those who have lived righteously, age is calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like the setting sun.

In one sentence – “Age is just a number”. It is all in the thought of ours which determines how young we are.

4. Thought and Purpose

Even if he (a man) fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph

James wants to establish the concept of failures as a part of life and their contribution in the ultimate success. Overcoming the failures is only possible when a person has found the purpose. This purpose then makes him to accept the failure, strengthen himself to face the failure again and to finally become strong to overcome it.

In simple way- when a person accepts the fact that, in order to become successful, one will go through multiple failures, the first step towards success is taken. In the process of overcoming these failures he will become strong; he will gain the strength to ultimately achieve the true success.

Purpose will guide the person through the failures.

5. The Thought-Factor in achievement

Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and nature.

Here, James follows the idea of strengthening oneself to overcome the failures. This will need sacrifice. The sacrifice intended here is of the selfishness. Because selfishness indicates attachment, attachment induces desires and failure to get these desires makes the person to lose the said harmony of thoughts and actions. The true achievement James establishes here is the freedom – what some may call as “Mukti” as mentioned in Hinduism. This needs upliftment of thoughts which is only possible by letting go of materialistic desires and acceptance of true knowledge, true purpose.

6. Visions and Ideals

Dreams are the seedlings of realities

James Allen calls the dreamers as the saviors of the world. The idea is that visions are one structured way of inspiring thoughts which go on accumulating to cause an action in a constructive way thereby manifesting a good habit. This good habit will be responsible for the harmonious circumstances which is the ultimate purpose of the life. James clarifies that the idle wish is not the Vision.

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not.

James denies the existence of chance, luck through the idea. It is therefore is established here that there are only thoughts conscious or unconscious they may be which are ultimately responsible for who we are and what is happening with us and how we accept and react to it.

Gifts, powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; They are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized.

This idea again focuses on actions thereby the thoughts responsible for these actions which are the key parts of human evolution in physical and non-physical ways. The vision brings thoughts into the reality of action, drives it or gives it a purpose.

7. Serenity

Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety and doubt only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey him.

Serenity in the end is intended to calm ourselves our of all the thoughts we have. This demands to establish control on our thoughts thereby controlling the actions and circumstances.

These are the seven core ideas of James Allen’s intellectual and philosophical masterpiece. ‘As A Man Thinketh’ itself builds a bridge between eastern and western philosophies in an effective way. The ideas also bring religious thought processes from Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. The book being so small yet expressing such vast and exhaustive ideas definitely highlights the power of few pages bearing, single dollar costing book with such a strong thoughts and ideas. Definitely a must read.