Vagabond: The Keys to Self-Improvement

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• published: 19 Sep 2017
• views: 5037

This is a manga with great messages, with beautfiul artwork, which can be motivating and inspiring to anyone who chooses to read it. "There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself." - Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings. Creating a best-selling manga takes only a pen, paper, and a well crafted story to enrapture the hearts of millions of fans around the world. Vagabond is the fictionalized account of the great swordsman Miyamoto Musashi and the source material was taken from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi with some creative changes and alterations. "What is the true meaning of strength,and after obtaining true strength is there even a benefit of having it?" "What is mentally and spiritually required to be a successful warrior?" "What is oneness and how should we move in our day-to-day life and remain rooted?" "Is weakness inherently wrong, thus what makes strength fundamentally"right"?" "If clinging to labels is wrong, how can we truly judge ourselves objectively and present ourselves to the world aptly?" With These questions there are messages about Abandonment. DEATH. But on the other hand there are messages about Experience, Strength, Invincibility, Camaraderie, Oneness, Balance, Passion, Destiny, Love, and LIFE.One of the beautiful benefits of eastern literature and philosophy is how it is amorphous in nature, which encourages the reader to contemplate on its parables. Regardless of Swordsmanship style, Different characters in the manga struggle with the definition of strength and how to attain it. Every character has their reasoning for what is necessary to be successful in the heat of battle so when a brawl ensues it is less of a battle of swords but a more of a battle of spirit and ideology. Strength is desired by all but there is a trail of bodies behind every sword, and warriors have to cope with that fact. However while strength is desired by all in the story, sometimes it can be vain for one to claim abilities as none other. While he is an highly esteemed Samurai whose strength is well known to the nation he clings to the title of being the best, but his boastfulness and hard-headedness is his true. Weakness When you yourself become truly strong you can perceive what true strength is. With true strength comes less reliance on posturing and relying on illusions of strength. In the beginning of the story Musashi relies on creating the aura of bloodthirst to disengage conflict or psyche out his opponents during battle. What makes Musashi, Kojiro, and Ittosai different from their counterparts is their commitment to the sword. Even Musashi learned after his infamous fight with the Yagyu that taking life in the name of the sword might not truly be honorable, taking life has a cost, and people are not meant to be killed for the vain promise of fame or be seen as stepping stone for one's benefit. What is real will proper One of my favorite arcs in the manga would probably be the Hozoin Arc where Musashi battles Inshun Hozoin, which leads to be a stronger opponent and is forced to flee to save his life. All of the battles that Musashi had been in up to that point he had clearly outmatched his opponent. For the first time Musashi had to cope with the fact that he had been lying to himself about his true strength. In a time where our claws are dulled, common sense aint common, and our brains are filled with false images of glory, fake honor, and fake relationships our honesty with ourselves can be our salvation and create a new reality where our strength is defined by ourselves and not outside parties. In closing, being brutally honest with ourselves using introspection and contemplation can save time, change our life, and grow our capabilities unlike anything else. With the pursuit of strength we will learn the true meaning of fear, doubt, and inevitably the true meaning of life. Song Name: Lofi Hip Hop Instrumental - “Imagery” [Prod. Oculus] Link to Oculus’s for more great music - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsEYDdiQBReJNoSkji0zRmw _____________________________________________________________ Support via Patreon! == http://patreon.com/odysseypride Follow me on Twitter! == http://twitter.com/odysseypride