Bohdi Sanders's Blog, page 30
May 16, 2012
Take Your Training Seriously
Take Your Training Seriously
You must be deadly serious in your training. Gichin Funakoshi
If you are not taking your training seriously, you may have a very unpleasant surprise should you ever have to use your training in a real life-or-death situation. There are A LOT of really tough, bad people out there, and trust me, they are not incompetent when it comes to getting physical.
If you doubt me, all you have to do is watch one of the television programs about our prisons. What you see will be eye-opening for you. You won’t see nice, orderly inmates walking single file from one place to the other. You won’t see spindly, frail old men shuffling along, pathetically doing their time. If that is your image of prison, you have a shock coming.
What you will see is thugs, ripped like bodybuilders, training for their next vicious fight. And by training, I don’t mean punching a bag or doing a few pushups. They are as well trained for fighting in the streets as our military is for military duty. These thugs know exactly how to hurt you and disable you. They know exactly how and where to cut you to do the most damage. They are hard, strong, tough, and have basically no sense of mercy.
And, the majority of them are not in prison permanently. That’s right, these thugs will be back on the street, and contrary to popular opinion, they are not being reformed in prison. On top of all this, there are just as many of these people walking free in every part of our country, even as you read this.
If you need motivation to take your training deadly seriously, this should provide it for you. These people are not like you and me. They do not think the same or have the same values. They do not value life and many have chips on their shoulders, especially the ones who have had to deal with our justice system, which is turning many young men, who were not dangerous thugs, into these dangerous monsters, but that is another topic.
The point is there are very dangerous, warped people out there, and you have to be prepared just in case you cross paths with one of these people.
To the warrior, self-defense and martial arts training is serious. It is not merely a game or good exercise. While there is nothing inherently wrong with either of those, the warrior trains in order to protect himself and others. And, he has to be deadly seriously about his training. He doesn’t want to find himself unprepared on the day of reckoning.
As I said, these people have very little, if any, mercy. While you very well may never have to deal with one of these people, you never know. It happens to people every single day. If it does happen, you may only get one chance to save your life or the lives of your family. Will you be able to do this if you have been merely playing around with your training? Maybe, but you would be very lucky.
It is best to take your training serious. Be prepared. How prepared you are to meet these kinds of challenges depends totally on you and your training. You don’t want to find yourself regretting the fact that you were unprepared. Train hard – train smart!
Bohdi Sanders
The Wisdom Warrior
For more information on this subject,
and other subjects of the warrior lifestyle,
check out my book…
April 10, 2012
Modern Bushido – Sample Chapter
Modern Bushido: Living a Life of Excellence
Sample Chapter
Here is a sample chapter from Modern Bushido: Living a Life of Excellence. Enjoy!
Modern Bushido can be ordered at: http://thewisdomwarrior.com/books-by-bohdi-sanders/
or on Amazon.com at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937884066
Enjoy!
Bohdi Sanders
April 6, 2012
Words, Thoughts and Emotions – Evil or Good?
Words, Thoughts and Emotions – Evil or Good?
What you think about expands. Your thoughts, your words, what you watch, and what you listen to, all feed your spirit in one way or another. If you feed your spirit negative, low energy thoughts, you are weakening yourself and your vital energy. If you feed your spirit positive, high energy thoughts, you are strengthening your spirit, mind and body.
A good analogy of this universal truth is found in the body itself. If you feed your body junk food, lots of sugar, overindulge in alcohol, do drugs, smoke, etc., then your body will get weaker, develop disease, and eventually stop working properly.
On the other hand, if you feed your body a diet of good, healthy, nutritious food, your body will function properly, you will have good health, and your energy level will be good. The choice is up to you. Will you develop healthy habits for your body or will you just roll the dice and give it no thought?
Here you may be thinking, "Yeah, but I know Jack, and he is 90 years old, has been drinking and smoking since he was a kid, eats terrible, doesn't exercise, and doesn't care." Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but in general, your body responds to the fuel that you provide it.
Again, you may argue, "Well, I have been eating fast foods, drinking, smoking, and not exercising, and it hasn't hurt me." Here you would be wrong. Just because you haven't seen the affects of your actions yet, doesn't mean that your actions are not affecting you. Your thoughts, words and emotions work in the same fashion.
You do not instantly see the effects of your thoughts and words, just as you do not instantly have a heart attack the second you eat some very fatty, artery-clogging food. The effects of your thoughts, words and emotions are accumulative. But have no doubt, they are having an affect on your life. You are feeding your spirit throughout the day, and it is either growing stronger or weaker, depending on what quality thoughts and words you are feeding it, and what emotions you allow to dominate your mind.
Thoughts such as anger, guilt, resentment, revenge, envy, etc., are all low energy thoughts and weaken you. Whereas, thoughts such as love, kindness, peace, joy, hope, compassion, generosity, etc. are high energy thoughts which strengthen and nourish your mind, body and spirit. They will bring happiness to your life, where low energy thoughts will bring you stress and keep you unhappy.
It is actually just as important, if not more so, to feed your spirit good "food" as it is to feed your body good food. Monitor your thoughts and your speech. Don't leave this part of your life to chance anymore than you leave the health of your body to chance. Both are have their consequences, even if you don't immediately see them.
Bohdi Sanders
The Wisdom Warrior
March 29, 2012
The Fundamental Wisdom of the Warrior
The Fundamental Wisdom of the Warrior
One who is good at being a warrior does not appear formidable.
Lao Tzu
Although many actions of the warrior may appear the same as the ordinary actions of everyone else, they are as different as night and day. There is purpose behind each and every action that the warrior performs. The warrior does nothing without a reason. Do not mistake his silence for ignorance, his calmness for acceptance, or his kindness for weakness. These misconceptions are all far from the truth.
His silence on a subject does not indicate he is ignorant on that subject, but rather that he he knows it is wiser to listen and gain knowledge than to share his knowledge for no reason. You always learn more from listening silently and observing, than by talking with no specific purpose. Warriors take their words more serious than the average person, thus they are prone to be quieter. They speak when they have something to say and a purpose for saying it.
Likewise, the warrior's calm disposition should not be mistaken for acceptance of what is being said or what is being done at the moment. His calmness during stressful situations does not signify that he is resigned to allow things to be as they are, but that he knows it is better to stay calm, think rationally, and take action on his own time. Staying calm and thinking rationally are both traits of the warrior, and should not be looked at as acceptance or malaise.
In the same way, his kindness should not be seen as a weakness. His kindness stems from his duty to be benevolent, not some weakness which others may mistakenly imagine. True warriors are by nature kind at heart. It is not the true warrior, but the pretender who uses his skills to intimidate those who may be weaker than him.
There are many other traits of the true warrior which people can confuse at first to be something other than what they truly are. But what should be kept in mind, where the warrior is concerned, is that the warrior lives his life differently from the average person. Thus, the measure which is used to size up the ordinary person is not accurate when applied to the warrior. The warrior holds himself to a much higher standard than the average person, while at the same time not seeking to outwardly impress those around him.
Ordinary is not an adjective which can be used to describe the true warrior; and because of this, the ordinary ways that one may interpret someone's actions do not apply to the true warrior, at least in most cases.
For example, the warrior may be having a drink at a local pub, side by side with many other people who may be simpletons or average guys numbing themselves because of their unhappy lives. Although to the naked eye, you may not be able to see a difference between the warrior and the guy sitting at the bar next to him, there is a huge difference.
They both may be drinking a beer. They both may be minding there own business or even chatting pleasantly with each other. They both may be dressed in similar fashion. But inside they are as different as night and day. It is the inside character which makes the true warrior stand above the crowd, and this is not automatically evident to those around him.
The true warrior is not the same as the average guy on the street, and it is an error in thinking to misinterpret his external mannerisms to be without purpose. Do not mistake his silence for ignorance, his calmness for acceptance, or his kindness for weakness. Always take into account that every action of the true warrior has a purpose.
Each action of the warrior is performed from a place of fundamental wisdom…
it is completely different from the ordinary behavior of a fool.
Even if it looks the same, it is different on the inside.
Takuan Soho
Bohdi Sanders
The Wisdom Warrior
Be sure to check out my new book, Modern Bushido: Living a Life of Excellence. It is receiving wonderful reviews across the board and has been called my best book yet. It is available now on Amazon.com and in my BOOKSTORE.
March 8, 2012
A Thank You for All My Friends ~
A Special Thank You for All My Friends ~
I receive so many rewarding emails and comments from my readers. They actually help keep me motivated to keep posting and writing, especially on days when I wonder if my writing truly reaches anyone.
I have been thinking about this for a few weeks, and decided to post a special deal for my readers as a way to say "THANK YOU" for all of your support, inspiring comments and emails.
So, I am offering 1st Edition copies of both Warrior Wisdom: Ageless Wisdom for the Modern Warrior and Warrior Wisdom: The Heart and Soul of Bushido for ONLY $2.99 per copy + shipping! Here is the link for this deal:
Special Clearance Sale
I only have a very limited supply of these left, so if you are interested, you better order soon. They won't last at this price!
Thanks again my friends, for all of your support!
With Respect ~
Bohdi Sanders
February 21, 2012
Five Steps to Discovering Your Purpose in Life
Five Steps to Discovering Your Purpose in Life
The moment that any life, however good,
stifles you, you may be sure it isn't your real life.
Arthur Christopher Benson
Everything on this planet has a purpose, although we may not know what that purpose may be. Some things, such as spiders, may seem to be only a creepy annoyance, but that is only because we haven't discovered their purpose yet. Actually, spiders do have specific purposes, depending on the spider. This life lesson applies to absolutely everything on this planet.
In the garden, spiders prey on the insects which can damage your garden plants. There are studies being done currently which are studying how to use spider webs for different things. There may also be uses for spider venom. Who knows what science will discover about spiders in the future. This is only one example, there are thousands of others.
The point is, absolutely everything on this planet has a purpose, and that includes YOU.
Scientists are working hard to discover the hidden purpose for many plants and creatures on this planet. In the same way, you have to discover what your ultimate purpose in life is.
Is your purpose to merely eat, sleep and live a comfortable life or is there a much higher meaning to your life? You are here for a specific reason, one that only you are meant to fulfill. Discover your purpose and follow your heart. No one can fulfill your purpose exactly like you can. You are unique and special!
This brings up the question of how do you discover your purpose in life. Well, there are five steps that can help you discover your purpose in life.
List the things you are interested in or like to do.
You have preferences for a reason. You don't want to spend your whole life doing things that you hate just in order to get by or make a living. What do you love to do? Answering this question is the first step in deciphering your purpose in life.
Think about what special talents you have and develop those talents in your life.
You were given those talents for a purpose, but it is up to you to put them to use. Everyone has something that he or she is good at and which comes naturally for him or her. What is your special gift in life?
Reflect on how you can use those talents to serve others.
How can you use your special talents to serve others or to provide for those you love? You weren't given your talents to hide away in a closet. Figure out how to use your gift for a constructive purpose.
Meditate on what you want out of life.
What is it that you want to accomplish in life? What kind of legacy will you leave when you die? What do you want your children and grandchildren to remember about you? Meditating on this will help you find the answers you are looking for concerning your ultimate purpose in life.
Be willing to take a chance.
You have to be willing to try. Take a chance. Everyone who has fulfilled their ultimate purpose in life has had to step out of his or her comfort zone and take a chance to be successful. Doing what you love, and fulfilling your purpose in life, demands that you have the courage to risk failure, but it is worth the risk.
You only live life once, make your life the best that it can be! You may think that it is a big risk trying to do what you love in life instead of merely taking the safest job route, but it is a much bigger risk not trying. When you are old and reflect back on your life, you will regret the things that you didn't do, or didn't try to do, much more than you will regret the things which you tried unsuccessfully.
Have the courage to at least try to live the kind of life you dream of in your private thoughts. Once thing is for sure, if you don't try you are guaranteed not to succeed. Take the chance to fulfill your purpose in life and you will find that the Universe will support you.
Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying.
Christian Furchtegott Gellert
Bohdi Sanders
The Wisdom Warrior
January 27, 2012
The Karma of Thoughts and Intentions
The Karma of Thoughts and Intentions
Nothing can exist without a cause.
Voltaire
What if karma was based on our true intentions instead of merely our actions? This would certainly seem to make our thoughts much more important, especially if you believe in the karma, the law of cause and effect. It is commonly believed by many people that our actions, both good and bad, will come back to us in one form or another. But actions can be deceiving. Many actions which appear honorable and good actually have hidden agendas and less than honorable intentions.
With this in mind, let's examine karma a bit deeper. The law of karma basically means that the present quality of your life is determined by your behavior in the past. For example, if you have been a good person and spent at least some of your time helping others in the past, you may find that people seem to offer you help when you need it today. On the other hand, if you have been mean and nasty to people in the past, you can expect that same attitude to revisit you in the future, in one form or another.
A simple way of looking at karma is whatever you send out in this world will eventually come back to you. If you send out love, kindness, and harmony, then those wonderful traits will eventually manifest in your life in the future. But, as with everything in life, there are two sides to the karmic coin. The law of karma does not discriminate. If you mistreat people, are mean and nasty, cheat people, manipulate people, etc., you can expect those actions to eventually catch up with you too.
It is a pretty simple concept to grasp. Your actions, both good and bad, will come back to you at some time during your life. For every action, there is a reaction. Everything you do carries a consequence of some kind, whether good or bad. Most people who believe in the reality of the law of karma, or as many in the West prefer to call it, the law of cause and effect, accept the belief that our actions have consequences. But what about our intentions and thoughts; are they also susceptible to karma?
There is no act, however trivial, but has its train of consequences.
Samuel Smiles
The field of quantum physics has now proven that our thoughts contain energy. Thoughts are forces. Negative thoughts contain negative, low level energy; and positive thoughts contain positive, high level energy. Every thought that you have, produces some effect, just as every action produces some effect. While it is true that the effect of many of our thoughts is minimal, they do produce an effect nonetheless.
If this is true, and it is, then why would our thoughts and internal intentions be exempt from the law of karma? Are we not just as responsible for the thoughts that we entertain as we are for the actions which we take in our lives? Of course we are. You and you alone, are responsible for your thoughts, at least the thoughts that you allow your mind to dwell on for any length of time. And, you are surely responsible for the intentions behind your actions.
This brings me back to the original question, what if our thoughts and intentions are susceptible to the law of karma, just like our actions are?
There would be no hiding malicious intentions behind the veil of what appears to be honorable actions, at least not from the universal laws of the Universe. The thoughts that we dwell on would produce effects in our life just like our actions do. Our thoughts and intentions would become as important as our actions, at least as far as the building of our future life is concerned.
Do evil thoughts of retaliation injure oneself or one's enemy?
Nagarjuna
Well, I have some news for you. Karma does apply to your thoughts and intentions. Do you think that the Great Spirit of our Universe cannot see the intentions behind your actions? Are you so clever and cunning that you can con the Universe by hiding your less than admirable intentions behind the veil of your seemly good, but empty actions? Can you manipulate karma like you manipulate naïve, trusting people who cross your path? I don't think so!
Karma cannot be conned. What you send out, in any form, will come back to you. It doesn't matter if it is evil, selfish actions, or malicious, negative thoughts and intentions, you will reap what you sow. Your intentions do matter. It is your intentions behind your actions which make your actions honorable or dishonorable, not the action itself.
Thoughts give birth to intentions, and intentions give birth to honorable or dishonorable actions. This is a package deal. Your thoughts, intentions, and actions cannot be completely separated.
Think of these as parts of a recipe and once you mix them all together, there is no separating them again. They become a part of the whole creation that you alone created, and you alone will be responsible for. You will either reap the benefits of it or the detriments of it. It may not happen overnight, but be assured, eventually you will see the results of your creation.
There is always a cause for everything in your life – both the good and the bad. Your thoughts and intentions are not exempt from the laws of the Universe. Make sure that your thoughts and intentions, as well as your actions, are pure and honorable. You may fool the naïve eyes of man, but God sees behind the veil of your actions.
Now, though I do no wrong, I'm punished by my past. Neither gods nor men can foresee when an evil deed will bear its fruit…When you meet with adversity don't be upset, because it makes sense…
If we should be blessed by some great reward…it's the fruit of a see planted by us in the past.
Bodhidharma
Bohdi Sanders
Author of:
Secrets of the Soul, Wisdom of the Elders,
Warrior Wisdom, and Modern Bushido
CLICK HERE TO SEE BOOKS BY BOHDI SANDERS
January 24, 2012
Managing Jealousy and Maintaining a Healthy, Happy Mind
Managing Jealousy and Maintaining
a Healthy, Happy Mind
Jealousy is a common, and natural, emotion. It is an earnest concern or painful suspicion of the faithfulness of husband, wife, lover, friend, or simply another person's success or position in life. In short, jealousy refers to negative thoughts of insecurity, fear, and anxiety associated with worry over the loss of something that someone values. It is a natural emotion and has been observed even in infants as young as five months old, as well as in animals.
Considering that jealousy is a natural emotion found in both humans and animals, you may wonder what is wrong with feeling jealous. The answer is nothing is wrong with it; at least nothing is inherently wrong with it. Feelings of jealousy are natural. The problem occurs when jealousy becomes an all-consuming emotion.
At its root, jealousy can be boiled down to either worry or envy. The jealous person is worried about losing something important in his or her life, or is envious over what someone else has. Neither worry nor envy are constructive traits that will add to the enjoyment or positive development of your life.
When jealousy reaches the point of worry or envy, it starts to consume the mind. It is kind of like the snowball effect where the longer you roll a snowball around in the snow, the more snow sticks to it, and the bigger it gets. Jealousy works the same way when one continues to meditate on jealous thoughts of loss or envy.
The more you think about something, the more it expands. Therefore, the more someone gives energy to thoughts of jealousy, the more jealous one gets. The problem with this is when jealousy snowballs, it also creates emotions such as anger, resentment, sadness, and malice.
All of these emotions are negative, low-energy emotions which detract from both your personal growth and the enjoyment of your life. Our thoughts have energy; this is a scientifically proven fact. Some thoughts have negative energy, and some thoughts have positive energy. Jealousy usually leads to thoughts which are associated with negative energy, at least when one's jealousy is not addressed.
This brings us to the question of what to do about jealousy, especially since it is such a natural emotion. There are several steps that can help one successfully deal with feelings of jealousy.
1) Work on improving your self-esteem. The lower someone's self-esteem is, the more that person will have doubts concerning his or her own worth. This leads to doubts about whether your friend, lover, husband, or wife values you enough not to leave you for someone else. Therefore, increasing your self-esteem is the first step in dealing with worrisome thoughts of jealousy. The more you value yourself, the more you will feel that you are special and that others will see you as a special, loving, quality person also. A person with high self-esteem will look at a relationship more in the terms of being mutually beneficial. Whereas, someone with low self-esteem will look at his or her relationship as one in which they have to hold on to the other person because the other person may find someone who is actually more worthy of their love and affection. Understand your worth and how special you are, and know that if someone else doesn't see this, he or she is not the right person for you.
2) Acknowledge your feelings of jealousy. Understand that these feelings are natural and not a problem unless you dwell on them and allow them to get out of hand. Some jealousy is natural and actually stems from caring about what is happening in your life. Obsessive feelings of jealousy is where the problem lies, not the emotion itself. When you acknowledge that you feel jealous over a certain situation, then you are dealing with it correctly. Talk to your friend, lover, or spouse about your feelings. Being open and honest, and bringing these thoughts to the surface, will many times put the brakes on jealousy and not allow it to turn into obsessive thoughts of anger and resentment.
3) Go to the root of the problem. Is there a valid reason for your feelings of jealousy? Are your feelings of jealousy justified instead of merely being a mythical creation of your mind? If so, deal with the problem and don't simply let it fester in your mind. Feelings of jealous could actually be your intuition trying to tell you that there is something happening that you need to address. Don't simply worry about it, but address the problem at the root, and either correct the problem or remove the problem from your life.
4) Focus on positive thoughts and self-improvement. Your mind can play tricks on you and has to be controlled. Do not allow your emotions to control your life. Control your emotions and focus on improving yourself. You are responsible for your actions, not other people's actions. I will repeat, what you think about expands. If you give enough energy and thought to something you will actually cause it to manifest in your life. Instead of allowing thoughts of jealousy to expand in your mind, occupy your mind with positive thoughts of how you want your life to be. Worry is actually focusing your thoughts on what you don't want instead of what you do want. This is dangerous, as your mind does not discriminate. It will manifest whatever you continually imagine and focus your thoughts on; so make sure you control your thoughts and emotions. Worry and jealousy also increase your stress, which can stall your self-improvement goals and destroy your health.
Jealousy is a natural emotion, but that does not mean that we have to permit it to dictate our thoughts. You control your mind and your thoughts; therefore you decide whether or not you will allow jealousy to expand in your mind and grow into something more negative. Take the appropriate steps to control your mind and continue on your path. Don't let jealousy to expand and throw you off track. Be aware of what is going on in your mind before it spirals out of your control.
By continually using the appropriate step to control jealous emotions, you will find that you gradually have less and less feelings of jealousy. Who knows, maybe soon, jealousy will become a non-issue for you completely as your self-esteem grows and you gain the self-confidence to deal with jealousy issues head on instead of merely giving them a home in the back of your mind.
Bohdi Sanders
Author of:
Secrets of the Soul
and
Wisdom of the Elders
CLICK HERE TO SEE BOOKS BY BOHDI SANDERS
January 20, 2012
Is Honesty Always the Best Policy?
Is Honesty the Best Policy?
In whatever position you find yourself determine first your objective.
Marshall Ferdinand Foch
We hear the phrase that honesty is the best policy over and over again throughout our lives. But it is completely true? Is honesty always the best policy? Do we destroy our honor, character, and integrity by telling a lie? Does the true warrior, or the man or woman of character, go against his conscience every time he lies? Is being an honest person a black and white issue, or is there much more to it than always telling the truth, no matter what?
From an early age, most of us have been taught that it is not right to lie, that we should tell the truth. Whenever we were caught in a lie and things fell apart for us, we were told, always remember, honesty is the best policy, as if that was going to make us feel better about the mess that we made for ourselves. We were taught this reverently, and by the same people and culture that taught us about Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.
Once we got older, we realized that the very same people, who drilled honesty into our conscience mind, lied to us on a frequent basis. Sure, most of these were "little, white lies," but they obviously weren't following the, "honesty is the best policy" tenet. There were lies to make us feel better, lies to surprise us, lies about life circumstances, this list could go on and on.
If you think back, you can probably remember many lies which you were told. These were not meant in any sort of malicious way, but were just part of life for most people. But still, we were taught that honesty is the best policy. Either honesty is the best policy or it is not. The question is whether or not honesty is in fact, the best policy. And, the answer is, "it depends."
I can feel my readers cringe even as I write this. I bet many of you are thinking, "How can Bohdi say that when he writes books on honor, character, integrity, and honesty?" To answer your question, I can say that because it is the truth, and we are trying to be honest here, right?
Honesty is not always the best policy; it depends on your objective. There are times when honesty is not only not the best policy, but when it is also just plain stupid and selfish. Yikes! I can feel another universal shutter of disgust, right through my keyboard! But stay with me for a few minutes.
While I have heard many preachers preach over and over that honesty is always the best policy and there is never any reason for lying, this is really nothing more than a generalization. Even the people who preach this message don't truly believe what they are saying. Would these very same people not lie to a murderer in order to save their wife or kids? If they wouldn't, I wouldn't recommend listening to anything that they say anyway.
To generalize is to be an idiot.
William Blake
Let's look at an example that will clarify my point. Pretend you were a German living in Nazi Germany during World War II, and that you were hiding a young Jewish girl from the Nazi's. If a group of Nazi soldiers came to your door and asked you if you had seen or knew of the whereabouts of a young Jewish girl, would it be the best policy to be honest with them? Not if your objective is to save the life of this young girl, it wouldn't be.
You see, honesty is not always the best policy. That is living by a rigid, black and white rule which leaves no room to make needed adjustments when they are needed to achieve your objectives. No, I am not saying that you should say whatever you please in order to get your way.
I am saying that, as a true warrior, you have to base your actions on what is right and wrong, not on some rigid set of rules. While this may sound like the same thing at first, it isn't. There is a big difference between basing all of your actions according to what you feel is right and wrong, and basing your decisions on some rigid set of rules that you never break, no matter what.
The true warrior or person of character does not lower his standards simply because he tells a lie. It depends on the circumstances and the intention behind that lie. In the example above, it would obviously be dishonorable for you to tell the truth and hand over the girl to those butchers. You definitely would not have lowered your standards because you were dishonest with those soldiers.
You did what the circumstances required of you to do in order to achieve your noble objective – saving this girl's life. In this situation, lying is completely honorable, and honesty would definitely not have been the best policy. I can give you many examples that back up this truth, but you get the point.
Honor and integrity do not exist in a nice, neat box. They aren't composed of specific rules that are carved in stone. They are much more involved and complex than that. They originate from the heart, the mind, and the intentions behind your actions.
Hard and fast rules are made for people who cannot be depended on to think for themselves and do the right thing. This is why we have laws. If everyone lived their life according to what is right, and with good intentions, there would be no need for laws, but we all know that is not the case.
The true warrior, on the other hand, should live according to what is right. He should continually search his intentions to ensure that his heart, mind, and spirit are right. Honor comes from the inside. If things are not right on the inside, they cannot be right on the outside, no matter how they may appear to those around you. Others may not be able to tell the difference, but you know whether or not you are honorable.
Honesty is only the best policy when it is the best choice to achieve your honorable objectives. The catch is, your objectives must be honorable. Dishonesty is never an acceptable option for achieving selfish, personal goals like closing a business deal or just plain trying to get your own way.
The key is basing all of your actions and your speech on what is right, not what is right for you, but what is right, as in what is just. There is a big difference between what may be best for you personally and what is just. Focus on what is right (just) in every situation, and you will not have to worry about whether or not to lie. Let righteousness be your guide.
Honesty is not always the best policy; right intention combined with right action is always the best policy.
Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.
Henry Ward Beecher
Bohdi Sanders
Author of:
Modern Bushido: Living a Life of Excellence
and
The Secrets of Worldly Wisdom: Your Key to Success
CLICK HERE TO SEE BOOKS BY BOHDI SANDERS
Modern Bushido Gets Great Review from Martial Arts Legend
Bohdi Sanders' new book, Modern Bushido: Living a Life of Excellence, is receiving great initial reviews!
It has received a glowing review from martial arts legend and hall of fame inductee, Loren W. Christensen. Loren is the author of over 40 books, most on the martial arts, self-defense, and the warrior lifestyle.
The review is posted below:
Another Bohdi Classic
The longer you're in the martial arts (I've been training and teaching since 1965) the more you realize that it's so much more than simply sparring, kicking a bag, and thrashing about on a mat. While these things are important and critical to your martial arts journey, they are only part of it.
Bohdi Sanders books, blogs, Facebook quotes, and classroom teachings provide the missing elements in so many martial arts schools. In this fine book, and in all of his other books on warrior wisdom, Bohdi guides you on an easy-to-follow path to cultivate a better you. You will learn how to create a life of excellence, honor, peace, respect, courage, and much more.
It's an easy-to-read text that is crammed full of solid, usable information that when followed will make you a better warrior, spouse, student, friend, employee, employer, and citizen of the world.
Loren W. Christensen author of numerous books on the martial arts and other subjects.
To see more reviews for Modern Bushido, click here to go to the reviews on Amazon.com:
MODERN BUSHIDO REVIEWS
