Cherie Fernandes '21 — Musashi Scene Analysis: An Ascent into Self-Realization

Musashi Scene Analysis: An Ascent into Self-Realization

Cherie Fernandes ’21

An epic novel featuring the eponymous legendary swordsman, Eiji Yoshikawa’s Musashi is packed with interwoven stories of growth and developing spiritual connections. As the protagonist fights to master the art of war, a lesson that proves particularly concordant with both Zen and the Art of War is at the center of Book 3’s “Eagle Mountain”. Although much of the chapter follows Musashi seeking an external battle with Shishido Baiken, the climax of the chapter — in which he successfully reaches the mountain’s summit — is instead an internal battle. This arc is illustrative of several specific teachings from the Art of War about fortifying oneself before turning to opponents and Musashi’s broader narrative surrounding how the physical and spiritual growth of the titular character go hand-in-hand.

The course of the story in Eagle Mountain marks a turning point for Musashi, who begins the chapter neglecting key principles of the Art of War and the Way in his dogged quest to fight chain-ball-sickle expert Shishido Baiken. In the "Art of War", Master Sun discusses the importance of understanding “Emptiness and Fullness” in battle strategy. His first principle states, “good warriors,” who understand the “art of emptying others and filling yourself,” will cause “others to come to them, and do not go to others” (Yoshikawa 77). Takuan exemplified this in his successful capture of Musashi early in the story, setting a trap and allowing his “prey” to come to him. By contrast, Musashi insists on hounding the man he wishes to fight, from Shishido Baiken’s home to Yamada, all the while disregarding an injured foot. He ignores his own injury in his pursuit, growing increasingly frustrated — and thus emptying himself further — as he does so. Thus, Musashi also breaks a key principle of “Formation”: Master Sun notes that “...skillful warriors first made themselves invincible, and then watched for vulnerability in their opponents:” in essence, taking care to fortify their own ranks before chasing opponents (Sun-Tzu 55). Musashi completely neglects his own injury and deteriorating state of mind in favor of a quest that is not within reach. In short, he is overly concerned with the external when he is meant to be considering his own state. This preoccupation with others extends into his conception of the Way. The Japanese shoshin, or Beginner’s Mind, emphasizes that a focus on achievement — attainment of expertise and growth that can be measured along a yardstick against others’ journeys — is poisonous because it causes one to “lose the rich, self-sufficient mind” that allows for “an original mind… that is limitless [and] open to everything” (1). In bemoaning “how much farther along the path to enlightenment and true humanity Takuan was than he,” Musashi inadvertently defines himself and his own path in achievement-oriented relation to others, a fundamental misunderstanding of how one ought to seek enlightenment (294). Furthermore, this irritation includes contempt for Takuan, who he knows would disparage Musashi’s notion of the Way of the Sword, to the point where “whenever Musashi thought of Takuan, a certain physical pain spread from his wrists through. It was a strange feeling, a physiological memory of the time when he had been bound fast to the cryptomeria branch” (293). Musashi’s strength of emotion towards Takuan and his own inadequacy is enough to manifest in the form of physical pain. This relation is key, because the moment establishes that the physical and emotional are closely connected in Musashi’s experience of the world, to the point where the latter can induce the former — mind over matter.

The healing of Musashi’s physical injury, the foot, then goes hand-in-hand with the redirection to, and victory of, his internal battle. The point of growth in the chapter begins when Musashi recognizes that he has to focus on the fact that a minor injury has gotten the best of him and takes steps to self-fortify — granted, his methods involve a freezing lake, but to each his own. His bath in the lake is described as an act of “purifying himself,” as “To Musashi, the icy plunge into the sacred stream was necessary” (300). Words like “purify,” “sacred,” and “cleanse” emphasize that the action serves as a ritual that prepares him for better self-awareness as he moves to ascend Eagle Mountain — once again, the state of Musashi’s body and his mental state are linked. The climb up the mountain then becomes a story of Musashi’s quest to make his “mind and spirit truly one” as he makes the perilous journey (299). Although his human enemies are mentioned, their identities meld into this agglomerate of rock that represents adversity, in a general sense, that Musashi seeks to conquer. In the reference to his face, “red as a demon’s,” the text highlights the resurgence of his urge to “stifle the demon inside him [sitting on his haunches, which] was painful, excruciatingly so,” demonstrating that this is largely an internal battle, more about his own identity and spirituality than a specific opponent (301). The reader is treated to very visceral descriptions of him fighting against nature, the “weeds, trees and ice enemies trying to keep him back” and mountain personified as an entity that “snarled and spit out regular avalanches of gravel and sand” (301). Upon reaching the summit, however, the mountain gifts him with a view of dawn through a sea of white clouds, and “at the border between heaven and earth,” he feels “united with the surface of the mountain,” indicating a transition to hard-won spiritual growth (302). This scene is notably accompanied by the “bucketful of yellowish pus streaming from his foot,” indicative of healing. As Musashi fights this internal battle, leading to self-purification and profound connection with his spirituality, his physical reality reflects the progress.

Musashi’s progress in “Eagle Mountain” — one of many arches in his journey throughout the epic — is thus a refocusing toward an internal battle. He initially neglects his own formation and emptiness, as defined by Master Sun, and is preoccupied with external comparisons, yet grows to prioritize self-purification and spiritual growth. Mirrored in his physical reality, scenes from cleansing in the lake to the healing of his foot, highlight the link between spirituality and sensory experience that permeates the novel.

Works Cited

Yoshikawa, Eiji, et al. Musashi. Pocket Books, 1989.