Review of the Vagabond manga: The story of Vagabond centers on a ronin (hermit swordsman) named Miyamoto Musashi, with remarkable skill in sword technique, seeking to be the best swordsman of all. With this objective, the story focuses on his journey through Japan, facing challenges with opponents and enemies, and mainly on "inner improvement" (as becomes more explicit and clear from the middle of the story) in search of achieving this objective. . The manga makes it clear that, throughout his journey, the master swordsman/warrior is a "Complete Man" (disciplined soul, mind and body), and that Miyamoto Musashi (the protagonist), despite having a notable talent
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for sword skill and technique (body and sword discipline), had a deficiency in the discipline of the soul and mind (which therefore, as he had a mediocre soul and mind, created distorted judgments and perspectives in the use of the sword and body, not achieving the full efficiency of their techniques). It is when Miyamoto meets a monk and a master swordsman (and disciplines his soul and mind), and uses this "Inner Discipline" in his combats, that he gradually increases the efficiency of his sword techniques. The story of Vagabond, therefore, is not only about a warrior with an excellent body and talent in swordsmanship, but mainly about a story about "inner improvement". Vagabond makes this character of "inner improvement" very clearly explicit, at a given moment in history, with the notions of Inner Sword and Outer Sword, which also imply the notions of "Greater War" or Inner War (fight against inner weaknesses and vices ) and "Minor War" or Outer War, when Miyamoto meets a master swordsman. At one point, the master swordsman tells his Philosophy to be a samurai of excellence, telling him "My sword is one with Heaven (Paradise) and Earth", a notion that causes an "Inner Revolution" in the protagonist ( Miyamoto Mushashi), impacting the way he saw himself as a swordsman (he thought that an excellent swordsman was just being a good master of sword techniques, which is the "Earth/Physical Sword"), and his semi-heremitic journey in search for becoming the greatest swordsman. This also raises a question: well, if there is an "Inner/Spiritual War" (fight against vices, weaknesses and inner deficiencies) then there has to be an "Inner/Spiritual Sword" to fight this "Inner War", right? ? And what would be the "Inner/Spiritual Sword", or the "Celestial Sword", that the master swordsman talks about to Miyamoto? Basically Virtue, as the definition of being a Man (Man is the harmonious and excellent union of the soul, mind and body) comes together with the definition of Virtue (the inclination and disposition of Man in the search for Good, which is to achieve the essence of things, through the development of excellence). Therefore, for Man to become what he should be (his essence, which is the excellence and harmony of the soul, mind and body) it is necessary that he seek to execute Virtue, and be virtuous (lean towards Good). Virtue, therefore, is the "Inner/Spiritual Sword", which gives you the necessary conditions to face the Greater War (Inner War). Conclusion: the master swordsman's phrase "My sword is one with Heaven (Paradise) and Earth", means that there is a harmonious relationship between the Inner/Spiritual Sword (Virtue) and the Earth Sword (the physical warrior sword and his disciplined and trained body). Only those who have the developed "Inner/Spiritual Sword" (Virtue) can master the Physical Sword (katana, body).
Here, an interesting excerpt from a book to better elucidate this concept from the Vagabond manga:
“In Islamic tradition a distinction is made between two holy wars, the “greater holy war” (el-jihadul-akbar) and the “lesser holy war” (el-jihadul-ashgar). This distinction originated from a saying (hadith) of the Prophet, who on the way back from a military expedition said: "You have returned from a minor holy war to a great holy war." The greatest holy war is of an interior and spiritual nature; the other is material warfare waged externally against an enemy population with the particular intention of subjecting “infidel” populations to the rule of the “Law of God” (al-Islam). The relationship between the “greater holy war” and the “lesser holy war”, however, reflects the relationship between the soul and the body; To understand heroic asceticism or “path of action”, it is necessary to understand the situation in which the two paths merge, the “lesser holy war” becoming the means through which a “greater holy war” is carried out, and vice versa: the “little holy war”, or the external one, becomes almost a ritual action that expresses and testifies to the reality of the first. Originally, orthodox Islam conceived a unitary form of asceticism: that which is linked to jihad or “holy war”. (Julius Evola - Metaphysics of War)
Note: in the Conan film, the Secret of Steel (related to the sword), where Conan's father comments that the Gods dropped this Secret on Earth, and Men found it, it is precisely the "Spiritual Sword" (Virtue, or Spiritual Virility, which inclines Man in the search for Good).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz2DknROaI8
Nov 24, 2023
Review of the Vagabond manga: The story of Vagabond centers on a ronin (hermit swordsman) named Miyamoto Musashi, with remarkable skill in sword technique, seeking to be the best swordsman of all. With this objective, the story focuses on his journey through Japan, facing challenges with opponents and enemies, and mainly on "inner improvement" (as becomes more explicit and clear from the middle of the story) in search of achieving this objective. . The manga makes it clear that, throughout his journey, the master swordsman/warrior is a "Complete Man" (disciplined soul, mind and body), and that Miyamoto Musashi (the protagonist), despite having a notable talent
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