The Dokkōdō was written by Musashi.

Musashi’s Dokkōdō is not the guide for life, but a guide for his life. The timelessness of the Dokkōdō lies both in its simplicity and complexity — a trademark of ancient Eastern texts which contrasts sharply with ancient Western texts. It has become a foundation for expressing that which only a Master could intuit into written word, and perhaps only that which a budding master could interpret.

Like the Dokkodo, this is my list of 21 precepts. This was written in my early thirties. I will update this over time.

  1. First, do no harm.
  2. Don’t do to others what you don’t want done to you.
  3. Do nothing without skin in the game.
  4. Doctrine today, dogma tomorrow.
  5. You must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.
  6. Do not lecture birds on how to fly.
  7. The parts do not make the whole, rather the whole makes the parts.
  8. Correlation is not causation and correlation is not correlation.
  9. There is no shortcut to Mastery.
  10. Once you have mastered a Way, you will see the Way in all things.
  11. The Way that can be articulated is not the true Way.
  12. Everything flows from orientation.
  13. Take all things to their natural conclusion.
  14. Moderation.
  15. Good and evil is a perspective.
  16. The real world defies logic.
  17. What is shown to be false cannot be true.
  18. Become empty of all views.
  19. Everything changes.
  20. There is virtue in not stagnating.
  21. Action over theory.