the elders' that goes, “Step from under the eaves and you're a dead man. Leave the gate and the enemy is waiting.” This is not a matter of being careful. It is to consider oneself as dead beforehand.” [xliv]
Although this has a much more serious tone than Syrio's “Not today” it has a similar feel to me. Syrio knows he is dead, just not today! He belongs to Death but he is not suicidal. Neither were the Samurai, though their philosophy could be mistaken for it. As I talked about in Chapter 1, it is a well known phenomenon that a nearness to death, brings out a desire to feel more alive. I believe that it is also the case that if we embrace the reality of death, we can more readily embrace the reality of our lives. By knowing death we can live more fully. In the Toltec tradition [18] this is sometimes referred to as 'Death as Advisor.' We bring death closer to our lives that this may inform our living and encourage us to live more fully, with greater presence, and a clearer sense of what is really important to us. To quote Casteneda:
"Only the idea of death makes a warrior sufficiently detached so that he is capable of abandoning himself to anything. He knows his death is stalking him and won't give him time to cling to anything so he tries, without craving, all of everything."
The quality of non-attachment when embracing death in this way is also explored in the Hagakure:
“If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that “all abilities come from one mind” sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment one can accomplish any feat. Martial arts and the like are related to this insofar as they can lead to the Way [19] .” [xlv]
It is another commonly observed phenomenon that when people know that they are going to die soon, at some point a kind of peace and clarity may set in. They can accept it and they make very deliberate and clear choices about how they want to spend their last days. I'm not talking about blowing their savings on a spree, I'm talking more about appreciating life's simple pleasures and having their loved-one's about them. Where before choices seemed muddy and complex, now the right course seems very clear. King Robert Baratheon has some of this kind of clarity when he lies dying, having been gored by a boar while hunting. He asks Ned to stop Daenerys Targaryen's assassination if he can and acknowledges Ned's wisdom in opposing the killing in the first place. He realises that he hasn't spent time being any kind of father to Joffrey and asks Ned to teach Joff to be a better man that he (Robert) is. He can see very clearly the ways that he has not acted responsibly as a King. Imagine if you could live every-day with that kind of clarity, presence and peace. If you could see yourself and your life so clearly that your every decision becomes a simple one. I believe that, that is possible if we really embrace this aspect of the warrior's way. Death can be our advisor on how to live our lives more wisely.
In a way, the words of house Stark are a grimmer version of this kind of embracing of death. As Maester Aemon of the Night's Watch says:
“The Stark's are always right in the end: Winter is coming. This one will be long and dark things will come with it.”
Like so many of us with death, the people of Westeros are often in denial about Winter. In many ways it is symbolic of the forces of death in their world. The inexorable march of winter and the dark creatures that come with the cold. The mass denial of the existence of the White Walkers is part of this. It has been a very long time since they were last seen, but it is one thing to think they may have been vanquished for good and quite another to dismiss them as fairy-tales, like Tyrion
Although this has a much more serious tone than Syrio's “Not today” it has a similar feel to me. Syrio knows he is dead, just not today! He belongs to Death but he is not suicidal. Neither were the Samurai, though their philosophy could be mistaken for it. As I talked about in Chapter 1, it is a well known phenomenon that a nearness to death, brings out a desire to feel more alive. I believe that it is also the case that if we embrace the reality of death, we can more readily embrace the reality of our lives. By knowing death we can live more fully. In the Toltec tradition [18] this is sometimes referred to as 'Death as Advisor.' We bring death closer to our lives that this may inform our living and encourage us to live more fully, with greater presence, and a clearer sense of what is really important to us. To quote Casteneda:
"Only the idea of death makes a warrior sufficiently detached so that he is capable of abandoning himself to anything. He knows his death is stalking him and won't give him time to cling to anything so he tries, without craving, all of everything."
The quality of non-attachment when embracing death in this way is also explored in the Hagakure:
“If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that “all abilities come from one mind” sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment one can accomplish any feat. Martial arts and the like are related to this insofar as they can lead to the Way [19] .” [xlv]
It is another commonly observed phenomenon that when people know that they are going to die soon, at some point a kind of peace and clarity may set in. They can accept it and they make very deliberate and clear choices about how they want to spend their last days. I'm not talking about blowing their savings on a spree, I'm talking more about appreciating life's simple pleasures and having their loved-one's about them. Where before choices seemed muddy and complex, now the right course seems very clear. King Robert Baratheon has some of this kind of clarity when he lies dying, having been gored by a boar while hunting. He asks Ned to stop Daenerys Targaryen's assassination if he can and acknowledges Ned's wisdom in opposing the killing in the first place. He realises that he hasn't spent time being any kind of father to Joffrey and asks Ned to teach Joff to be a better man that he (Robert) is. He can see very clearly the ways that he has not acted responsibly as a King. Imagine if you could live every-day with that kind of clarity, presence and peace. If you could see yourself and your life so clearly that your every decision becomes a simple one. I believe that, that is possible if we really embrace this aspect of the warrior's way. Death can be our advisor on how to live our lives more wisely.
In a way, the words of house Stark are a grimmer version of this kind of embracing of death. As Maester Aemon of the Night's Watch says:
“The Stark's are always right in the end: Winter is coming. This one will be long and dark things will come with it.”
Like so many of us with death, the people of Westeros are often in denial about Winter. In many ways it is symbolic of the forces of death in their world. The inexorable march of winter and the dark creatures that come with the cold. The mass denial of the existence of the White Walkers is part of this. It has been a very long time since they were last seen, but it is one thing to think they may have been vanquished for good and quite another to dismiss them as fairy-tales, like Tyrion
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