Cut: from complexity to simplicity
The Intersection of: Musashi's Edge, Alexander's Gordian Knot and Ockham's Razor
Think only of cutting — Musashi.
CUTTING THE GORDIAN KNOT
"The Gordian Knot is an Ancient Greek legend of Phrygian Gordium associated with Alexander the Great who is said to have cut the knot in 333 BC."
It's a metaphor for solving the impossible. The highly complex. The Impossibly Tangled Knot.
The Solution is found in simplicity, rather than complexity. An approach that cuts to the heart of the problem and renders all perceived constraints of the problem moot. Rather than fretting, wasting away, your time and energy, sweat on the brow. Grasping and clawing on for dear life fixating on a so called conondrum that seemingly is without solution, making an elephant out of a mosquito; when one can just unsheathe, aim, slice and get it over with. Cut through it, cut through the heart, cut it away.
THINK ONLY OF CUTTING
"Whatever attitude you are in, do not be conscious of making the attitude – think only of cutting."
Attitude can be read as a mood, a state of mind; a head, heart, soulspace that you're in. Despite how you're feeling, you're focused on the task at hand.
The task is your craft, the "Cutting"; it's about your life being at stake; isn't each obstacle compounded detrimental to your wellbeing and the totality of your life? There is only truth, reality, Musashi muses, not how you perceive it. Make a snap judgement. And act. Cut.
There's a succinct surgical, cool detached, mechanical, almost inhuman element attached to this process. Scalpel. Incision. Cut. Cut through, cut it out. Get it done with. You're focusing on the blade, the operation. The sickness, the solution. From complexity, to simplicity.
OCKHAMS RAZOR
You choose the simplest of options amongst many complex. Every complex puzzle has a simple eureka. It must be so, you must will it to be so. Or else you spend your whole life pondering about draining dilemmas, with no end, a perpetual maze you create for yourself.
Summary
Alexander's Gordian Knot - If something is tangled, be decisive and cut it out of your life
Musashi's Edge - Think only of cutting, the solution is right in front of you, no emotions needed
Ockham's Razor - the Simplest solution is BEST.
Obtain Oaths from the Orient; more Samurai reading
Hagakure
“A warrior should not say something fainthearted, even casually. He should set his mind to this beforehand. Even in trifling matters, the depths of one’s heart can be seen.” —Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure, from the 1st Chapter (translated by W.S. Wilson ed. 2012)
Dive Into The Antiquity; more Greek Mythology
A Triptych of Torment: Tantalus (I)
A triptych (/ˈtrɪptɪk/ TRIP-tik; from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχον (tríptychon, "three-fold"), from tri- "three" and ptyssō "to fold" or ptyx "fold")is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works. The middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels.