MICHI/DOO - Way
(click image to enlarge)
Pursuing one's dreams may be good, but as a way to find happiness, it does not compare with finding one's michi. Michi is a path that one can walk with a clear sense of rightness.
Literally and figuratively, michi is an important factor in one's life. It literally means a road, a way, or a path one might walk. Figuratively, it may mean one's destiny, one's career direction, or one's journey through life.
Rightness in walking one's path is not necessarily determined by what others say or by personal dreams or inclinations. To find what is truly one's path is more difficult. There is, however, a clue to how one's personal path might be found. That clue is found in another side of the word michi.
When michi is used in combination with other
words in Japanese, it is read as "doo" (pronounced "dough").
Examples of such combinations include shodoo (the way of calligraphy),
chadoo (the way of the tea ceremony), kadoo (the way of flower arranging),
and the martial art forms of judoo, kendoo, and aikidoo. When clearing
the mind of exterior and interior voices in each of these arts, a different
way emerges, one that in its own particular way, follows a universal
harmony that "works." Letting go of labels and personal inclinations,
one discovers a particular way that each thing (the calligraphy brush
for example) follows in its relation to everything else when all of
a sudden, "it all works." This "it all works" experience
is the discovery of the Tao (pronounced "dow") to which the
ancient tradition of Taoism is a pointer. Michi and doo are both Japanese
pronunciations of this same character for this Tao. There is a universal
Way, always changing, through which one finds one's own path to happiness.
This happiness is one of harmony, beauty, and a clear sense of rightness.
by Robin Fujikawa