独尊者Dokusonsha: The One Who Reveres Solitude

When affairs go awry, the human heart inevitably wavers. Even those who burn with passion and charge toward great ambitions when their mind and body are sound, once they fall into such a state, find themselves inverted; the world becomes exceedingly small, and they feel left behind by everything. In such a state, the very act of making a decision becomes a minor factor triggering a succession of greater errors, until eventually, matters spiral out of control, reaching a magnitude that cannot be handled alone. Thus, many people deplete time—that crucial asset of life. Personally, having just reached my mid-thirties, I feel my consciousness turning more strongly with each passing year toward time, the only asset equally bestowed upon all humanity.

Viewing life through the lens of ascetic cultivation, the ancient maxim that "cultivation never ends" rings entirely true. Rather, it is when we face such predicaments—or situations we deem the worst for ourselves—that the attitude we adopt becomes the decisive fork in the road determining our future. That very misfortune becomes the turning point that invites great opportunity.

However, even when we understand the importance of this, humans are indolent by nature and cannot easily translate this understanding into action when actually cast into such depths. As this time of stagnation prolongs, it is inevitable that the situation will deteriorate further. For in the realm of biology, stagnation is synonymous with regression.

The most critical issue in such times is that what one formerly enjoyed ceases to be enjoyable. Moreover, the most troublesome aspect is that one is driven into a state where they do not even realize they have become this way; they fail to notice that what they once enjoyed more than anyone else is gradually becoming a hollow shell, losing its momentum. While continuing to ponder these problems that everyone faces in life, right from the midst of the vortex, I recalled a single, significant word. It is the Japanese word dokusonsha (独尊者).

First, the character 独, read as doku or hitori, has been used in various forms in Japan. Simply viewed, a dokusonsha is generally understood as "one who reveres solitude," but this nuance is quite difficult to grasp. Indeed, while the reverence of solitude has been advocated by various predecessors across all ages and places, it is doubtful whether we truly understand its genuine meaning. What troubled me personally, above all, was the question: if every human is a true dokusonsha by nature, why are we not currently dokusonsha? Furthermore, if the essence of every human is to be a dokusonsha, why is the world so broken?

I had only been able to think about this ambiguously until now, but last night, I felt I could finally break through this stagnated frontier. For that very reason, I feel anew that becoming this existence, a dokusonsha, is itself a grand theme. In this case, those who have fallen into the extremes of misfortune hold the advantage. This is because it is only when one falls into a predicament that one understands that the majority of things believed to be necessary during life's peaks are, in fact, not so necessary. Through this, one is granted the opportunity to think extremely deeply about what purpose one was born for, and in which direction one must head to break through the situation.

This character doku (独) signifies the "absolute." This meaning does not speak of an external existence like a God, but in its ultimate sense, refers to "sufficing within oneself and possessing nothing of the other." Simply put, it means one lives by relying thoroughly on oneself; regardless of the situation, one relies not on others but persists in living by relying thoroughly on oneself. This is the true meaning of the Japanese doku.

Here, as everyone likely recalls from the context of the country where they were born and raised, perhaps we humanity, up until a certain era, all lived inherently possessing this doku. However, in some era, triggered by something, this very sense of doku vanished from within us. The modern era is the pole of this loss, a time when people are constantly required to connect with "the other," making it seem urgent now to reconsider the meaning of this dokusonsha according to each individual's context.

But humans are not so simple that they can be explained by words alone. To maintain solitude is extremely difficult; in most cases, people do not rely on themselves but live by relying on "the other"—including others, society, government, systems, and the world. Nay, it is likely that for most, this is their sustenance for life. In fact, people live relying on money, relying on family, relying on status, and live while considering the public and society. There is a tone of argument that affirms this, suggesting humans survive by maintaining groups, but is there not a problem of the missing dokusonsha that has slipped through the cracks here?

Conversely, the problem of the dokusonsha might be one of the issues the modern era does not wish to consider. The reason is not yet clear, but likely, if everyone were to fundamentally understand and execute the true meaning of the dokusonsha, many vested interests would begin to collapse. As mentioned, since the doku of the dokusonsha is "to suffice within oneself and possess nothing of the other," one inevitably refuses self-domestication into the system and resolves to survive through one's own ambition. I vaguely consider that the essence of the anarchist lies here, but when anarchism makes "the other"—such as politics—into an issue, its true meaning is transferred and lost. Of course, as long as humans live, we cannot entirely ignore "the other." However, looking at the current of anarchism that rose in Japan about 100 years ago, one notices that true anarchists held a rejectionist attitude toward such a transfer of problems to "the other."

In fact, if one lives relying on "the other" rather than on oneself, when a major economic shock or the like occurs, simply losing a position or being fired crushes such people, rendering them instantly incapable of recovery and plunging them into a nervous breakdown. Similarly, there are many who go mad the moment they cannot retrieve their money from a bank; some fall into nervous breakdowns upon separating from family, while others suffer over their reputation in society. When I speak with Japanese people of my generation and those slightly younger, I tell them that even if someone appears to have momentum at a glance, their essence will be revealed when a major global shock occurs, so one should observe their daily speech and conduct carefully. The reason is that, regarding major economic shocks that affected Japan, the collapse of the bubble economy in the 1990s and the Lehman shock of 2008 occurred effectively before our generation advanced into society; thus, we have not yet experienced a crisis of the real economy.

However, older generations have experienced such economic crises once or twice in their lives, and if they recall those times, this meaning becomes self-evident. In short, starting a business and making money when no economic crisis is occurring, or when business seems to be going well, carries an extremely high possibility that the actual substance is not keeping pace. At any rate, the existence known as human possesses a strange character where the surroundings only become clearly visible when one falls into a predicament. When one looks out at the world for the first time in such a state, it becomes visible that the vast majority of people are not living by relying on themselves, but are living by relying on "the other." This may be the greatest harvest of falling into a predicament. If we call this a "relative life," the figure emerges that the majority of people living in this world are merely barely maintaining the thing called "self" by relying on these various external things.

In other words, is that truly you?

Is it not something you are being made to believe is you?

Therefore, what is truly important for a human being boils down to standing resolutely even if status is taken, honor is taken, money is taken, family is taken, children are taken—even if everything is taken away. The state in which a human stands resolutely relying on their self, possessing nothing of the other, living a life without leaning on or relying on anything—this, I feel, is the true meaning of doku. That is why it means "absolute."

Viewing it from here, the true meaning of the word dokuson (独尊) comes into view. Actually, this dokuson is understood quite incorrectly in the modern age; it is used with a nuance of looking down on others through one's own pride, thinking everyone else is useless and only oneself is great. However, it is decisively not so. For such a definition is merely a perspective that presupposes social evaluation and status. The true essence of this dokuson is to revere one's own absolute (doku). Possessing nothing of the other, relying on neither money, nor status, nor justification, but proceeding through life with the resolve that one lives facing oneself—this is dokuson.

Among the words Shakyamuni is said to have uttered at birth, there is the phrase “tenjo tenge yuiga dokuson" (天上天下唯我独尊), "above heaven, under heaven, I alone am the honored one." dokuson is already spoken of here, and Shakyamuni's noble message is profound precisely because it is concise.

And what becomes important here is the concept of "relying." Musashi Miyamoto, a philosopher and samurai known as the strongest swordsman in the Warring States period, left the famous words: "Revere the gods and buddhas, but do not rely on the gods and buddhas." This resolve is the very proof that Musashi Miyamoto was a dokusonsha. He did not rely even on the gods and buddhas thought to be supreme beings. Yet, this is entirely different from the modern, mistaken attitude of simply not believing in gods or buddhas. Rather, Musashi Miyamoto's point is an admonition not to separate the absolute existence of gods and buddhas into "the other." Then and now, people inevitably tend to separate gods and buddhas from their own existence and position them as absolute beings to be worshipped, but this separates the human from the divine, erasing the essence that they are non-separate.

Therefore, whether one possesses a resolve like Musashi Miyamoto’s or not becomes a branching point in life. At the same time, it is critical not just to understand this intellectually, but to have the spirit to constantly execute it. Indeed, I feel that hesitation has been born within me here and I have stagnated, but essentially, if one grasps the quintessence that all humans are dokusonsha, every predicament ceases to be a predicament.

A dokusonsha is not born; it is something that always already exists within each of us. The founders of historical religions knew this truth from their arduous lives and, by influencing those around them, made them realize it. At that time, there should have been no discrimination in any religion. Seeing the figures of people suffering, unaware that everyone is a dokusonsha, religion likely began from a strong ambition to do something, even if only for those nearby. There must have been a primal love there, prior to conceptualization.

In other words, by increasing the number of those who revere solitude through this realization, a world where we can respect each other in the true sense is realized. This is because there is no authority in that doku, and no social decoration. Therefore, as long as one is enslaved to money, enslaved to status, or enslaved to honor, one is not dokuson. While one is not dokuson, unfortunately, the truth of mutually respecting one another will absolutely not be realized among humans. Thinking this way, it becomes visible that the platitudes overflowing in the modern world have no meaning. For while it is fine to speak of ideals, as is self-evident from the fact that the world becomes more confused as the human population increases, there is absolutely no correlation between the increase in human population and the increase of dokusonsha. Because the dokusonsha is always already within each of us, there is no path to realization other than realizing it oneself in this life and executing it. Originally, this is what was called enlightenment (satori), and the true meaning of ascetic practice must have lain here. Thus, hiding away in the mountains is not everything; the practice of living as this dokusonsha can be done anytime, anywhere. The state of the era, the society, or the government are, after all, the circumstances of "the other." The dokusonsha who is not tossed about by such things becomes the driving force that realizes the true universal. If so, how many dokusonsha exist in the modern world?

It is warned from various quarters that we will face an unprecedented global crisis in the future. At that time, those who have practiced daily with the resolve to live as a dokusonsha, and those who have not—living instead by relying on "the other"—will be severed from one another to a cruel degree. And the path to the dokusonsha lies in realizing it right now, in this moment. The only point regarding which we humans can be said to be truly equal is this single point. Therefore, social definitions of equality based on skin color, religion, birthplace, identity, size of income, or ideology cannot reach the root of equality. Looking squarely at the limits of this post-war international ideal, and before thinking of the next ideal from the current situation, we must begin by knowing that there is no truth other than each individual living as a dokusonsha.

In this sense, one must first achieve the reverence of dokuson within oneself. And by building this among people who are achieving the same, the world will, for the first time, reach a state of true tranquility and peace. When thinking this way, it should become visible—looking at my current self as well—that the world is clearly amiss.