During the past month or so, I've been reading books like Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Benjamin Zander's The Art of Possibility. Reading the Art of War gave me a much deeper appreciation for Eastern philosophy and I find myself recognizing a lot of those same philosophical ideas in The Art of Possibility as well which has gotten me even more interested in continuing on with this reading trend.
From what I understand, Miyamoto Musashi, like Sun Tzu, is another man who many consider to have been a "Zen Master" and so I'll be reading his book over the holiday: The Book of Five Rings. But before I read that, I plan on first reading The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi to get a broader understanding of the man. What I really liked about the copy of The Art of War that I picked up (Understanding the Art of War by Robert Cantrell) is that the author not only included the English translation of the original text but also explanations of the history pertinent to understanding the text allowing me to soak up quite a bit more value than I would have just reading the raw English translation. Likewise, I suspect that starting with The Lone Samurai might help me later in understanding Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings.
A third book that caught my eye for the holiday is The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Sōhō, another famous Zen Master who is rumored to have advised Miyomoto Musashi among others.
Maybe one day I, too, will have an unfettered mind (right now it is quite fettered).
