弘法は筆を選ばず
Kobo wa fude wo erabazu
A poor artist blames their tools
A Warrior Doesn’t Blame
It is said that, “A poor artist blames their tools.” Blame is “Assigning responsibility for a fault or wrong.” Blame becomes unproductive when it goes any farther than assigning responsibility. In a fight, there isn’t any time to dwell on wrongdoing. When a problem arises, we need to fix what’s broken and get back into the fight. Brene Brown said, “Blame is simply the discharging of discomfort and pain.” This is big because we see that blaming is a vice and that we use it as a means to distract ourselves. Discomfort, pain or a bad situation cannot be made better by blaming and so it is unproductive. The Japanese version of “A poor artist blames their tools” is Kobo wa fude wo erabazu. Kobo Daishi founded Shingon Buddhism and was an amazing calligrapher. The proverb is supposed to mean that if one is skillful then the tool doesn’t matter. So in a sense blame is unnecessary because we are at fault and we only need to look at what we can improve. Physically and mentally, training can become difficult or even painful. When this happens it is easy to enter the blame game as a means to discharge the discomfort. This is fine if the blame helps us get through the moment, but generally blame is negative and negativity only begets more negativity. The only way blame can be positive is if we pointed at ourselves and use it as a means for change, but it should never be negative, self-defeating or punishing. This is likely the biggest hurdle most students and teachers will experience in their training. Inanimate objects like tools have no will of their own nor do they have any true power. They only come to life in our hands. Likewise, our lives are under our own power and blaming only gives away our power and ownership of our lives. Our lives become powerful when we take ownership and let go of blame.
Today’s goal: Are you playing the blame game? If so, are you doing it to avoid feeling pain or discomfort?