Jirinden (31) If one becomes too lofty one will become disconnected from the world.
「Kōen ni haseba…segai no hito to naru」 (Heishū Jirinden, Vol. II, Iai hakkyoku hen)
・If becomes too ambitious in one’s refinement, one will become a person disconnected from the rest of the world.
The waves surge in according to the tide. The wave that crashes over the height of a cliff will accumulate in the cliff’s depressions, not returning to the sea and becoming dead water. If the warrior does not act in accordance with the norms of society no one will listen to him. Talking about difficult things in a complicated manner is like throwing away a treasure. It is important to be able to discern one’s own faculty and measure and act in accordance to the ability of others.
If one does not understand one’s own ability and goes too far being lofty and grandiose, one will be scorned by society and end up a person separated from it. One cannot guide others in this way. One must treat hard things softly and difficult things tenderly like the raising of an infant. One who says only lofty things is one who has not mastered oneself. If one tries to demonstrate things to the people of the world which one has not mastered oneself, they will not be believed by anyone. A master skillfully does things according to the situation to an appropriate degree.
(The Teachings of Katayama-ryū / Iai Hakkyoku-hen)
(Presented by Yuji Wada, Costantino Brandozzi, Rennis Buchner, Constantin von Richter)
