Walking the Pathless Path: Lessons from the Ronin

When you have no master, you discover whether you can master yourself.

The word ronin means “wave man”—a person adrift, like a wave on the open sea. In feudal Japan, it referred to samurai who had lost their lord. For many, this was a fate worse than death. A samurai’s identity was built entirely on loyalty and service to his master. To lose that relatio…