Finding Your Dō Spirit

What is Dō? And how can it help me?

Dō, which is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character 道 literally means 'road'. From that original meaning it has expanded to mean, "The way of." We see Dō used in many Japanese words dealing with the martial arts, religious, spiritual, and philosophical doctrines. For example we have:

Dōkyō: Taoism
Dōtoku: Morals
Bushidō: The way of the warrior
Sadō: Tea ceremony (The way of tea)
Judō: Judo (The soft way)
Aikidō: Aikido (Meeting energy way)
Kendō: Kendo (The way of the sword)

These are only some of the many Dō we have in Japan and in this world. Analysis of the character itself is quite dreadful. It is a moving head! 道 is composed of 首 (head) on a character component 辶 (movement). Ok get that scary picture out of your head! Using Dō in its many forms can help you. In the Hindu tradition dharma has it that you have a special talent that you can do better than anyone else in this universe. This is exactly what your Dō is! Finding this talent or your Dō, cultivating it, and using it to give to the people, by law will create an abundance of wealth for you. And this wealth not only includes monetary wealth, but transcends it and includes wealth in so many different ways.

What is my personal Dō? What is my 'way'?

Since everyone's Dō is unique to them, you need to find it for yourself. A good way to find out what your Dō is, is to try to remember times when you got into something so much that you lost track of time. Moreover, you found pleasure in doing it, and you had excellent results. This is most likely your Dō. To help you find your Dō, list your strengths and what you enjoy doing. After that write down how you can use those strengths to help people get what they want/need.

How to cultivate my Dō, my 'way'

Use the following steps to cultivate your Dō into something spectacular. This is your personal Dō that could be in any form... physical, mental or spiritual.

1. Establish and formalize your Dō
2. Constantly repeat your Dō
3. Master your Dō and create system where you can critically evaluate progress
4. Perfect your Dō
5. Become one with your Dō

Getting to step 5 is a success in itself, and your Dō will be able to be used to help people in more ways than you could possibly imagine. Doing that will create wealth in abundance for you.

Your Dō might be anything!

When I was in Japan studying abroad as an exchange student there were a number of students in the group from Finland that could have fun, party, and do it seemingly non-stop. We cleverly crafted the word 'Findō' 'the way of the Fins,' to describe their ways. They were fun and the trip wouldn't have been the same without them. They brought so much positivity to the group and represented their home country so very well. This goes to show that your personal Dō might be simply the talent to make others have fun till they drop. The possibilities of what your Dō may be are limitless. So what are you waiting for?! Find your Dō and become one with it now.

Here are some Dō examples:

Surf dō (The way of surf)
Cooking dō (The way of cooking)
Speech dō (The way of speech)
Humor dō (The way of humor)
Helping Others dō (The way of helping others)

Again the possibilities are limitless!