Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Sheep Get Sheared Podcast. I'm your host, Austin Creed. Want to welcome you into the show, my friends. You know, the last couple of episodes we've been talking about. A little bit about. My philosophy, the way I approach this. And not in a way that I I need you to act the same way I do, but merely as a way to offer an alternative way of looking at the world and in a way that you can ask yourself hard questions and find the answers for yourself. And in the spirit of continuing with the last couple themes we've been looking at, I want to explore. Today the. Ronin. Now what is a Ronan? What? We're going to get into that, but essentially, for those of you who are well versed in world history, the Ronan was a warrior, a. Oftentimes seen as a disgraced warrior from the feudal Japanese period, multiple different periods, which we'll go into. Edo, the Sangoku period. We'll go into all that, but to suffice to say, we're really going to hop into. The well, I want to say is a reinvention of an old this of an older philosophy. OK, I want to put a different spin on why I believe myself to be more of a spiritual Roman and to kind of see myself as a Ronan. They may not know what that means. That's OK because we're going to go into it right now. So here I'll share the screen with you and we can look at it right here. So this is according to the National Library of Medicine. Why? They have something about the Roman, I don't know, but we're going to look at it anyways. Says in feudal Japan, a ronin was a warrior or a samurai without a master who traveled the country offering his service to anyone in need of a sword to hire. Now it's very over generalization, which we will get into as time goes on. But unlike the Lonesome Cowboy like the renegade. Or the West. The slinging. You know the gunslinger, like you see, maybe in the what are those games called? I'm blinking on right now. The. The Gunslinger Games, or the glorification of the outlaw bandit, the Red, Red Dead Redemption. Thank you. What I was thinking of the Red Dead Redemption type of western. He's not like that. He's different, says he's not like the Lonesome Cowboy renegade the gunslinger. But the Ronan in Japanese culture has always had a tragic dimension to him, a sense of failure. In other words, there was a dark side to him. He wasn't glorified like a renegade. He was more almost looked down upon like a social outcast. He wasn't glorified like we might glorify the gunslinger in a lot of Western movies. He wasn't that way. I see him actually in a different light, but this idea of the Ronan has really been explored not just in older Japanese historical films. We've seen in manga an anime we've even seen in Star Wars. For those of you who've seen the newer Star Wars content, one of the. The animated Star Wars specials they had this, I mean spoilers. It's been out for a while. It was this guy who portrayed almost like you thought he was a Jedi from how he acted. You thought ohh this guy's a good guy. He's saving people. He's just fighting the empire. He must be a Jedi. Well, actually he was a. Rogue sith. He was a master without an apprentice, so he wasn't technically. Fitting the mold of a Sith or a Jedi. So he was this Ronin figure, this guy who was a drifter, a wandering man. Ronan. According to what I've seen with interpreting the kanji. Is and translated into English as wandering men are floating men, which is very interesting if you think about it, because a lot of those you could see as being negative. Which we're going to go into right now on a fair use of video from the Shogun, from the shogunate, shout out to him, we're going to look at this because he explains it better than I could. So we're going to fear use this video and we're gonna really hop into this. Let's get. 

But in terms of the ironing, if you were a member of the samurai class, being a ronin was to have hit rock bottom. Or was it? You see the term Ronin is actually a very, very unique one. It is one that is complex and carries with it a wide range of implications implications that not only exist at around the times when the term was used, but also ones that have since arisen over the years and in retrospect. 

I want to pause them right there. Hey, I have to pause for fair use purposes. If you want to see all of this video without my commentary, you can go to his channel. The Shogun it, and watch the. But I want to pause it right here because when you look at, he made a very important point. Words change over time. The meanings change over time. For example, the the, the Ronan was looked at as a, not he was not glorified. He was not a tragic warrior type. He was almost like a disgruntled. The lowest rung on the totem pole when it. Came to warriors. We in the West like to glorify the outlaw, the Gunslinger, the gun for hire. We romanticize them in the east. To my understanding, they don't do that. They were seen as Wanderers, men without roots, men with no honor. Honor is huge. In the eastern philosophy that in the West used to kind of be there, but it's not. It's not what it used to be anymore. So when he talks about the Rome and you need to. Keep that. In mind. He's going to keep going and I really want you to pay attention to what he describes next. Let's listen to this. 

This way in which they are viewed can not only be seen through different lenses at different times throughout history, but also today as they have become a widely romanticized aspect of Japanese history. There is a lot we are going to get into and a lot we are going to try to conceptualize. I apologize if this gets confusing. I also want to point out that for some of you what I'm about to cover in this video may be nothing new for you to hear, but for others, this may change how you view Ronin going for. But the first thing we should obviously do is find the actual translation of the word. What does Ronin mean? Well, there's a couple of different ways Ronin can be written using Kanji, but the most popular one goes contrary to what you might expect. The term does not outright translate to mean masterless samurai. Rather, it roughly means wandering or floating men. 

See, it's exactly exactly what I said. Exactly what we were just talking about. Now let's take it a step further because he's going. To take this to another level, let's keep listening. 

Someone who is just merely drifting, perhaps aimlessly. What is interesting is that the term itself may not necessarily have to apply to just samurai and could actually apply to any one who has lost their way. 

That was a that was the point I wanted you to listen to. It is this idea of, oh, not just a samurai, but to people in general. I've put this topic out there before of the drifter. Now. I don't believe this to be drifting. I. Think you can be a? But we're going to get into that next. When it look at what does it mean to be a drifter, and I want to distinguish between being a drifter and being a wanderer. To me they are not the same thing. Drifting and wandering is not the same. One is more nomadic. One is more. I am no idea what the hell I'm doing and I am just. Aimlessly going around. There's a difference between having purpose. Or, though OK, who was? I think it was Paul Keane who said not all who wander are lost, and that is the distinction that I wanna make because I firmly believe that to be true. And so that's why in a minute, we're gonna shift gears because I like that he made this point and we're going to move more towards establishing this idea that not all who are wandering are lost. Because, as he says, Ronin can be defined as the wandering men or floating men. So we're going to draw that distinction later. But I want him to go more into detail about this. 

Yet over the years, the term became very intertwined with the idea of a samurai who was no longer employed a samurai without a master, and thus without a salary, turning to a life as a Vagabond. And before we apply our modern romanticization to this idea, it is important to recognize how awful this concept might have been. Specifically, if you were a samurai of the peaceful Edo period who lost your position and was thrust out into the world, it would have been a rough situation. You were essentially a member of the Warrior class, living now in a World without war. 

I love that he mentioned that you hear that. A warrior in a world without war. See the interesting thing about that is this. You could describe that as. You could take that from the historical and put it into the personal very quickly. We have peaceful periods in our lives. We have times in our lives where there's not a lot of change going on and it's just the everyday mundane going through the motions. It's not exciting. It's not as a warrior. You need to always be prepared for a war. That is your job. Your job is not to just fight when the war is before you. When the battle is happening, but to train so that when the war happens, when the battle comes to your front door, you're ready for it. You don't then have to play catch up and get go to boot camp again and and catch up. No, you were prepared. Always ready for when the war breaks out and when he mentions this idea of a warrior in a world without war that is meant to show you that. Wondering during that time doesn't mean that you had no purpose. In my opinion, it means you had to find a new way forward. It means that you had to prepare for when the war happened because conflict is inevitable. I don't care if it's historical. I don't care if it's personal, there's no difference. Change. A curveball is always. Going to get thrown and whether you hit it. Or get called for a strike. That's up to you. 

In some extreme cases, this meant perhaps even being comparable to becoming broke and homeless to day to grasp the sheer depth of the potential suffering that becoming aronin could inflict upon not only a samurai but also his family, you need only look at these story told in the film Haraki, which beautifully puts on display. The real pain of the situation many samurai found themselves in upon becoming a ronin. 

I'm going to pause one more. I love that you mentioned the suffering element. He was free and I see that this is the part of the Roman that I'm surprised that's not mentioned more and this might just be the eastern Western differential here. OK, I understand that before people who are Japanese or what or whoever want to come in here and tell tell me that I'm totally. Culturally, appropriating something or whatever my response is. 

This is the worst kind of discrimination. The kind against me. 

So please just put it away. We're we're having a discussion that I want to make a point. Is is one of the prices that must be paid for freedom. So when I see the Ronan and I see him as a wandering man, a guy who's untied down, that is a dangerous man, a man not tied down. A man that's not domesticated as a dangerous man. Every government on Earth knows this. Why do you think they push marriage? Why do you think they push community? Why do you think they push clubs? Why do you think they push church? Why do you think the entire or our entire being is geared towards association with other human beings? It is because a person. Without affiliation is a dangerous person. Now, that doesn't mean they're going to do dangerous things or diabolical things. It just means they have a higher capacity to do harm. That doesn't mean they. Should or will, but it means they can. It ties into Aristotle's idea of. For a man to be alone, he has to either be a monster. I mean a monster or a God I believe, which will will go into that more later. But this idea of there being strength and solitude is a huge element within my book, Biblical Bachelor, which I'll read from later because I want to drive this. At home and like and to show I'm not Johnny come lately to the subject. But again, let's go back to this. The Ronan is is supposed to be seen as a drifter, someone who's wandering and is lost. But you know, I don't see it that way. We're going to keep going and I'll explain to you why. 

But that is just one side of it. That is also just one time frame. Being a ronin could have taken many different paths depending on a wide variety of circumstances. Imagine if you will, becoming a ronin during the warring age of the Sengoku period, say the clan you served was recently destroyed and now you found yourself without a Lord to serve. 

The freedom. 

However, during these single could you die? The need for warriors was extremely high and thus you could likely find more work relatively easily. In fact, there are plenty of famous samurai who went through this very situation, for example, figures such as Akechi Mitsuhide, Toro Takatora and Okamoto Nobu. They all went through this experience. Losing their Lord, but then quickly finding another, you can see how being aaronian during a time of war was much more ideal for a summarized career outlook. 

Gotta like, let's. I'm gonna pause it again. That distinction can be made in your personal life as well. Think about it. What we were just talking about preparing for war, being ready for conflict at all times. It doesn't mean you go looking for it. That means you are ready for it when it happens. That makes you valuable, because when when conflict arises suddenly while everybody else was off. Screwing around, doing whatever. Being broke, whatever you were grinding, you were preparing for what you knew would eventually. Come. So then your preparation has now paid off. Now you're valuable now. People are lookout for someone with your skills. Someone who is ahead of the curve. Now they're looking for you. And now you can demand your cost. You can demand your price. You now have the advantage. We could use the pandemic as an example. During that time there was rent moratoriums, there were student debt moratoriums. All these times 0 debt was being added because the interest rates were being paused. How many people paid off their loans? How many people used their study checks to invest and then use that investment to pay off their debts? Not a lot. They spent those semi checks on. New car, new new sneakers, new designer brand merchandise. They used that on luxury items, not on their loans, not on the things that required their immediate attention. They did not maximize. The the time they were given and every tragedy, there is time to be triumphant and people didn't take that chance. And guess what? Now they're paying the price and they're looking to the people who actually prepared who are actually ahead of the curve and they're penalizing them for being smart. Now I realize very general, I mean very general here. I understand that, but it gets you to think because when we go back to this, it's really easy to look at the old timey pictures and the old tapestries and. Say yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that happened 500 years ago. What do I care? I'm different. No, not really. The appearances. Different, but people don't change very much and so that is what I also want to drive home. Is this idea of you can take these concepts, not just the idea of the philosophy of the Ronan. You can take any kind of philosophy and say, wait a minute, there is something I can gain from this. There is an element of truth here that I can extract. I can burn away all the all the the chaff, all the impurities and add it into my life. That is what I really want you to understand when we're diving through all of this. Let's see how much more of this. I want to go through. 

Indeed, one might even liken the idea of a ronin during a time of war as being somewhat similar to that of a mercenary. Yet the two concepts are still quite different. There is more to this, and I do plan to get into it in a little bit, but before we do that, there is another element to this whole situation that also contributes to the identity of Ronin being so complex. Now let's return to our base idea of a Ronin as a masterless samurai being a masterless member of the samurai class might usually be viewed as perhaps being negative, as we've been programmed to usually assume that being masterless means one's Lord was likely dead. Yet, as you may already know, this was not always the case. In fact, many samurai throughout history. Knowingly chose to become. 

Exactly. It gives you power to choose where you want to go, what you want to do. That's why going your own way, becoming your own person, developing your own personal philosophy, all these things give you power. You think walking away from the herd, being more on the fringe of society is a bad thing. No, it is not. Of course, there's going to be sacrifices that have to be made when you're doing that, but it gives you leverage. It gives you the ability to say I'm not going to tolerate X behavior or I'm not going to associate with you unless you give me Y opportunity. It gives you power. It's like being a free agent in sports. Where you now have to say, oh, I could start with this team or I could sign with that team. But whichever one gives me the best offer I'll go with. But I don't have to. I'm not desperate. I'm not dependent on this. I can go my own way and continue to do that. But give me the right. Offer, I might say yes, that is power. 

This being caused by disagreement or dissatisfaction with one's Lord. Thus a samurai might consciously make the decision to leave the service of a Lord they no longer care to serve, and in an ideal situation would likely leave to join another clan who maybe had already extended an open invitation. This was not something treated as dishonorable, except from maybe the clan that the sombre was deserting. We have to remember that loyalty, although virtuous, had to be maintained. I made a whole video about samurai loyalty by the. The idea that there was some honorable code like Bushido, that all Samurai followed has been proven to be largely A myth and modern day concept. 

Well, I mean, they're not alone with that. A lot of different philosophies and ideas and whatnot are just like that. I mean, let's not pretend that that's not true. But you know what? I think that's going to be enough for this. For that video, thank you to the show. Gonna I appreciate it. So now what we're going to do is we're going to revisit the idea of the drifter. He mentioned the wandering men being a drifter, right. Well, let's explore what is a drifter? What does that mean? Because obviously, when you hear that probably sounds pretty negative, right? Well, you would be correct. And here's what we're going to look at. We're going to look at, we're going to revisit Napoleon Hills out winning the devil, and we're going to hear what he says about what it means to be a drifter. Now for a little bit of context. Before we begin. If you look on the screen it says Q&A. This whole book is set up as an interview between Napoleon Hill, who is the the interviewer and then the devil who is the interviewee. He's the person being interviewed about how he deceives people, how he pulls one over on people and he says he gets people to become a drifter. At which point he's going to explain what that means, what that consists of. How do you know if you are a drifter or if you are currently drift? Thing is it good? Is it bad? Well, let's hop into it right here and he'll explain all of it. Let's go. 

Go ahead and describe a typical drifter. Give your description point by point so I can recognize a drifter when I see him. 

The first thing. You will notice about a drifter is his total lack of a major purpose in life. He will be conspicuous by his lack of self-confidence. He will never accomplish anything requiring thought and effort. He spins all he earns and more too. If he can get credit, he will be sick or ailing from some real or imaginary cause, and calling to high heaven. If he suffers the least physical pain, he will have little or no imagination. 

I'm going to pause right there. Because let me ask you something. Do you when you picture someone who's drifting, pick you, picture someone on the lazy river who's kind of drifting down. They're not swimming actively. They're kind of just along for the ride. Do you see why? I don't believe that all who were a Ronan, which would fall into this category? I'm sure some did. Absolutely. I don't believe everyone. Falls into this category, which is why I want to draw that distinction of not all who are wandering are lost. I firmly believe that. Because there are some who definitely fit this description, we see them all the time. There are others who are the farthest thing from it. In fact, it's because they're actively doing the opposite, that they are practicing this idea of being alone, being a renegade, being a nomad, being a Ronan. Whatever it is you want to call it, they are on the quote. Bottom of social society, but it's because they're building themselves up so they can reenter society as a new person. If they choose to do so, let's keep going. 

He will lack enthusiasm and initiative to begin anything. He is not forced to undertake and he will plainly express his weakness by taking the line of least resistance whenever he can do so, he will be ill tempered and lacking in control over his emotions. His personality will be without magnetism and it will not attract other people. He will have opinions on everything but accurate knowledge of nothing. He may be Jack of all trades, but good. None. He will neglect to cooperate with those around him, even those on whom he must depend for food and shelter. He will make the same mistake over and over again, never profiting by failure. He will be narrow minded and intolerant on all subjects, ready to crucify those who may disagree with him. 

Ohh hell no. 

What do you think about all this? The little two is just too tough for you. A little too brutally honest, maybe. Well, this is what I'm talking about when it comes to, there is strength in being alone. There is strength in solitude, but at the end of the day, that doesn't make you a drifter. If you want to go against the social norms, you want to do your own thing. That does not make you a drifter. Now it can, if you have no purpose. It can. If you are misguided. Undecided. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what you want. All you know is what you don't want. Then you could fit the description. Because most people. I would say most people fit in one of the categories he's describing, if not more. Most people fit in. Most of them. And it's gonna be a tough pill. To swallow when? You realize that he's talking about you. He used to be talking about me, but I'm not a drifter anymore. Because I make an effort every day to not be a drifter, it's a daily choice. It's not just a one and done not a vaccine. It is a every day volunteer effort to step away from this behavior, to not engage in this lackadaisical, unmotivated, undisciplined, uncouth. Drifting behavior. Because this is the default for most people and anytime you see someone who's doing this, or the powers that be, see people for doing this, their user response is something like this. 

Thank you for being so dumb. 

That's their, that's their answer for the most part. So my friends. Let's keep going and let's really break. Let's really hear about. 

He will expect everything of others, but be willing to give little or nothing in return. He may begin many things, but he will complete nothing. He will be loud in his condemnation of his government, but he will never tell you definitely how it can be improved. He will never reach decisions on anything if he can avoid it, and if he is forced to decide he will reverse himself at the first opportunity. 

How many people? How many of us have at least fit into one of these categories at some point in our lives? We really need to be honest here. I don't want to. Hear anybody lying? If you try to lie out here to me? No, no, no, no, no, no, we ain't lying. Come on now. Come on. Now I know some of you are probably thinking. 

Oh my God. 

He's hitting you over the head. Right. Let's keep going. 

He will eat too much and exercise too little. He will take a drink of liquor if someone else will pay. 

Oh my. 

For it, he will gamble if he can do it on the cuff, he will criticize others who are succeeding in their chosen calling. In brief, the drifter will work harder to get out of thinking than most others work in earning a good living. He will tell a lie rather than admit his ignorance on any subject. If he works for others, he will criticize them to their backs and flatter them to their faces. 

OK. How many of you would say that you fit into that category either now or in the past you fit into one of those categories that he just laid out that was brutal? OK, that's brutal. What it highlights why I draw a distinction between those who are drifting. And those who are wandering there is a huge difference, because not all we're wandering are lost. And they don't. Always fit this category and like I said, it's a daily dose. Of volunteerism to avoid falling victim to this type of behavior and now I believe it is time for me to reiterate why I believe there to be strength and solitude and that's why I find the idea of the Ronan so interesting. And misunderstood in my opinion, because the idea of being alone is often seen as a negative in society today, and I don't believe that. To be true. I would like to read a little bit of from my book Biblical bachelor Chapter 5. Titled Strength and Solitude, and if you don't like that I read from my own book, well then go write your own book and and then you can have a conversation, because otherwise I I don't really care what's what we here. I'll read this little excerpt from you. I'm not gonna read the whole thing. If you want the whole thing go buy the book. Go buy the audio book. Yes. The audio book is available on audible if you want it. Sam did a great job narrating it. Well, let's read this real quick. Chapter 5 strength and solitude written by yours truly. Austin creed. Let's let's read what it says to build strength, you must be aware of weaknesses when you start winning in life, you will be alone more. Not because you try to distance yourself from others. But because you are forced. You are focused on accomplishment, not being accompanied. It will also be challenging to find like minded individuals with the same drive and goals and this often results in solitude. Now this goes back to the idea of the Ronan we were just talking about where if he wasn't pleased with his master. You might go and leave a household and become a almost like a free agent of sorts. Shout out to CGA with his idea of the free agent lifestyle. The rope to the top is lonely. I wrote. This is tremendous. There is tremendous strength to be found in solitude. The Greek philosopher Aristotle said the following. He said to live alone, one must be an animal. Or a God. It is easy to scoff at that sentence before you do, please ask yourself this question. How many people do you know who can be alone? So people fear of dying alone, which seems pointless to me. You're assuming that so many things right off the rip, but why would you focus on your own death? People want to live their life focused on death, like oh, I don't want to die alone. Most people die alone in a home or in a hospital. I mean, what are we talking about here? So again, there is strength in solitude. How many people do you know who can just be in their own element, be alone? Not because they don't have any friends, but because. They're just busy doing what they want to do. They can take themselves out to dinner, take themselves seeing a movie, go on a walk, do something for themselves and not have to always be accompanied by an entourage by people, by, by whatever they don't have to do those things. How many of you have that power to do that? It's rare. Not a lot of people can do it anymore. So my friends, I really want to ask you. Do you see why I would classify the Roman philosophy as misunderstood and how it can really apply to the modern man? Of, of course the like. The more Alpha Persona, quote UN quote, I hate using that phrase alpha. But the alpha could be more of like the samurai or the beta could be the samurai person who's serving somebody else. The Lord. But what's stopping you from being a Ronan and then becoming a Lord, finding a way to build value and then have other people work for you? That takes courage, takes sacrifice, takes discipline. But if you want to do that, you must pay the price. You don't want to do that. You can go serve somebody else if you want. But having that purpose, having that ability to walk away and then reenter it if you want to, but not being forced to do that, I believe there to be tremendous power in that. What are your thoughts? What do you think? Please let me know what you thought about today's topic comments. You can hit me up on X at sheep get sheared if you want. My DM's are open. Or you can comment on any of the posts I make throughout the day, but my friends, I want to hear what you have to say, if you. Agree. Disagree. Fair foul. I'm curious to hear what you had. To say, well, my friends, in the meantime, I encourage you whatever your views are, wherever you may lie on this issue to stay visit. Stay informed and please whatever you do, question everything that comes your way, whether it be for me, somebody else, I encourage you to question everything that comes your way. I'm out of here. Take care of yourselves. Peace out.