Bushido
Bushido developed over many centuries, although it was probably not codified for almost a thousand years. Its origins seem to spring from the fusion of the Shinto religion of ancient Japan with Buddhism and Confucianism, which were brought from China. The Buddhist belief that life is a misery which must be passed through and overcome, or perhaps simply an illusion, gave the samurai his fearlessness of death. If
life was simply a means of purification, then a worthy death could be of equal value. Either was worth embracing for its usefulness, neither was worth holding onto for
its own sake. Joined with the Shinto belief in worship of one's ancestors and by extension, absolute submission to authority, it formed the foundation for a life-view in which a warrior could find personal achievement by giving himself completely to his duty.
As a warrior class, the samurai were notable for the breadth of their cultural achievements. This can be partly attributed to the influence of Zen Buddhism. Zen practice gave the warrior the understanding that he could find spiritual growth in the way he performed any activity of his life, that the discipline and focus with which a task was performed were more important than the activity itself. This made the practice of war, poetry, or the tea ceremony equally valuable, and many samurai embraced all of them.
The similarities between the Zen goals of calmness, awareness, and simplicity and the samurai ideals of dispassionate and decisive action are obvious. Lord Sanenori said, "In
he midst of a single breath, where perversity cannot be held, is The Way." The Zen annihilation of the self to achieve enlightenment has a strong analogue in the samurai denial of the self to render perfect service. Both found their reward by being in harmony with the will of a master, be it God or the shogun.
Samurai were warriors through and through. A samurai son received his first steel sword (though not sharp) at the age of five. It is important to understand, though, that samurai were not just men of war, but men and women with a broad enough ethic to sustain a civilization. The principles of bushido recognize that the exercise of power (be it physical force or political decision) is the shaping of the world, and that it must be performed in a way that is spiritually ennobling to all, the governing and the governed, or else it will destroy all.
Chu-Duty and Loyalty-Chief among all the virtues of the samurai was loyalty. Everyone within the samurai structure had a master to whom he owed his loyalty. Even the shogun, who stood at the top of the pyramid, owed loyalty to god, and bore the duty to do what he believed god commanded. Each of them needed to subsume his own will to the will of his master. This, more than anything else, is why they were not simply called bushi - "warriors" - but samurai "those who serve." In the modern, Western world, we usually see loyalty as something which is given. In feudal Japan, it was something which was owed, it was the purpose of living. "If he will only make his master first in importance," explains the Hagakure, "his parents will rejoice and the gods and Buddhas will give
their assent. For a warrior, there is nothing other than thinking of his master." If, by your life and your death, you served your master well, then you lived a good life. No personal goal or satisfaction could equal that of service.
GI-Justice and Morality-The samurai concept of morality was not the same as the Western concept of the avoidance of sin. It was more a matter of choosing your course of action based on the rational knowledge of right and wrong, and not wavering from the decision. Emotions cause us to waver. Selfish feelings tempt us away from the just path, and generosity can also lead us away from doing what we know in our minds to be correct. Both are examples of weakness.
If morality is acting on principle in spite of self-interest, then perhaps justice is making the principled choice when no self-interest is in
Unknown "Mi amor!" Daring
- 16 years, 11 months, 3 days ago
