The Essence of Bushi-Do – Samurai Art

At the end of the day, I always feel grateful that I was able to live through the day. I say in my mind “Ikashite-itadaite arigato gozami-masu. Then again in the morning, I say the same thing for the new day. I am always living the moment being consciously aware about life and death.

I do have a healthy body. In spite of my health, I am strongly conscious about life and death. I think this is my asset and advantage. I believe that being conscious about life and death in every moment is the essence of Bushi-do(武士道), the Art of Samurai.

To attain the skills to fight or kill others is not the purpose of Bushi-do. The true Bushi-do is about realizing the precious life we have in front of us.

The true Bushi-do should be about maintaining a healthy body and to protect the body that is carrying his precious soul.

As in today’s modern world, someone who cares about others, who would drive safely so neither oneself or others would not be injured… He/she is a practitioner of a Bushi-do. Until the Meiji Period (1868~1912), I sense that most of the people had the consciousness to care about oneself and others. Today it had declined.

Those who are in gratitude about their own life know that life is precious and would take care of his/herself as well as others.

When you are practicing the ancestral worship with gratitude, you will start to feel that every moment is valuable. There might be a moment when you feel that everything and everyone feel so dearly close to your heart. Then you are in the right path. You might be showing a lot of emotions in the surface but deep inside you heart is becoming very strong and grounded and no matter what happens, you will be able to remain clam.

It is better to be aware when your body is still healthy. Once you are sick, it is hard to start being grateful.

Going to work with your healthy body is something very valuable and worth thanking for. Don’t allow yourself to wound your heart at work. Look at the problem from a perspective between life and death. As long as you are alive, problems will always start to change and come to an end. This is only possible in this World of Reality.

He or she who could look at a life from the point of life and death will be able to live strong and enjoy fully.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

The secret behind the Samurai Spirit

At the end of the Pacific War, the Kamikaze unit went on their mission. Some made a miraculous return home. I remember once watching their interview on TV. The front part of the plane was made the smallest in size. The American warships were firing like a heavy hail to shoot down the planes. In order to succeed in hitting the warship, the Kamikaze planes had to fly down in the exact same angle as the bullets coming from the warship, otherwise they were shot down. In other words, they had to fly straight towards the bullets. If they tried to run away from the bullets, they had more chances to be shot down before hitting the warship.

On the TV interview, the man said, “what I shouted when I was flying down straight towards the bullet and the warship, was ‘Mother~!!!.’” He said he is sure that all the Kamikaze soldiers said the same thing.

Just like, when God Susanoo went to see his mother who had gone to Yomi-no-Kuni (the Land of the Dead), cried for his mother aloud as if it would reach both heaven and earth, human has a nature to call for one’s mother when they are at the time facing death. The TV show was showing the film where the Kamikaze unit was celebrating their last sake together before getting on the plane. Their faces did not look so serious or sad, instead, they had a silent and calm smile. This was truly a face of a samurai. The soldiers and the samurais did not kill people because they wanted to. In those days, they had no choice but to surrender to the way of living the era had compelled them to do.

It is a tragedy that in this modern society, in spite of the freedom and wealth, there are more people committing suicide than the number of Kamikaze soldiers who died for their country. The power of almost insane courage a Kamikaze soldier had came purely from the desire to protect his family that he loved and appreciated. Today, I feel that the image of samurai is often misunderstood. They are not just warriors who killed people with swords toyed by fate.

My understanding of a true Samurai Spirit is about always seeing things through matter of life and death. When you see things through matter of life and death, most of the problems in modern society disappear. You will no longer have any attachment to things or other people. Instead you will be appreciative to the small things that happen in your daily life.

Ikashite-Itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Samurai Spirit

In 1853, Naval commander, Matthew Perry arrived to Japan on a black warship. He was the man who reopened Japan to the West. I was deeply moved by the words he had spoken of his impression about the Samurais in those days.

He commented as, “Japanese people are sophisticated and knows the way of things. I have never seen such people with dignity and grace, yet unpretentious.”

In this modern world, even the Japanese people have images of samurai as “warriors with sword, Hara-kiri (self-disembowelment), taking one’s own life, and chonmage (the funny hair-style), etc..”　It sounds like a ludicrous clown. Is this really the truth of a Samurai? These qualities would not have given the foreign man the impression of “dignity and grace”.

Today, I sometimes happen to see the Samurai Spirit in some Japanese people. Those are the patients who are in treatment for their terminal stage of illness, and had been notified their death by their doctor. When they were notified about their death, in the beginning, they were shocked, having a sense of despair. But as the time goes by, despair turns into acceptance, and they start to feel the preciousness of the “now.” Finally they come to a point of realization that they were “led to live” which makes them pure and peaceful.

When we are alive, most of the time, we don’t think about death. One might have an illusion that he/she is going to live forever. They become obsessed with things and relationships. They start to buy and collect things. Some people might not even care about other people to get what they want. But suddenly, if you were to find out that you only have a month to live, would you still continue to buy more things? Would you fight with others to get what you want? When you forget about death, one tends to get obsessed with things and becomes delusional, forgetting that one is “led to live”.

In my opinion, Samurai Spirit is about “living the moment with no regret.” It’s about living moment to moment, having no sense of attachment, being pure and clean, and realizing that one is “led to live.” Thus having the sense of gratitude and the sense of eternity.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live