The Bushido Code - The Way Of The Warrior

Nitobe Inazo wrote the book - "Bushido, The Soul Of Japan" to advertise the code to the world and show the strength of Japanese philosophy. The book is based on the living code of the Samurai warriors. The Samurai did become a legend for a reason. What is this secret code and can you share it?

Transcript

The Bushido Code.

Nitoba Inazo wrote the book Bushido,

The soul of Japan.

Just to advertise the code to the world and show the strength of Japanese philosophy.

The book is based on the living code of the samurai warrior at that time.

The samurai did become a legend for that reason.

Originally the samurai were common soldiers who did what was ordered by their superiors.

They had no special treatment nor ranking.

But at a certain moment in history the samurai got rules and regulations which did distinguish them from other warriors.

They started to wear special clothing and weaponry and became members of an elite group of people.

The samurai was sworn into the group and had to take an oath for life.

From a simple warrior they became the protector of justice and state.

But their myth developed to the protectors of the people.

History shows many stories of samurai who battled for the honor and the safety of the population.

When we study the Bushido Code we find a profound and significant liking with the Buddhist regulations such as the four and eightfold paths.

Due to the importance of Buddhism in Japanese history we could understand this.

And close I want to reveal the code and I hope you keep all this well in mind and continue in this book of reading and follow the codes of other warriors.

The first code is righteous and fairness.

Justice.

A samurai could judge over life and death in a second.

Fast decisions had to be made in a very short period of time to wound or kill a person.

This pressure needed a specific kind of judgment system for a warrior.

To judge this way the samurai had to veil the lives of others as his own.

Righteousness and fairness,

The justice,

Can be compared with the backbone of every human.

It is needed to keep the body straight and to protect all nerves which run through it.

Rule number two.

Courage.

There is a clear difference between bravery and courage.

A brave person feels no fear and goes for the goal without consideration.

A courageous person has first consideration if his actions are rightful and fair.

Before taking the action a courageous person does what is good and honorable.

Rule three.

Benevolence and mercifulness.

Compassion.

The warrior had the power to judge about life and death and had to do so right.

To have this gift of judgment a person should understand why people do what they do and understand their reasons.

When you are compassionate you are willing to stand in the shoes of others and able to judge a situation from their point of view.

Mercifulness is found in all religions,

Philosophies as the force of the righteousness and just person with the power to rule.

Rule number four.

Politeness.

Japanese social behavior is difficult to understand for outsiders.

It is ever harder to understand the difference between humble,

Submissive,

Slave-like or politeness.

To Japanese this difference is very clear.

To westerners politeness must be motivated by the power to help or assist other persons as a kindness of goodwill gesture.

The simple rule treat others as you wish to be treated yourself makes this very clear.

But to Japanese to follow the order of etiquette is the most important part of their social life.

Rule five.

Honesty and sincerity.

According to Nidebe the samurai had to follow the virtues of the Buddhist monk.

All earthly matters such as wealth and possessions were in the way of gathering spiritual wisdom and mental development.

A samurai was brought up with the ideology that money was bad and you should stay away from all these earthly matters as far as possible.

To despise earthly matters was a token of good upbringing.

Talking about money was considered bad manners and ignorant.

To live in luxury was seen as not manly as a real warrior must live a simple life close to nature without the need to care for possessions.

Rule number six.

Honor.

There is no rational explanation for the word honor.

Everything related to the word and the feeling plays on a spiritual level.

The code of honor is unwritten but for all participants clear.

The honor of the warrior is found in the way he serves his superiors and reliability to his partners,

His family and friends.

A true warrior can bear the unbearable,

Face the danger with no fear of dying and fights in combat to protect the honor of himself,

The master and the country.

The code of honor is from every time and every nation and we meet it in all rankings of warriors and decent people.

But it seems to be a typical male thing as women are hardly ever involved in it.

Rule number seven.

Loyalty.

Next to honor is loyalty,

One of the most important fundaments of a true warrior.

The samurai swore to give his life in honor to defend its lord.

To be loyal means to give everything to serve a person,

An emperor,

King,

Queen or else,

A company or society and even put your life in the balance.

In ancient times this was expected from all who served in military wars.

In the past there was no doubt that any warrior in the world would have done this without thinking otherwise.

We should make a clear difference between loyalty and being faithful.

You are faithful until otherwise has proven that you are doing so to the wrong person.

You can break faithfulness but you can never break loyalty.

Rule number eight.

Character and control.

The Bushido Code demands a high degree of morality which equals loyalty in every way.

The barrier of the code will act according to the principles of what I consider good is good,

What I consider bad is bad.

The mentality of the warrior demands a fast and right judgment in reference to the situation.

A warrior acts according to that judgment and not considers the consequences that may arise from his actions.

A samurai educates his children according to the principles of character building to control emotions in every situation.

Most children did have a really hard time growing up that way.

But it was important that a warrior kept a cool mind in most bloody battles or dangerous situations and could judge or plan a strategy.

A tough growing up is a need for any warrior no matter the tribe or nature.

Loyalty,

Courage and sacrifice are the words that bring a clear vision of who a samurai was.

The nature of being a samurai demanded a high standard of morality.

Because of this,

Even today most serious martial arts honour the Bushido Code and try to live accordingly.

There is an important difference between the Bushido Code and other warrior codes like seppuku and harakiri.

The tradition to commit suicide is only found in Japan this way.

Another difference is the myth that a samurai was a Robin Hood like personality with the soul of a saint and the education of a Mandarin.

This is far beside the truth.

It is a historical fact that a samurai was first a real warrior,

A serviceman to the Lord,

A well trained swordsman who was trained in battle to kill.

Which time was spent with training,

Family,

Friends and his social duties.

A samurai did not have much time for study nor meditation or moral duties.

Without any disrespect for the current followers of the Bushido Code,

I would like to mention that the origin of the code is in a time where people did not have fear for death.

As it was an integral part of life in general.

The fear of death is a common thing in the Western world where religions always have treated the death as something to be scared of,

To worry about.

Death was not a part of life but a time for payback.

It was and still is for many people.

The moment you be judged by the gods and you were sent to hell or heaven.

In a karma based society as Asia the judge is not some external power but yourself.

Only you will be judged by your own deeds and return to the living or find a way to Nirvana which can be considered an equivalent to the Western heaven.

Death must be part of life as much as training is a part of the warrior.

The people who pass away are not only memories and a picture on the wall,

They are part of your life.

People who had influence and made you who you are.

A body can die but the spirit lives on.

We keep the death alive by our thoughts,

Our actions to thank them in life.

Be thankful and appreciate the past.

It is important to cherish the ancestors as they are the source of who we are.

The Bushido Code is considered the link between life and death which are united in the way of the life of the warrior in training,

Thinking and behaviour.

Thank you for listening.

If you have any questions send them to ArnaldVere at outlook.

Com or leave a mark here.

Any questions about the way of the Bushido,

The warrior life or the martial arts is welcome.

Reviews

Thank you very much 😊 that was very clear and interesting ✨

Wasn't sure if this was going to be more of a meditation involving the principals of Bushido or just a simple exploration of the code itself. It ended up being the latter but you can still sit and meditate to it, along with it, reflecting on the teachings and how they should pertain to your life... Or at least that's what I did.

Me gustó ! Muchas gracias