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Bushido Principles Review

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Bushido Principles Review
Bushido has seven main principles to guide a Samurai.
It was the code of the Samurai during the feudal period (1185–1868) of Japan.

My master had a secret that he did not talk about. After years and many questions he finally revealed that he had chosen the practical side of Buddhist transcendentalism, but incorporated Taoism naturalism, (The Way,) and wedded pragmatic Christianity, because he was Samurai.
As such he also lived by the code of bushido, the most outstanding being honor, the only canon to be written with two pictograph symbols. The principles are:

Honor (Meiyo)
This means that a samurai has a specific Code of Honor and an elevated moral code of the society. This is based not because of a consequence of power but upon moral or ethical excellence. The honorable person has integrity and is trusted. A person without honor is not grounded or centered and will never see the light.

Duty & Loyalty (Chu)
Difficult and easy support each other. High and low depend on each other. The warrior is responsible for their words, actions, and for those whom they work. They never avoid their duty and pursue the success of every venture. The best leader is loved, next, one who is feared.

Justice & Morality (GI)
Justice was supposed to be fair play, fair-mindedness, equity, and evenhandedness. But today, ”Justice is the advantage of the stronger.” Thrasymachus

Complete Sincerity (Makoto)
Sincerity is the quality of being free from pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy. “The sincerity of his beliefs is unquestionable” One must reflect that this was a time when old age was rare and a mans life was restricted to horseback miles. Your life was real only if your word was real.
The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.

Polite Courtesy (Rei)
You are a guest in the world. Streams flow to the sea because they are lower. Humility gives its power to the oceans.

Compassion (Jin)
Keep your heart as open as the sky. Enter a battle gravely, with sorrow and with great compassion for many will die.

Heroic Courage (Yu)
All things change. Hold on to nothing.
Satoru

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Today’s Bushido

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Dear Satoru,
I am a Zen Buddhist. I live a moral, happy, reflexive, meditative life. I use the ancient Samurai Bushido credos as my guidelines. But of late I am having some difficulty dovetailing its principle’s into the standards of today’s world. Your serious site is always evocative and informing. Can you give me some insights into this problem?

I like to keep my blogs short and succinct. I do this because it allows the readers time to think about a specific idea. If the idea is valid and adaptable, a person can use it to change their life for the better. However, since I have been asked numerous times about this problem, and to aid in your inquiry, I will devote the next several blogs to elucidate this difficulty. I will start the next blog with an edited review of the principles of Bushido.
Satoru

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Smart choice.

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You meet one of the most wise and intelligent people in the world. The atmosphere is relaxed and open. What do you ask them?

Is there a question and answer that has the potential to fulfill you and make your thoughts a reality? Or do you think that you have all the answers, are content, and cannot improve your life?

If you could have any one request fulfilled, and you could ask for anything except money, what would your aspiration be?

How would you transform your considerations into actuality if you have not examined your life, your objectives, your relationships and yourself?

Are you prepared to ask something significant? And if the answer connotes a specific direction or task, are you prepared to alter your course?

Satoru

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Realistic Change

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Realistic Change
Forget about perfect. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again. In life we cannot avoid change and we cannot avoid loss. Freedom and happiness are found in the flexibility and ease with which we move through change. Nothing ever stays the same. You cannot step twice into the same river, for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you.
What is your position in the funnel of life?
Satoru

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Freedom

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Just as driving on the right side of the road gives us the freedom to go anywhere, so accepting the natural law of constant change is our route to freedom. Remember that life expands and contracts according to one’s courage.
So you must have the comprehension and will to know that the unity of our existence consists of perpetual change.

Making major changes in your life requires courage but you have to take it step by step. So start now.
Life is Action.
Satoru