Tag Archives: bushido

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Death and Honor

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Memorial Day is a day of remembrance and honoring those who lost their lives in the service of their country. Buddhism is a teaching of the universality of death and peace. Zen Buddhism is also a philosophy of peace and honor but has a history based on the bushido code of the samurai who believed we must, “Pray for peace but prepare for war.” So if we follow a Zen Buddhists philosophy we must also remember those who were murdered in the 911 catastrophe as if they to were soldiers. Never forget that we are in a war against terrorist for their archaic radicalism, their murder of innocence, and their repression of women.

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Bushido

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I am meditating on a deck above the beach looking east into the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. My beach shack is on a tiny island a few hundred miles from the mainland. The wind off the sea is a strong twenty knots and the salt spray floats across the waters and settles on everything a salty mist. The churning waters are a milky blue opaque and the whitecaps run clear to the horizon. Swimming in the chop with only a mask and snorkel is like a sensory deprivation tank. You cannot see anything but the milky water, which acts as a mirror reflecting your thoughts, and there is nothing but the vast sea surrounding you with neutral buoyancy. Breathe deeply and inhale fresh clean air. There is life in every breath. This is the life of a Zen Buddhist. This is bushido the life of the warrior. So breathe deep and be grateful for the gift of life and all it entails as the sunset turns blood red.

Satoru

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