Bushido

 

Chanoyu

Cha-no-yu translates literally as “hot water for tea”.
The Japanese Tea Ceremony.

 

To Be Sincere with Oneself

From the Chinese ideogram for Sincerity, which is a combination of “Word” and “Perfect”, one is tempted to draw a parallel between it and the Neo-Platonic doctrine of Logos – to such height does the sage soar in his unwonted mystic flight.

 

Sincerity

Veracity or Truthfulness, without which Politeness is a farce and a show.

 

Politeness

Propriety carried beyond right bounds becomes a lie. Masamuni, the sword maker

 

Veracity of Truthfulness

Sincerity is the end and beginning of things; without sincerity there would be nothing. Zisi

 

Hae tibi erunt artes – pacisque imponere morem, Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos

These shall be your arts, to set forth the law of peace, to spare the conquered, and to subdue the proud.

 

A Worthy Epithet

The bravest are the most tender; the loving are the daring.

 

Everything in its Time

To rush into the thick of battle and to be slain in it is easy enough, and the merest churl is equal to the task; but it is true courage to live when it is right to live, and to die only when it is right to die. Anonymous

 

Sincerity

Sincerity is the end and the beginning of all things; without Sincerity there would be nothing. Tsu-tsu

 

Grace in Motion

If there is anything to do, there is certainly a best way to do it, and the best way is both the most economical and the most graceful. Grace is the most economical manner of motion. Bushido

 

Etiquette is a State of Mind

The end of all etiquette is to so cultivate your mind that even when you are quietly seated, not the roughest ruffian can dare make onset on your person. Ogasawara

 

The Tenderness, Pity and Love of the Samurai

It becometh not the fowler to slay the bird that takes refuge in his bosom. Bushi

 

Empathy

The feeling of distress is the root of benevolence, therefore a benevolent man is ever mindful of those who ae suffering and in distress. Mencius

 

The Power of Love

Benevolence brings under its sway whatever hinders its power, just as water subdues fire: they only doubt the power of water to quench flames who try to extinguish with a cupful a whole burning wagon-load of fagots. Mencius

 

Everything in Good Measure

Rectitude carried to excess hardens into stiffness; Benevolence indulged beyond measure sinks into weakness. Date Masamune

 

This Once Was True

It is impossible that any one should become ruler of the people to whom they have not yielded the subjection of their hearts. Mencius

 

Requirement of a True Ruler

Instances are on record where individuals attained to supreme power in a single state, without benevolence, but never have I heard of a whole empire falling into the hands of one who lacked this virtue. Mencius

 

How to Rule

Never has there been a case of a sovereign loving benevolence, and the people not loving righteousness. Confucius

 

Requirement of a Ruler

Let but a prince cultivate virtue, people will flock to him; with people will come to him lands; lands will bring forth for him wealth; wealth will give him the benefit of right uses. Virtue is the root, and wealth an outcome. Confucius

 

Cowardice

Perceiving what is right, and doing it not, argues lack of courage. Confucius

 

Courage

Courage is the knowledge of things that a man should fear and that he should not fear. Plato

 

The Straight and Narrow Path

Mencius calls Benevolence man’s mind, and Rectitude or Righteousness his path. “How lamentable is it to neglect the path and not pursue it, to lose the mind and not know to seek it again! When men’s fowls and dogs are lost, they know to seek for them again, but they lose their mind and do not know to seek for it. Mencius

 

Rectitude

Rectitude is the bone that gives firmness and stature. As without bones the head cannot rest on the top of the spine, nor hands move nor feet stand, so without rectitude neither talent nor learning can make of a human frame a samurai. With it the lack of accomplishments is as nothing. Anonymous Bushi

 

A Power of Resolution

Rectitude is the power of deciding upon a certain course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering – to die when it is right to die, to strike when to strike is right. Anonymous Bushi

 

Right Action

To know and to act are one and the same. Wan Yang Ming