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