Post by Pathfinder on Aug 24, 2023 7:03:20 GMT
Lahiri Mahasay Will Iccha
Yamamoto Tsunetomo was employed in the service of a lord from his youth, and
wanted to commit suicide on the death of his lord, according to an ancient
samurai custom. He was prevented from doing so, however, by a new law
prohibiting the practice of oibara, disembowelment of retainers on the death of
their lord. Instead of suicide, therefore, Yamamoto became a Buddhist monk,
which was a form of symbolic and social death. Nonetheless, like others who
similarly exploited Buddhist orders for personal and secular ends, his writing
demonstrates considerable contempt for Buddhism as he conceived it. His
musings were supposed to be kept secret but were eventually published as the
Hagakure.
Although it’s nothing out of the ordinary that warriors should keep the warrior’s
way in mind, everyone seems to be negligent. The reason I say this is that when
you ask them how they understand the essential idea of the way of the warrior,
hardly anyone can answer at once. That’s because they haven’t got presence of
mind. So it’s obvious they don’t keep the warrior’s way in mind. That is utter
negligence.
I have discovered that bushido is the business of dying. It is simply a matter of
settling on dying any moment in a life-or-death situation. There are no other
details. It is going forward with a calm and steady heart. To say that if you don’t
succeed you die a dog’s death is highfalutin Kyoto-style bushido. In a life-ordeath situation, you can’t make sure you’ll succeed.
We humans prefer to live. To a great extent, reason will take to preference. If
you miss your mark yet live, you’re spineless. This is a dangerous situation. If
you miss your mark and die, it’s death to no avail, or madness. It is no shame.
This is strength in the warrior’s way. When you die anew every morning and
every night, becoming permanently dead while alive, you attain freedom in the
warrior’s way and can do your professional work successfully without
blundering the rest of your life.
There are people who are born quick-witted and people who need to take time to
think. Examining the root of this, even though there are differences in the level
of inborn intelligence, when you think impersonally in light of the Four Vows,
inconceivable wisdom appears:
1. Don’t be outdone in bushido
2. Be useful to your lord
3. Be filial to your parents
4. Have the compassion to help others
You’d suppose everyone could think of profound things if they thought
deeply, but they think based on themselves, so it’s all stuff that turns bad by the
action of perverted intelligence. The conditioning of ignorant people is such that
it’s hard to become unselfish. Even so, when something comes up, if you first set
the matter aside, bring the Four Vows to mind, and strive to eliminate
selfishness, you shouldn’t err much.
Tannen Osho always said that a monk may be compassionate externally but
cannot attain buddhahood without storing courage within. A warrior is brave
outwardly but cannot accomplish the work of his caste without gut-wrenching
compassion in his heart. Because of this, monks seek courage in the company of
warriors, while warriors seek compassion from monks.
In my years of pilgrimage, I never learned anything useful for practice from
Buddhist teachers. Therefore, whenever I’d hear of a courageous knight, I went
regardless of the hardships of the road to hear talk of the warrior’s way; it sure
seems to me that it has been this that has been a help on the Buddhist path.
First off, warriors can plunge into enemy battle lines, albeit fortified by
bearing arms. If monks were to plunge into the midst of spears and swords with
but a rosary, what could they accomplish with only gentility and compassion?
Without immense courage, they could not plunge in. As proof of that, on
occasions of major ceremonies, the monks who burn incense tremble. That’s
because they lack courage. Kicking down dead men and reviving and rescuing
beings from hells are acts of courage. But monks these days all cling to what
does not exist, wanting to be pious and meek; no one attains enlightenment.
What is more, they urge Buddhism on warriors, making them cowards, a
regrettable phenomenon.
For young samurai, listening to Buddhism is very wrong. That’s because
things become two-sided. Unless you’re totally focused in one direction, you
won’t be of any use. Elderly retirees may listen to Buddhism as a hobby, but
warriors carry loyalty and filial piety on one shoulder and courage and
compassion on the other shoulder; as long as they bear these charges twenty-four
hours a day, even to the point where they cut into their shoulders, then samurai
can do their duty. At morning and evening rites, and always when sitting and
reclining, they should chant, “Lord, Lord!” That’s no different from a buddhaname or a mantra. Also, they should always keep company with their clan
deities. That makes for good luck. Still, examples of the annihilation of warriors
with only courage and no compassion are evident throughout history.
Everything should be done for the sake of your lord, or your father, or for the
people, or for your posterity. This is great compassion. Cunning and courage that
come from compassion are the real thing.
The nation does not belong to one man alone; for him to see to the security and
peace of all the people, and consider public servants sincerely, ought to be the
root of long-term survival. If you become absorbed in governing, everything will
be an aspect of government. Because the ruler’s mind is the mind of his myriad
subjects, it seems that it should be evident that it’s ultimately a matter of his
conduct and attitude.
It seems the nation is kept orderly by means of compassion. Wisdom and
courage that come from compassion will be great wisdom and great courage.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo was employed in the service of a lord from his youth, and
wanted to commit suicide on the death of his lord, according to an ancient
samurai custom. He was prevented from doing so, however, by a new law
prohibiting the practice of oibara, disembowelment of retainers on the death of
their lord. Instead of suicide, therefore, Yamamoto became a Buddhist monk,
which was a form of symbolic and social death. Nonetheless, like others who
similarly exploited Buddhist orders for personal and secular ends, his writing
demonstrates considerable contempt for Buddhism as he conceived it. His
musings were supposed to be kept secret but were eventually published as the
Hagakure.
Although it’s nothing out of the ordinary that warriors should keep the warrior’s
way in mind, everyone seems to be negligent. The reason I say this is that when
you ask them how they understand the essential idea of the way of the warrior,
hardly anyone can answer at once. That’s because they haven’t got presence of
mind. So it’s obvious they don’t keep the warrior’s way in mind. That is utter
negligence.
I have discovered that bushido is the business of dying. It is simply a matter of
settling on dying any moment in a life-or-death situation. There are no other
details. It is going forward with a calm and steady heart. To say that if you don’t
succeed you die a dog’s death is highfalutin Kyoto-style bushido. In a life-ordeath situation, you can’t make sure you’ll succeed.
We humans prefer to live. To a great extent, reason will take to preference. If
you miss your mark yet live, you’re spineless. This is a dangerous situation. If
you miss your mark and die, it’s death to no avail, or madness. It is no shame.
This is strength in the warrior’s way. When you die anew every morning and
every night, becoming permanently dead while alive, you attain freedom in the
warrior’s way and can do your professional work successfully without
blundering the rest of your life.
There are people who are born quick-witted and people who need to take time to
think. Examining the root of this, even though there are differences in the level
of inborn intelligence, when you think impersonally in light of the Four Vows,
inconceivable wisdom appears:
1. Don’t be outdone in bushido
2. Be useful to your lord
3. Be filial to your parents
4. Have the compassion to help others
You’d suppose everyone could think of profound things if they thought
deeply, but they think based on themselves, so it’s all stuff that turns bad by the
action of perverted intelligence. The conditioning of ignorant people is such that
it’s hard to become unselfish. Even so, when something comes up, if you first set
the matter aside, bring the Four Vows to mind, and strive to eliminate
selfishness, you shouldn’t err much.
Tannen Osho always said that a monk may be compassionate externally but
cannot attain buddhahood without storing courage within. A warrior is brave
outwardly but cannot accomplish the work of his caste without gut-wrenching
compassion in his heart. Because of this, monks seek courage in the company of
warriors, while warriors seek compassion from monks.
In my years of pilgrimage, I never learned anything useful for practice from
Buddhist teachers. Therefore, whenever I’d hear of a courageous knight, I went
regardless of the hardships of the road to hear talk of the warrior’s way; it sure
seems to me that it has been this that has been a help on the Buddhist path.
First off, warriors can plunge into enemy battle lines, albeit fortified by
bearing arms. If monks were to plunge into the midst of spears and swords with
but a rosary, what could they accomplish with only gentility and compassion?
Without immense courage, they could not plunge in. As proof of that, on
occasions of major ceremonies, the monks who burn incense tremble. That’s
because they lack courage. Kicking down dead men and reviving and rescuing
beings from hells are acts of courage. But monks these days all cling to what
does not exist, wanting to be pious and meek; no one attains enlightenment.
What is more, they urge Buddhism on warriors, making them cowards, a
regrettable phenomenon.
For young samurai, listening to Buddhism is very wrong. That’s because
things become two-sided. Unless you’re totally focused in one direction, you
won’t be of any use. Elderly retirees may listen to Buddhism as a hobby, but
warriors carry loyalty and filial piety on one shoulder and courage and
compassion on the other shoulder; as long as they bear these charges twenty-four
hours a day, even to the point where they cut into their shoulders, then samurai
can do their duty. At morning and evening rites, and always when sitting and
reclining, they should chant, “Lord, Lord!” That’s no different from a buddhaname or a mantra. Also, they should always keep company with their clan
deities. That makes for good luck. Still, examples of the annihilation of warriors
with only courage and no compassion are evident throughout history.
Everything should be done for the sake of your lord, or your father, or for the
people, or for your posterity. This is great compassion. Cunning and courage that
come from compassion are the real thing.
The nation does not belong to one man alone; for him to see to the security and
peace of all the people, and consider public servants sincerely, ought to be the
root of long-term survival. If you become absorbed in governing, everything will
be an aspect of government. Because the ruler’s mind is the mind of his myriad
subjects, it seems that it should be evident that it’s ultimately a matter of his
conduct and attitude.
It seems the nation is kept orderly by means of compassion. Wisdom and
courage that come from compassion will be great wisdom and great courage.