Eastern Religions Religion in Japan 2 1. A people of Honor & Mysterious Ways 2. Samurai Culture 3. No mind 4. The Way and its Power 5. An Honorable Death 6. Aikido test: white and red
1 a people of honor & mysterious ways
They say Japan was made by a sword Izanagi and Izanami
I say, Japan was made by a handful of brave men warriors willing to give their lives for what seems to have become a forgotten word: honor. Mr. Graham Honor is a social concept: a strong sense of duty to Kami, to family, to village, to country Mei-yo Honor is the accomplishment, in an ethical manner, of a social good. Hence, the phrase saving face. He has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so. Walter Lippmann
The leader KATSUMOTO had Shaman-like visions Buddhism in Japan is an eclectic blend of beliefs. Eclectic means borrowing what s best from different sources. Buddhism, Primal Shamanism Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto
Paradoxes of Time, Meditation, Emptiness There is some comfort in the emptiness of the sea: no past, no future. And then, all at once, I am confronted by the hard truth of present circumstances.
Wa: Harmony Suppression of one s own feelings for the sake of social harmony. I had the rather unfortunate tendency to tell the truth in a country where no one ever says what they mean. Mr. Graham
A Mysterious Culture The Lessons of Sun Tzu s Art of War, which have influenced the Samurai culture, emphasize being mysterious. Use anger to throw them into disarray, use humility to make them haughty. Tire them by flight, cause division among them. Attack when they are unprepared; make your move when they do not expect it. Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness; Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness; Thereby you can be the director of the opponent s fate. SUN TZU, The Art of War (tr. Thomas Cleary)
Wa: Harmony Mei-yo: Honor Harmony and Honor: the two most important Samurai virtues The downside: The nail that sticks up will be hammered down. Japanese Proverb
stairway to heaven, miniature mountain, the divine Emperor (Tenno/Mikado)
Vision Fulfilled
Ujio General Hasegawa SEPPUKU: ritual suicide leaving this life with honor, going out on one s own terms reasons? to avoid capture protest of injustice loyalty to avoid shame (to save face ) Related term: death with dignity (physician assisted suicide)
bowing to honor the returning Samurai best case (ideal) scenario: representatives of justice and nobility --like the European Knight
REVIEW A
2 samurai culture
The Barbarian in a Sacred Space
Bushido means The way of the Warrior Refinement of skills Refinement of manners Filial Piety Bushido refers to a set of Samurai ideals.
Taka, Nobutada, and Algren
The Samurai ideal of the noble and enlightened poet-warrior. Higen Kanji for Samurai Culture (WEN) is more important than military power because a high culture will last even if the military is defeated.
Samurai sought a balance of martial and cultural arts. Uruwashi: Balance of Outer Beauty/ Goodness and the Inner Life "Literary men and Warriors are they whom the nation values. Courage Wisdom Shoku Nihongi, late 8 th - c Japanese history
Lives of Discipline Zen-- because it works. Zen of Archery Tea Ceremony
Samurai: one who serves (particularly in service of the Emperor)
Algren begins to want to fit in.
Bowing to one another with respect
Learning someone else s language
REVIEW B
3 no mind
Too Many Minds No Mind Greater Awareness Through Letting Go of Directed Thought
If you don t put your mind anywhere it will pervade your whole body fully spreading through your whole being. Takuan Soho, Zen Buddhist Master (1573-1645) If you put the mind in one place, you become warped. Placing the mind nowhere, employ your attention to each situation as it happens.
Yagyu Munenori Samurai and Zen Master (1571-1646) The heart of those on the Way is like a mirror, empty and clear, being mindless yet not failing to accomplish anything. This is the normal mind. If the mind sticks to one place and dwells on it, you fail to see what there is to see and unexpectedly lose.
Samurai ideal: to integrate martial arts with all of life. Miyamoto Musashi Samurai and Zen Master (1584-1645) There is no doubt people who think that even to be practicing martial arts will not prove useful when it real need arises. As far as that is concerned, the true way of martial arts is to practice them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful and all things.
Algren describes Bushido in this way: Winter 1877: What does it mean to be samurai? To devote yourself utterly to a set of moral principles
to seek a stillness of your mind; and to master the way of the sword. The two go together. You can t separate them.
stilling the mind
REVIEW C
4 the way and its power
Spring 1877: This marks the longest that I have stayed in one place since I left the farm at 17.
There is so much here that I will never understand.
I have never been a churchgoing man. And what I have seen on the field of battle has left me to question God s purpose.
But there is something spiritual in this place.
And though it may forever be obscure to me,
I cannot but be aware of its power.
Algren found spirituality in the Samurai s way of life and its power. I do know that it is here that I have known my first untroubled sleep in many years.
Noh Theater and Kyogen Comedy
Cherry Blossoms: another important symbol of Japan Like these blossoms, we are all dying. To know life in every breath, every cup of tea, every life we take: the way of the warrior. This is Bushido. --Katsumoto It is much like the Latin saying Carpe diem! meaning Seize the Day! The perfect blossom is a rare thing.
aesthetic principle: It s also a symbol for mono no aware sensitivity* to the fleeting nature of life, and its beauty *mix of joy and sadness; a bitter-sweet quality They come and they go so quickly. 18 th -c Japanese classical scholar Motoori Norinaga
given as a gift and a gesture of good will by the Japanese government at the end of WWII
REVIEW D
5 an honorable death
No mind in action
Portrayal of an Honorable Death Technology versus Values; Unbridled Capitalism versus Culture
6 Aikido
4 Aikido Morihei UESHIBA 1883-1969 Founder of Aikido
Aikido: The Way of Unifying With the Chi Kannagara no michi (Shinto): the way of harmony with the stream of god Ai: bring together Ki: Chi, life force Do: Way, path, art Morihei UESHIBA (1883-1969)
Suddenly, the ground began shaking. A golden vapor wafted up from the ground and enveloped me. I was transformed into a golden image, and my body felt as light as a feather. All at once I understood the meaning of creation: the Way of a Warrior (Bushido) is to manifest Divine Love, a spirit that embraces, loves, and protects all things. Ueshiba said that Bushido is really the art of peace.
The art of peace is medicine for a sick world. We want to cure the world of the sickness of violence, malcontent, and discord this is the way of harmony. There is evil and disorder in the world because people have forgotten all things emanate from one source. Return to that source and leave behind all self-centered thoughts, petty desires, and anger. Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything. Aikido is the truth taught by the universe and must be applied to our lives on this earth.
The One Kami, Creator of the Universe Kannagara is a way of intuition. Kannagara is a way of supreme freedom. For the true follower of the Way, all actions arise from an unconscious and sincerely felt respect and appreciation for the perfection of nature s process and from the knowledge that all things have within them a living part of the Divine Spirit of Kami, the Creator of the Universe. The mountains have God s name. The wind has God s name. The rivers have God s name. The idea that many kami exist, as well as one original Kami, may seem a paradox; and the idea that kami govern the workings of the mountains and rivers, of the earth and the heavens, of trees and birds, may be incomprehensible to those who have received an education in modern science. But that s the way it is, according to Ueshiba s understanding. Mitsuge Saotome All the many kami come from the one original Kami.
REVIEW E