TOKUMEIKAN
Japanese Thought
"In Buddhism, attachment is abhorred. A monk who has left all attachments may mingle with the worldly, but will remain unaffected. He does whatever he pleases with utter freedom. And he is correct in any move he makes. Experts in various arts and skills may not be called masters as long as they remain attached to what they do."
Yagyu Munenori
Every morning, the samurai of fifty or sixty years ago would bathe, shave their foreheads, put lotion in their hair, cut their fingernails and toenails rubbing them with pumice and then with wood sorrel, and without fail pay attention to their personal appearance. It goes without saying that their armor in general was kept free from rust, that it was dusted, shined, and arranged.
Although it seems that taking care of one’s appearance is similar to showiness, it is nothing akin to elegance. Even if you are aware that you may be struck down today and are firmly resolved to an inevitable death, if you are slain with an unseemly appearance, you will show your lack of previous resolve, will be despised by your enemy, and will appear unclean. For this reason it is said that both old and young should take care of their appearance.
There was a man who said, “Such and such a person has a violent disposition, but this is what I said right to his face…” This was an unbecoming thing to say, and it was said simply because he wanted to be known as a rough fellow. It was rather low, and it can be seen that he was still rather immature. It is because a samurai has correct manners that he is admired. Speaking of other people in this way is no different from an exchange between low class spearmen. It is vulgar.
When on the battlefield, if you try not to let others take the lead and have the sole intention of breaking into the enemy lines, then you will not fall behind others, your mind will become fierce, and you will manifest martial valour. This fact has been passed down by the elders. Furthermore, if you are slain in battle, you should be resolved to have your corpse facing the enemy.
A certain person was brought to shame because he did not take revenge. The way of revenge lies in simply forcing one’s way into a place and being cut down. There is no shame in this. By thinking that you must complete the job, you will run out of time. By considering things like how many men the enemy has, time piles up; in the end you will give up.
No matter if the enemy has thousands of men, there is fulfillment in simply standing them off and being determined to cut them all down, starting from one end. You will finish the greater part of it.
According to what one of the elders said, taking an enemy on the battlefield is like a hawk taking a bird. Even though it enters into the midst of a thousand of them, it gives no attention to any bird other than the one it has first marked.
Moreover, what is called a tezuke no kubi is a head that one has taken after having made the declaration, “I will take that warrior wearing such and such armor.”
When the time comes, there is no moment for reasoning…
Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death.
All excerpts from:
(Wilson, W.S. (trans.) (1979). Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd.)
Even when in a battle that is beyond one’s means to win, one should lift up his heart and be resolved that no one will surpass him in firmness. He should think to be another’s strength and a man to be relied upon.
In this uncertain world, ours should be the path of discipline.
Administrator, general, and poet
(1350-1410 A.D.)
No matter how lacking a man may be in humanity, if he would be a warrior, he should first of all tell no lies. It is also basic that he habitually stand on integrity, and have a sense of shame.
Military advisor, general, and priest
(1474-1555 A.D.)
When one is going by the place where the elders are in attendance to the master, he should stoop a bit and place his hands to the ground as he passes. To be without deference and simply stamp through the area would be outrageously rude. To be a samurai is to be polite at all times.
It is hardly necessary to record that both Learning and the military arts are the Way of the Warrior, for it is an ancient law that one should have Learning on the left and the martial arts on the right.
Warlord, general, and priest
(1432-1519 A.D.)
From the time one is young, he should associate with companions who are upright, and not even temporarily be taken in by friends of low character. Just as water will conform to the shape of the vessel which contains it, so will a man follow the good and evil of his companions. This is so true.
Military governor, general, poet, and scholar
(1325-1420 A.D.)
Truly, the impermanence of the world is like a dream within a dream. The men we saw yesterday are not here today, the existence of those today will be in peril tomorrow. Man’s fate does not wait his breathing in and breathing out. The sun that rose in the morning sinks behind the mountain ridge in the evening, and the moon of the night before marks the beginning of the day. The blooming flowers only wait for the enticement of the storm. From these it can be seen that transience is not limited to man.
…a man’s life has its determined limit, and one cannot know when his end is coming. Moreover, concerning the conditions of facing that moment, there have been men who passed away leaving nothing said, and others who have left this world in the midst of battle. Man’s fate is like the dew, and follows the uncertain wind of life and death.
Military governor, general, and monk
(1198-1261 A.D.)
All excerpts from “Ideals of the Samurai” (Wilson, W.S. (1982). Burbank, USA: Ohara Publications, Inc.)