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Bushido Code
Vincenzi
Veteran
who here's follow this code of conduct?
0
Comments
2. Courage
3. Benevolence/Mercy
4. Politeness
5. Honesty
6. Honor
7. Loyalty
8. Character/Self Control
More or less.
It's all about inspiring and continuing to fight towards living a better life. To get rid of your fears, to take the bull by the horns, to face your demons in order to try and liberate yourself towards something better. I look at the Way of the Warrior as the fire that destroys in order to build, and Buddhism as the water that heals when there is too much fire. So in my opinion they're complimentary.
The Urban Samurai has really great articles related to this type of psychology. I highly recommend his stuff.
http://www.urbansamurai.com/
Moved to General Banter.
Associatively, there is a small, off-beat movie called "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Dog:_The_Way_of_the_Samurai
i follow the bushido minus "rei" (obedience) and adding ahimsa as first one... but that's because of my life (prior abode) as a samurai.
Rei actually means "respect". Whenever we bow to each other in "Budo" (Traditional Japanese martial arts) we're performing rei. It's a form of mutual respect, not obedience. The word samurai actually means "one who serves". So perhaps respect was the actual most important part of Bushido out of all the code.
Out of everything I remember, respect was the one that had the highest priority. During Kendo one time, we had a very old Japanese retired military who came to practice with us. He was our guest of honor. At the end of the class I took out my tenugui (my bandana I wear under the mask to prevent sweat from running down my eyes) and I lightly flicked it to straighten it out so I could fold it.
The yudansha sitting next to me then looked at me and whispered;
"Don't flick it like that around these older Japanese military veterans. That sound reminds them of the many decapitations that went along with hara kiri back then in their warring days. That's exactly how it sounded to them."
So it's little things like this that we had to be aware of, even while practicing Kendo (the way of the sword/samurai). There were many little things that were acts of respect and etiquette that we had to remember.
"samsara ni rei, nirvana ni rei"
what about a buddha samurai?
Buddhism is a way of thinking that has the potential to work with everything. I only use it for useful psychology, not religion. Buddhism to me is a tool to help aid me when I need it. It's not my way of life. Even the way of the warrior is not my way of life. They're just tools that aid my individual psychology.
A knife can be used to stab someone, or to cut bread and serve the hungry. This is the same way the way of the warrior can be used, and it's the same with Buddhism. It's not about the "way or the religion" in general. It's about how they're used by that particular person.