THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF BUSHIDO BY SENSEI GUALDO HIDALGO
Bushido literally means
"the way of the warrior", a Japanese word for the way of the samurai
life.
The Bushido originates
from the samurai moral code stressing frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery,
and honor unto death. Born from Neo-Confucianism during times of peace in
Tokugawa Japan and following Confucian texts, Bushido was also influenced by
Shinto and Zen Buddhism, allowing the violent existence of the samurai to be
tempered by wisdom and serenity. Bushido developed between the 9th and 20th
centuries and influenced highly Japan.
Under the Tokugawa
Shogunate, many aspects of bushido were formalized into Japanese feudal law.
Bushido is the code of moral principles which the samurai were required
or instructed to observe. It is an unwritten code.
Bushido tenets expanded
and formalized the earlier code of the samurai, and stressed frugality,
loyalty, mastery of martial arts, and honor to the death. Under the bushido
ideal, if a samurai failed to uphold his honor he could only regain it by
performing seppuku (ritual suicide).
Other parts of the bushido
philosophy cover methods of raising children, appearance, and grooming, but all
of this may be seen as part of one's constant preparation for death — to die a
good death with one's honor intact, the ultimate aim in a life lived according
to bushido. Indeed, a "good death" is its own reward, and by no means
assurance of "future rewards" in the afterlife. Seven principles of
Bushido:
1.
Courage; Courage is the ability and willingness to confront fear, pain,
danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Physical courage is courage in the face
of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while moral courage is
the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal,
or discouragement.
2.
Rectitude: Righteousness implies that a person's actions are justified,
and can have the connotation that the person has been "judged" or
"reckoned" as leading a life that is pleasing to God.
3.
Benevolence: An act of kindness; good done; charity given.
4.
Respect: Respect is a positive feeling of esteem or deference for a
person or other entity (such as a nation or a religion), and also specific
actions and conduct representative of that esteem.
5.
Honesty: Honesty refers to a facet of moral character and connotes
positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and
straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct, along with the
absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc. Furthermore,
honesty means being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere.
6.
Honour: Honor is an abstract concept entailing a perceived quality of
worthiness and respectability that affects both the social standing and the
self-evaluation of an. Accordingly,
individuals are assigned worth and stature based on the harmony of their
actions with a specific code of honor, and the moral code of the society at
large.
7.
Loyalty: Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person, country,
group, or cause.
Associated virtues:
1.
Filial piety: Filial piety means to be good to one's parents; to take
care of one's parents; to engage in good conduct not just towards parents but
also outside the home so as to bring a good name to one's parents and
ancestors; to perform the duties of one's job well so as to obtain the material
means to support parents as well as carry out sacrifices to the ancestors; not
be rebellious; show love, respect and support; display courtesy; ensure male
heirs, uphold fraternity among brothers; wisely advise one's parents, including
dissuading them from moral unrighteousness; display sorrow for their sickness
and death; and carry out sacrifices after their death.
2.
Wisdom: Wisdom is a habit or disposition to perform the action with the
highest degree of adequacy under any given circumstance. This implies a possession or seeking of knowledge of the
given circumstances. This involves an understanding of people, things, events
and situations, and the willingness and the ability to apply perceptions,
judgments and actions in keeping with an understanding of what is the right
course of actions. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so
that universal principles, values, reason and knowledge prevail to determine
one's actions. In short, wisdom is a disposition to find the truth coupled with an
optimum judgment as to right actions with prudence, sagacity, discernment, or
insight.
3.
Care for the aged.
By Sensei Gualdo
Hidalgo
USA National School of
Karate
Tags:
bushido, sensei, the way of the warrior, confucianism, shinto, zen,
buddhism, japan. japanese feudal law, moral principles, code of the samurai,
ritual suicide, bushido philosophy, school of karate, karate master, karate,
shotokan, shito ryu, wado ryu, karate style, karate school
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