Spirituality for Living

The Japanese bushi = warrior, do = way. Bushido is the Japanese warrior way. A philosophy. Bushido is about pride, but not about arrogance. The teachings of Bushido were diverse, and they were in a sense an education of themselves including more than martial training and discipline. What they sought was a transcendent dedication.

“The penetrating brilliance of swords, wielded by followers of the Way, strikes at the evil enemy, lurking deep within, their own souls and bodies.” Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace

“It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all Ways and be more and more in accord with his own.” Tsunetomo Yamamoto, The Hagakure

Bushido Philosophy

Bushido is a diverse body of philosophy, and it is strongly linked to the Japanese religion of Shintoism. Shintoism and Ma’at (the native religion of Egypt) are very similar. They are tied to the forces of nature and the land.  Holding them sacred, but also having a sense of divine order and humans connection to the land. Many of the concepts behind Bushido aren’t what they would seem to westerners.  For them, the island of Nippon was sacred. It wasn’t about owning territory. It was about honouring and protecting the ancestors and the gods. So in a sense, the Samurai… Seek More

Bushido Values

Does superstition play a part in Bushido? In a sense, any tradition is a superstition. Does any belief survive? Because that is the literal meaning of superstition. Does any form of Bushido persist in modern Japanese society or is it all historical? Actually, yes. It doesn’t exist unmodified, but it is how the “do” disciplines got started. To preserve the ways, practices and the benefits if used only in a civic fashion like judo, aikido and tai kwon do in Korea. Does it translate in any way to how the Japanese conduct business regarding honourable behaviour, etc? It does indeed.… Seek More

Deep Under Culture

Fully half of the worlds population has GABA as their dominant neurotransmitter. GABA is a regulatory hormone, which allows nerve impressions to feel stable. The dominant blood type in America is O, so there may be some tie. A common issue with GABA imbalance is anxiety disorders and excessive sense of guilt. So maybe there is something running deep under culture. This would make tolerance even more necessary. It makes sense that our culture, in a sense, would get into our DNA. Environmental influence on evolution and all that, and depending on what school of scientific thought you subscribe to,… Seek More