Maybe they didn't feel a need to rationalise or justify themselves?

Would you argue the point with them!? :-)

Regards,

H.

Two books spring to mind: 'The Five Rings' and 'The Unfettered Mind', both widely available and 'straight from the horse's mouth' so to speak.

From an intro to '5 Rings':

>>>>>The Way of the sword is the moral teaching of the samurai, fostered by the Confucianist philosophy which shaped the Tokugawa system, together with the native Shinto religion of Japan. The warrior courts of Japan from the Kamakura period to the Muromachi period encouraged the austre Zen study among the samurai, and Zen went hand in hand with the arts of war. In Zen the are no elaborations, it aims directly at the true nature of things. There are no ceremonies, no teachings: the prize of Zen is essentially personal. Enlightenment in Zen does not mean a change in behavior, but realisation of the nature of ordinary life. The end point is the beginning, and the great virtue is simplicity. The secret teaching of the Itto Ryu school of Kendo, Kiriotoshi, is the first technique of some hundred or so. The teaching is "Ai Uchi", meaning to cut the opponent just as he cuts you. This is the ultimate training... it is lack of anger. It means to treat your enemy as an honoured guest. It also means to abandon your life or throw away fear.

The first technique is the last, the beginner and the master behave in the same way. Knowledge is a full circle. The first of Musashi's chapter headings is Ground, for the basis of Kendo and Zen, and the last book is Void, for that understanding which can only be expressed as nothingness. The teachings of Kendo are like the fierce verbal forays to which the Zen student is subjected. Assailed with doubts and misery, his mind and spirit in a whirl, the student is gradually guided to realisation and understanding by his teacher. The Kendo student practises furiously, thousands of cuts morning and night, learning fierce techniques of horrible war, until eventually sword becomes "no sword", intention becomes "no intention", a spontaneous knowledge of every situation. The first elementary teaching becomes the highest knowledge, and the master still continues to practise this simple training, his everyday prayer.<<<<<<

A complete translation is on-line here:

http://www.samurai.com/5rings/

Regards,

H

Zen is about the moment. What better way to insure that you are "in the moment" than to have a fight for your life! Nothing dies for a Zen practicioner, so thus, killing does not exist. Thus, battle between two willing combatants is not a travesty. What is a sin, the greatest, is to rob someone of their life when they did not risk it, when they are innocent and unwilling.

samuel :)

Well said, Samuel.

From the last book of '5 Rings', 'The Book of Void' (emptiness, shunyata etc...)

"...In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness. "

Regards,

Harry.

It may also be worth pointing out that buddhism did/does not have anything much like constructed western 'morality' in many places. Buddhism, as a movement and a personal way of life, was very successful in pervading many cultures and social strata because it has/had a openess and accessability... its not generally big on 'damning the wicked' or denying enlightenment, but notable exceptions to this do and have existed.

Buddhist precepts do/ have not represent a classic western style 'Ten Commandments' to the laity in general. It would be a distortion to equate the two. Overall, and to generalise, I'd say that guilt is not at all as big a thing in Eastern Buddhist traditions, and its certainly less confused with responsibility there. 

Also, the austerity and stripped-down gnarliness that could be said to be a feature of the Zen traditions was very suited to tough, martial men who could revel in its lack of bullshit and pomp after they'd adapted it to their temperament.

Regards,

Harry.

We could formulate value judgements on the samurai's context to the end of time given that their Zen aesthetics were so very different than our 'touchy- feely-give-me-a-hug-and-tiptoe-round-my-precious-little-ego-materialist-Zen' (TM.) in its relative cultural manifestations. We are obsessed with different things altogether (in our wisdom).

Regards,

Harry.

The retired, outmoded samurai made a profound contribution to the arts, to put a creative angle on it.

Talking about donuts and holes, there's a great Japanese Shodo (calligraphy) artist selling stuff on Ebay at seriously low prices. I just got a wonderful, original enso scroll from there at a very low cost:

http://tinyurl.com/27o8jc

Regards,

Harry.

Decline and End of the Samurai History

Dancing Samurai

by Sadahide Utagawa 1807-1873

During the Tokugawa shogunate from 1603 to 1867 (the Edo period) the country lived in peace. The samurai warrior class had basically nothing to do. Now they took other tasks, in the bureaucracy for instance.

In 1867 the last shogun resigned and the emperor was reinstalled as the formal leader of Japan. In 1871 the old feudal system and the privileges of the Japanese samurai class were officially abolished. The daimyo had to return the land to the emperor for which they received pensions by the Japanese state.

Historians estimate the percentage that belonged to the samurai class at 8 percent of the overall population of Japan. The abolishment of the samurai class caused severe social problems. Many samurai did not know how to make a living and survive. There were cases of samurai wives who sold themselves to brothels to support the family.

The Satsuma Rebellion 1876-1877

Japanese Prints

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But Samurai history had not yet ended. Many samurai were desperate with their situation and the loss of their former status. They gathered under Takamori Saigo, a samurai and statesman who had worked for the local clan leader of Satsuma in the southern region on the island of Kyushu. Saigo had served the new Meiji government well in leading positions and had carried many of the Meiji reforms. But after several years he became dissatisfied with the directions the Meiji government took. Major issues of disagreement were the far-reaching measures to abolish the old samurai privileges and the refusal to invade and occupy Korea as proposed by Saigo Takamori. He quit and gathered around his Kyushu residence an army of samurai warriors hostile towards the central imperial government.

In 1877 it came to open military conflicts. The rebels were lead by Saigo Takamori. It was a clash of brave fighters equipped with inferior weapons against a modern army with Western technology and trained in modern Western warfare. 60,000 government troops faced 20,000 rebels. After several lost battles Saigo and 300 die-hard samurai had retreated to the hills of Shiroyama near their hometown of Kagoshima. Exhausted and without ammunition and food, the last samurai knew that they had no chance. In the morning hours of September 24, 1877 the artillery shelling by the government forces began. Saigo Takamori was wounded and committed suicide in samurai tradition - the last samurai beheaded each other.

Saigo Takamori became a hero for the Japanese. The victorious government made a clever move many years later. They pardoned Saigo posthumously and honored him as a national hero.

Samurai in Modern Japan

Although samurai do not have any official status in today's modern Japan, descendants of samurai families still enjoy a high esteem among the Japanese population.

Eat your samosa. My credentials are even less important than yours.

Regards,

Harry.

Quote: "Show us your sword. "
.........

Show us the sword holder?