More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
January 16 - January 17, 2024
The rise and empowerment of the samurai class in Japan may be seen in the two terms used to refer to its members, samurai and bushi. The word samurai comes from the Japanese verb saburau, which means “to serve as an attendant.” The word bushi is Sino-Japanese and means “armed gentry.” The word samurai was used by other social classes, while the warriors referred to themselves by the more dignified term bushi.
To understand Japanese history and culture, it is essential to realize that no government ever united the whole country until the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The imperial government had always ruled the whole land in theory, but never in fact.
Generally speaking, there are four walks of life: the ways of the knight, the farmer, the artisan, and the merchant.
In the practice of every way of life and every kind of work, there is a state of mind called that of the deviant. Even if you strive diligently on your chosen path day after day, if your heart is not in accord with it, then even if you think you are on a good path, from the point of view of the straight and true, this is not a genuine path. If you do not pursue a genuine path to its consummation, then a little bit of crookedness in the mind will later turn into a major warp. Reflect on this.
The long sword is to be wielded in spacious places, the short sword in confined spaces; this is the basic idea of the way to begin with.
You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you. To entertain likes and dislikes is bad for both commanders and soldiers. Pragmatic thinking is essential.
The way to win in a battle according to military science is to know the rhythms of the specific opponents, and use rhythms that your opponents do not expect, producing formless rhythms from rhythms of wisdom.
The science of martial arts is not just a matter of reading these writings. Taking what is written here personally, do not think you are reading or learning, and do not make up an imitation; taking the principles as if they were discovered from your own mind, identify with them constantly and work on them carefully.
The thing is to win by sensing the opponents’ rhythms and knowing where they break down.
When officials pursue personal interest and thus oppress the common people, this above all is the beginning of the end for a nation.
It is bias to think that the art of war is just for killing people. It is not to kill people, it is to kill evil. It is a strategy to give life to many people by killing the evil of one person2.
In the context of martial arts, lowering the center of gravity can be called will. Facing off to kill or be killed can be called the mood. Lower your center of gravity securely, and do not let your mood become hurried and aggressive. It is essential to control your mood by means of your will, calming down so that your will is not drawn by your mood.
The point of this is to cause your mind to work intently, putting the mind in an aggressive mode while keeping your sword passive, getting your adversary to make the first move.
Using these images as illustrations, the point is to be calm and quiet above, while sustaining an aggressive mood underneath.
When you do everything in the normal state of mind, as it is when totally unoccupied, then everything goes smoothly and easily.
THERE MAY BE A HUNDRED STANCES and sword positions, but you win with just one.” The ultimate point of this is perceiving abilities and intentions.
Getting rid of sickness is for the purpose of seeing abilities and intentions. As long as you are not rid of sickness, you will be distracted by it and fail to see. When you fail to see, you lose. Sickness means sickness of mind. Sickness of mind is when the mind tarries here and there. One should make sure not to let the mind linger on the point where one has struck a blow of the sword. This is a matter of relinquishing the mind without abandoning it.
“The Mind Is Like the Moon in Water, the Body Is Like an Image in a Mirror.”
There is a passage of Buddhist scripture that says the mind is as instantaneous as the moon reflected in water or an image cast in a mirror. The point of this is not that the moon reflected in water appears to be there but is not.
The general meaning of sickness is the lingering or tarrying of the mind. In Buddhism this is called clinging, and it is severely rejected. If the mind clings to one spot and lingers there, you will miss what you should see, and suffer unexpected defeat.
When the mind has found its proper place and position in the body and is settled where it ought to be, one is free in all paths. It is important to find this mind and understand it. People all think they have perceived and opened up their own minds and are able to employ their own minds usefully, but very few people have actually found this mind for sure. The signs that they have not attained realization will be evident in their persons, visible to all who have the perception to see.
Swordlessness is the foremost secret of this school. Physical posture, positioning of the sword, taking a stand, distance, movement, contrivance, sticking, attacking, appearance and intention—all come from the attitude of swordlessness, so this is the essential eye.
