The Way of The Warrior: Bushido
A look at the 8 guiding principles and philosophy of the samurai
If you couldn’t tell already, I’m a sucker for all things eastern. Currently living in the west myself, I’m fascinated by these different idea systems and how applicable they are to modern day life, and this certainly goes for the Bushido.
The Bushido, literally translated as “The Way of The Warrior”, was one of many moral codes of the samurai, hereditary military nobility that lasted from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876.
Bushido has varied over time, and was different to each and every clan ala their individual interpretations. Because of this, there is no explicitly written code and so this post will be my take on the principles I’ve read from a range of sources, and how they could be interpreted and applied to modern day life.
In this post, I’ll look at the eight values of the code that are described by author Inazō Nitobe in his book Bushido: The Soul of Japan. A quick note on this, the historical accuracy of the book is not something everyone agrees on, so again, take this with a pinch of salt.
Jin
Meaning benevolence or compassion, this virtue encourages mercifulness, important for a warrior actively engaging in combat. The idea is more or less in line with the concept of “with great power comes great responsibility”. For our lives, we can interpret this as being empathetic and understanding of people around us, even those that oppose us, and instead of seeking to criticise others, seeking to understand them.
Makoto
The concept of Makoto is sincerity and truth. Again linked to this idea of power and responsibility, the samurai believed that because of their higher social position, they must be more honest and true to their word. This became known as Bushi no ichi-gon, meaning the word of a samurai, a phrase guaranteeing truthfulness. For us, encourages us to understand that if you have a role of high power, you have a responsibility to remain authentic, honest and truthful more so than someone who does not have the same sphere of influence. In practice, this means that you should uphold your honesty if you hold a position of power because you can influence the lives of others. You could think about it as leading by example, or setting the standard for how you would want others to behave.
Rei
Rei describes the idea of courtesy and politeness, but in being sincere in going about this. You shouldn’t seek to please others out of fear of offending them, and instead you should be courteous out of sympathy and respect for the other person and their feelings. This comes from respecting yourself and the other person, and both are essential for this.
Chuu Gi
This virtue describes the concept of loyalty and devotion. For the samurai, this meant being loyal mainly to the state. However, in challenging the state, the samurai would attempt to persuade their master, but the master holds superiority over decision making. In our own lives, we could perhaps interpret this differently, in the sense that we should be loyal to those who we respect and are close to us, or that we should be devoted to our craft and activities.
Mei Yo
This is the idea of honour, central to samurai so much so that if they believed they had been dishonoured, they would commit ritual suicide by disembowelment, seppuku, to regain it in death. Pretty grim.
To make matters worse, if someone of a lower class dishonoured them, the samurai had a right to kill them - this was known as the Kiri-sute gomen. So in many ways, honour could be seen as quite a toxic concept.
But in a positive light, it can essentially be broken down into the concept of delaying gratification, and that you should seek to leave a good legacy after your death by acting in an honourable manner to make people remember your name for the good reasons, rather than overindulging in instant gratification and acting in a dishonourable manner.
Gi
The concept of justice. Gi is quite a vague concept, that of “doing what’s right”, and Nitobe explains that this element of the samurai code degenerated due to the influence of social norms, with some passing judgement on what is just and what is not.
For us, we should see this as simply doing what we think is right. For me personally, I feel that the way to do this is to follow my own core value system when it comes to decision making in order to act in what I believe is a just manner. And of course, because your value system might be different to mine, this will differ from person to person and isn’t a one-size-fits-all.
Nin Tai
This is the concept of self-control, patience, persistence and perseverance. It entails the idea of being stoic and calm under pressure, and finding more productive ways to channel your emotions. Instead of losing their rag in battle and giving into their emotions, samurai would instead use artistic expression as an emotional outlet, and we too can follow this, in combination with confiding in those we trust.
Yuu
Heroic courage is an incredibly important virtue. We could perhaps describe courage as the skill of disobeying your feelings, the idea of “feeling the fear and going beyond”. It can also be described as, but less so for the samurai, disobeying the instructions of others or going against social norms in order to act in a just way. In many ways, courage is the actionable step for justice.
However, the samurai levelled up their skill of disobeying their emotions from a young age. In his book, Nitobe describe how Samurai’s sons were made to perform “Sisyphus-like tasks”, including cold exposure and deprivation of food. This can be linked to the Stoic practice of voluntary discomfort, done to expand a Stoic’s comfort zone.
In the modern day, we can apply this concept of embracing discomfort, but perhaps not in the same way of depriving ourselves of food. David Goggins, ex-Navy Seal, describes this perfectly, as “Constantly facing the things you don’t want to face” in order to gain mental toughness and resilience.
Hence, this becomes more personal, and must become doing something you hate to do. For me, I hate reverse crunches. I’m writing this before I hit an abs workout later today and just thinking about it I can feel a sense of discomfort. But I continue to do them, not only because they’re important for developing the lower abs, but because I hate to do them. It pushes me to my mental limits and I think that’s the principle captured here.
So, find what it is for you, and then do that thing.
Conclusion
The Bushido is pretty vague in many areas, and samurai were not all they are portrayed as in pop culture, but I hope that this has given you a bit of insight into the underlying principles of the way of the warrior.
Let me know your take on this in the comments below!
And until next time, in the appropriate words of the aforementioned Goggins,
“Stay hard!”
- Tom
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai
https://web.archive.org/web/20191108042249/https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00665/bushido-an-ethical-and-spiritual-foundation-in-japan.html
https://www.themartialway.com.au/bushidos-eight-virtues/
https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/knowledge-of-men/the-bushido-code-the-eight-virtues-of-the-samurai/
https://youtu.be/uXHLYgSQymA
DISCLAIMER
The content provided in these posts are designed to be educational and informative. I am not a medical doctor, psychologist, therapist, nutritionist, or registered dietitian. The contents of these emails should not be seen as medical, psychological, dietary, nutritional, or healthcare advice of any kind. Always consult a qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health.