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Samurai culture in modern japan
History of meditation essay
Samurai culture in modern japan
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The practice of martial arts is an art form that has been around for thousands of years. It spans dynasties and civilizations, ranging from traditional Japanese Jiu Jitsu to the dance-like Brazilian Capoeira to modern medleys of dozens of styles and techniques. Yet in every martial art, there is, in some incarnation or another, a sort of meditation. It may not be conscious, or even directly taught. It may appear as a simple breathing exercise, an endless repetition of a single kick, a finely-tuned kata, or a practiced, seated emptying of the mind. Regardless of the martial arts style, if one looks closely enough, meditation can be found. Not only does every martial art include meditation, but every art needs meditation. It has countless …show more content…
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as “to focus one's thoughts on : reflect on or ponder over.” Personally, I prefer the definition given by Takuan Soho in his book of three essays on the philosophies of Samurai sword-handling, The Unfettered Mind, written in the 1600’s. Soho describes mediation as “The place at which the mind stops.” He elaborates on this definition throughout the first essay in the book, titled Fudochishinmyoroku, or, in English, “The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom.” The translator’s decision to put this essay first is telling. It represents how fundamental mediation is to any kind of combat, and how highly the Samurai regarded mindfulness and …show more content…
He writes that when looking at a tree, if a person is focused entirely on one leaf, they cannot see the whole tree. However, when the mind is not set on any leaf in particular, any number of leaves can become visible. Similarly, if a samurai wishes to strike an opponent, he cannot focus solely on his stance, his grip on the sword, the direction in which he will swing, or his opponent. If he allows his mind to stop at any one of these places, he will forget the existence of the others. Instead, he must allow his mind to become immovable by any one factor and float between all of them. In that way, he can focus on the tree as a whole instead of just one
In the ancient Japanese culture, one great aspect was on how they emphasized on the intrinsic themes of loyalty and honor. They had fierce warriors known as samurai’s. A samurai was a traditional warrior who would protect and be loyal to their masters no matter what. They were known to be skilled soldiers, benevolent men, self-sacrifice, sense of shame, along with other major characteristics that embodied them as a samurai. While this class of warrior no longer exist today, the remembrance of a samurai is present in the minds of the characters in the novel, The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama. Tsukiyama does a fascinating piece of work by really elaborating and describing the great attributes that Matsu possess of a true samurai. In the
However, meditation is not as common within Buddhism as most believe. There is a large assumption “that Buddhism and meditation go hand in hand”, but the majority of Buddhists have focused on “cultivating moral behavior, preserving the Buddha’s teachings (dharma), and acquiring good karma”(Braun 2014, p.1). Meditation and Buddhism are often assumed to be one and same, but this is also not true. As Buddhism has gained popularity among lay people it’s practices have changed Buddha’s teaching of the middle path has adapted to meditation being “possible in the city” rather than with monks in jungles and caves (p.4). As seen in Burma, in less than 75 years Buddhism and meditation were able to grow “from a pursuit of the barest sliver of the population to a duty of the ideal citizen” (p.5). While meditation is not the core of Buddhism it has encouraged the growth of Buddhism as it’s practice of mindfulness has been inspiring an approachable model (p.6). Meditation and mindfulness are easily manipulated to secularization, but still have significance in Buddhism and following the patterns of your
Throughout History, there have been many different groups or events that are still widely known today. Groups of people such as the Indians or Vikings are popular groups which are referenced constantly in today’s society. However, none of these groups is more known or referenced than the Japanese Samurai. Originating in 646 AD, these Japanese warriors developed from a loose organization of farmers to the dominant social class in Feudal Japan. Along with their dominant military and political standing, the samurai brought with them a unique code or moral belief that became the core of Samurai culture. Because of this, the Samurai and their principles still affect modern day Japanese society with social customs today deriving directly and indirectly from the beliefs of the Samurai.
In Hagakure, a great emphasis is placed on the samurai ideology surrounding death. The samurai should live his life as though his body has already passed, and through this “he gains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling”. This detachment is of fundamental importance to the samurai, and this relationship with death is influenced heavily by Buddhism. Zen Buddhism influenced the samurai by lending him his unique respect for life and death. A samurai knows that dying is just another part of life, and worrying about it is pointless. This lack of fear is bred into the samurai from birth, and stays with them for their entire lives. Whatever the daimyo tells a samurai to do, he will do regardless of personal risk. By detaching himself from the thought of risk or of danger or death, and of the worry of morality, the samurai is able to remain more loyal to the daimyo. Complete loyalty is only possible through detachment from personal risk, morality, and thought.
One of the most fundamental philosophies of the samurai is that of detachment from the self. This detachment allows for a freedom from fear, which is essential to the samurai warriors. In the opening of Hagakure, Tsunetomo states that “the Way of the Samurai is found in death”. These rank among the greatest and most well known phrases in Japanese history, and in fact in the history of the world. Death is not to be feared by the samurai, it is to be embraced. The relationship between the samurai and his master is of the utmost importance, and only through detachment can the samurai fully and properly serve his master. These are two core, fundamental philosophies of bushido, and both can are reminiscent of similar ideologies in Buddhism, and Confucianism.
Gaskin, Carol. and Hawkins, Vince. The Ways of the Samurai. New York: Byron Preiss Visual
Meditation is an age-old practice that has renewed itself in many different cultures and times. Despite its age, however, there remains a mystery and some ambiguity as to what it is, or even how one performs it. The practice and tradition of meditation dates back thousands of years having appeared in many eastern traditions. Meditation’s ancient roots cloud its origins from being attributed to a sole inventor or religion, though Bon, Hindu, Shinto, Dao, and later, Buddhism are responsible for its development. Its practice has permeated almost all major world religions, but under different names. It has become a practice without borders, influencing millions with its tranquil and healing effects.
As human beings we are very active creatures. It is very rare we sit absolutely still with no movement at all, in fact to do so would be considered strange in most social contexts. These movements are not however sporadic, they are in fact highly controlled, practiced skills. Even when remaining relatively still, for example, to rest or sleep, we have still been taught the required skills to do so, whether it’s how to sit on a chair or lay on a bed, these are very ordinary, everyday techniques that we take for granted and perceive as something natural, but often they are technique’s we have been taught to do.
When one thinks of meditation, what comes to mind? Does one think of group of 1970’s hippies sitting in a circle singing about peace? How about relaxing music being played? How about trying to form one’s body into a pretzel-like shape? What if meditation has nothing to do with the background music being played or what position one’s body is in? Meditation is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the act or process of spending time in quiet thought” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meditation). Meditation is just simply sitting in a quiet room and thinking about one’s life. The act of meditating is much simpler than many people think. Through deep concentration and relaxation, meditation becomes an altered state of consciousness.
Over twenty-five hundred years ago, Buddha Guatama practiced meditation and came to what is known as “The Four Noble Truth,” an important principle in Buddhism (Elder, 2010). This principle informs the reader of what suffering is and how affect is. This is a great example of how valuable meditation is- on the very first session ever recorded, the awareness that came from it would later be the foundation of a new religion. This proves how powerful meditation can be. Furthermore, some form of meditation can be found in various religions. Although the styles, techniques, and ideology behind the meditation can vary per religion, personal transformation is the key goal (Modi, Singh, 2012). Today, in Western society, mindful meditation (a form of meditation) has grown in popularity, used for relaxation and to help treat those who suffer from mental illness’ and mood disorders. Viewed as alternative medicine for the mind and soul, it is beneficial for our emotional and mental
Story, Francis. "Buddhist Meditation." Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Buddhism. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). (2010). Health info. Meditation: An introduction. Retrieved from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm
Meditation is adopted by many, not only as a cultivation of mind, but also significant in the physical dimension. Vidyamala, co-founder of Breathwork who had injured her spinal cord and dealt with chronic pain, made a detailed description of how meditation soothed her pain like never before, ‘ suddenly, my experience completely changed when I heard a quiet inner voice saying: “You don’t have to get through till morning; you only have to get through the present moment”. It was like a house of cards collapsing, revealing the space that had been present all along, if only I
Mediation is a way to solve a dispute without having to resort to court procedure which sometimes could turned out to be rigid, formal and time consuming especially when it needed a lot of paperwork and the possibility of adjournment which could consume years. Besides that, unlike in court, mediator as a third impartial party did not acted as a judge who decides on the resolution however, the mediator will help the parties to explore the needs and issue which before preventing them from achieving a mutual resolution and settlement. The mediation process gave the authority towards the parties to agree with each other and open up the chance for the parties to meet with a resolution at the end of the mediation session.
This week’s analysis is associated with the yoga class provided online to help with stress reduction. The first term that I came across was psychophysiology and how this principle is based on the mind and body being one and how our thinking affects all physiology. This principle was the perfect definition of yoga because yoga focuses on how the mind and body connects with each other. It gives you a sense of relaxation throughout your mind and body together. Furthermore, the yoga that was in the video was a yoga style called hatha. Which practices asana (yoga postures) and pranayama (breathing exercises). According to the book, this practices helps bring peace to the mind and body and prepare our body to do deeper exercises. The art of breathing was mentioned during the exercise and in the book. Breathing is very important when trying to unite the mind, body, and spirit. So, having slow, deep breathes was a main focused during the exercise. Another term that was used in the video was the art of stretching, which allows us to become aware of our flexibility of our muscle while moving. Lastly, the art of balance is significant because it allows us to move into the next form of position on both sides of our body. Some of the workouts pose that was mention in the textbook that I did was two knees to the chest, cobra, and head of cow. Overall, hatha