The way of the warrior

During our recent trip to New Zealand, my son and I sat down and watched the 2003 film "The Last Samurai" starring Ken Watanabe in the title role and Tom Cruise.  Cruise plays an American Civil War hero who unexpectedly finds himself in Japan during the Meiji Restoration in 19th century Japan.  He befriends Watanabe's character, a samurai warrior who is fighting the westernization of Japan by foreign powers.  Watanabe's character teaches Cruise's character Bushido, translated as "the way of the warrior."  

Bushido is a moral code, practice, and philosophy that governs how a samurai warrior lived and died.  A few decades after the Meiji Restoration, when Japan's warrior class was abolished (as depicted in the Watanabe/Cruise film), then U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt started handing out copies of a book, Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe.   In a letter to the diplomat and politician, Count Kentarō Kaneko, dated April 13, 1904, President Roosevelt wrote, "I was most impressed by the little volume on Bushido. I have learned not a little from what I have read of the fine Samurai spirit."  Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts also enjoyed the book, writing that one of his aims for starting the Boy Scouts was  "...to revive some of the rules of the knights of old, which did so much for the moral tone of our race, just as …Bushido… has done, and is still doing, for Japan."

Nitobe's book presents the eight virtues or key principles of Bushido that all samurai warriors were expected to uphold.  They are:

1. Rectitude or Justice.  Justice is perhaps the most important virtue of Bushido.  It's interesting that the theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas used the term rectitude in his definition of justice, stating "Justice is a certain rectitude of mind whereby a man does what he ought to do in the circumstances confronting him."  The samurai define justice in the following manner: "Rectitude is one's power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right."  

2. Courage.  Importantly, Bushido emphasizes a distinction between bravery and courage.  Courage is worthy of being counted among the 8 virtues of Bushido only if it's exercised in the cause of justice and rectitude.  The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote, "Perceiving what is right and doing it not reveals a lack of courage." In other words, courage is doing what is right and just.

3. Compassion.  A samurai warrior had the power to command and to kill.  Anyone with those powers was expected to demonstrate equally extraordinary powers of compassion, mercy, and benevolence.  

4. Respect.  Respect is the expression of a benevolent regard for the feelings of others, and in its highest form, respect approaches love.

5. Integrity.  I am reminded here of the West Point Honor Code, which states that "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do."  Integrity goes beyond mere honesty and sincerity.  A famous samurai said, "A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm."  Integrity requires us to choose the right path and encourage - even require - others to do so as well.  Integrity requires 200% accountability - I am accountable not only for myself, but for others too.

6. Honor.  The true warrior has only one judge of honor and character - him or herself.  You cannot hide from yourself.  Living with honor requires us to live with a keen sense of ethical conduct, duty (to self and to others).  As the 17th century Japanese philosopher Miyamoto Musashi (author of The Book of Five Rings) said, "Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world."

7. Loyalty. A samurai warrior remained fiercely true to those that they were responsible for.  They were loyal to a cause greater than themselves.  Again, Miyamoto Musashi said, "Exist for the good of man."

8. Self-control. Self-control meant that the samurai warrior adhered to this code, the eight virtues, under all circumstances, when with others and when alone.  One of Miyamoto Musashi's most well-known concepts involved self-control (personal mastery): "See to it that you temper yourself with one thousand days of practice, and refine yourself with ten thousand days of training."

As you may have noticed, I brought some other non-samurai teachings into the description of these 8 virtues.  These virtues are universal and timeless, which is why they are so important for us even today and why you can find examples of them in other philosophies.  Someone once said, "Act with the heart of a warrior."  Inazo Nitobe himself wrote, "Bushido as an independent code of ethics may vanish, but its power will not perish from the earth; its schools of martial prowess or civic honor may be demolished, but its light and its glory will long survive their ruins."