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TWO RECENT BOOKS
Let these open your eyes when you read them!
THE FALL OF THE PHILIPPINES
WW II INVASION BY JAPAN OF THE PHILIPPINES
THE RAPE OF NANKING
by the late IRIS CHANG
JAPAN'S WAR
Good history of some things we need to know
BUSHIDO:THE SOUL OF JAPAN
INAZO NITOBE
MEETING WITH JAPAN
an informative book for westerners
KEMPEITAI-JAPAN'S DREADED MILITARY POLICE
THE SAMURAI CAPTURE A KING
about Okinawa & its history
GIVING UP THE GUN
SAMURAI INVASION OF KOREA
THE KNIGHTS OF BUSHIDO
FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO ESPOUSE BUSHIDO IDEALS & PRACTICES
About Me
THE BIOLOGY OF DOOM
Information gathered from Japan & Germany that few people knew about until now
HIROSHIMA
Hiroshima is Hirohito's legacy
THE JAPANESE MIND
HAGAKURE
THE CHRYSANTHEMUM & THE SWORD
a classic by RUTH BENEDICT
'YOU WILL BECOME ENLIGHTENED EVEN IF I HAVE TO BEAT YOU THERE!'
ReplyDeleteTHE ESSENCE OF ZEN IS COMPASSION, based in its extreme version of BUDDHISM on BRUTALITY. BUDDHISM,a world religion of compassion that practices INTENTIONAL SUFFERING, states that all existence is suffering, even blades of grass on which we tread and also the insects we crush unconsciously with our walking feet or deliberate intentions to do so. COMPASSION THROUGH BRUTALITY is a way to awaken and enlighten sleeping humanity...so that when someone in training you, say in a Zendo, and hits you with a bamboo stick or a shinai, he is showing you great compassion...... When you are forced to kneel in the standard zazen position for excruciating hours, you are learning compassion through your 'intentional suffering'...
ReplyDeleteThe military regime of Japan that,under the full endorsement of the late Emperor of Japan,HIROHITO, set up a system of BUSHIDO based on concepts of Zen that were turned into brutal methods whereby superior officers slapped, beat, kicked, mistreated inferior officers and soldiers, who passed down these things to those they subjugated, with only a few rare exceptions, such as, working with collaborators,etc. But, as with everything, there are other considerations to be discussed in this 'system of compassion' that made the BATAAN DEATH MARCH,SHANGHAI massacre(s0, etc. possible.....
ReplyDeleteBUSHIDO and all forms of Japanese Martial Arts, including the karate imported from Okinawa, are focused on how to die an honorable death and also to fulfill one's obligations to Society, Ancestors, and, of course, the Emperor(and his associates) and to avoid shame and dishonor,which require the ritual suicide for which Japan is so famous....
ReplyDeleteZEN requires the honing of the intellect to a very sharp edge with which to cut through or cleave the EGO and to slice through ORDINARY IDEAS.....If one becomes enlightened by the process undertaken, then a new sense of social awareness sometimes arises, so that one can serve a good cup of tea properly, following the rules of etiquette....or arrange flowers in a vase that fit such criteria, all without having to think very much about it. A similar thing occurs for those who,after long practice utilizing zen methods, can allow arrows to take their natural course of flight from the bow......ignoring any thought or undue concern over the target, which may always be receding anyway....even if it is the Moon!
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