The Way of Death

The way of the Samurai is cloaked in death. The natural way of a Samurai is to consider himself as already dead. By setting his heart right every morning and every evening his resolve will be firm, if one will do it it, it can be done. With this he gains freedom in the way, his whole life will be without blame and he will succeed in his calling. When it comes to living or dying there is only the quick choice of death. A Samurai must be determined and advance even if he is unable to attain his ends,it is not necessary ,for not attaining ones ends and continuing to live is cowardice. Even if it is considered a dog’s death and fanaticism there is no shame in this. This is the substance of the way of the Samurai. For a Samurai the end is as important as the beginning. When Lord Sama’s castle suddenly caught fire and was burning to the ground,addressing his retainers he said ‘’ I feel no regrets about the house and all its furnishings, they can all be replaced later on, I only regret that I did not take out the family genealogy , which is my families most precious treasure. There was one Samurai in attendance who said ‘’ I will go in and take it out ‘’. Lord Soma and the others all laughed and said , how are you going to take it out, the house is already engulfed in flames ? He replied “ I have never been of much use to the master. But I have always been resolved to someday be of use to him, this seems to be the time. “. And he leapt into the flameS. After the fire had been extinguished the master asked them to look for his remains. Looking everywhere , they found his burnt corpse in the garden adjacent to the living quarters, when they turned him over blood flowed out of his stomach , he had cut open his stomach and placed the genealogy inside and it was not damaged at all. From that time on it was known as the “ Blood Genealogy”. Breaking right through to completion without regard for ones own life is within the way of the Samurai.. The way of the Samurai is simply in forcing ones way into a place and being cut down, because by considering how many there are, and how best to complete the job, time will run out , and in the end you will give up. E ven if the enemy numbers are in the thousands fulfillment lies in simply standing them off , and being determined to cut them all down. Starting from one end you will finish the greater part of it. For when the moment arrives there will be no time for reasoning, and without prior resolution there will most likely be shame. In matters of action discernment soon spoils. In looking at the matter completely and knowing that what will happen next is unknown , and that victory and defeat are matters within the temporary force of circumstances, a real Samurai does not think of victory or defeat, he plunges recklessly towards an inevitable even irracional death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dream.

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