Code of Bushido with a touch of Zen

ALMOST everybody has heard of the word Samurai but few really understand what it meant to be a real Samurai. The real guy who wears the katana or carries it wherever he goes subscribes to the Code of Bushido.
The Code makes it mandatory for the Samurai to place honour before self. Honour is of paramount importance. If he were to lose his honour, he would prefer to die. That means only one thing - seppuku or disembowlment.
We have all seen the ritual on TV, films and maybe stage places. These guys take their Bushido code very seriously. Imagine, what it was like about 500 years ago in Japan.
The Shogun was the overlord. He had his daimyos (feudal lords) and then came the Samurais who only served their lord and master. Being a perfect gentleman is a prerequisite, so it is with discipline.
Samurai were supposed to behave themselves anywhere they went. They were somebody to look up to. They had justice as part of their spirit.
Then there's the training that goes with the Code. Constant training, meditation and exercise are part of the package. Those better-than-normal Samurais are very much in touch with Zen. They meditate constantly. They knew or wanted to achieve the level of no mind or "mushin".
If they could attain "muga" (no ego), it was even better. In that state of nothingness, the real power of the samurai emerges. One classic example is Miyamoto Musasahi. He was Japan's greatest swordsman. Musashi was a legend in his own time, much like Bat Masterson of the Wild, Wild West.
Musashi lived, breathed and lived the Code of Bushido. He believed in the no-style fighting. He adapted with the fluid situation. Every opponent was different from the previous one, and Musashi tackled that individual different. That's why he was Japan's greatest.
Musashi studied his enemy, learnt the terrain and knew his craft inside out and backside as well. In his lifetime (61 years), he had never been defeated. Nobody could touch him. Those opponents whom he didn't want to kill, he just avoided their swords until they got tired of trying to cut him down. Rather embarrassing, after about 20 tries, don't you think?
Anyway, the Code of Bushido still exists today but only among a minority. It is a way of life that is difficult to practise under modern times because of the myriad distractions. Nevertheless those guys who still subscribe to this policy are not your normal Joes. They live in the world of their own.
The Bushido guys are very colourful characters but you won't be able to spot them unless you live in the same house as them.
It's good that we know something about the Code of Bushido. You will have to if you want to know what makes Japan tick.