It is easy to think that the title of Samurai (侍) would mean something like “death” or “killing,” but it actually means “One who serves.” Interestingly, the ideograph for samurai is made up of the characters for human (人) and temple (寺). Thus on a certain level, being a samurai is about the sacredness of one’s self. If they regard themselves as being “sacred” then their main preoccupation can’t be killing and thus as Furuya Sensei said, “true budo does not kill” or “shinmu fusatsu” (真武不殺). This makes sense since budo training is supposed to teach us how to be better human beings as opposed to making us into killing machines. The human spirit is not about killing but rather compassion. Humans are predispositioned to care and serve others and we have to look no farther than their babies who are altricial or unable to care for themselves at birth and would perish if not for the love and compassion of others. When we reflect on the events of 9/11 we see the madness of a few weak individuals, but we also see the indomitable spirit of all of those who rushed in to help disregarding their own safety and health just to be of service to others. In training, we are taught how to harm others, but paradoxically what we are really learning is the sacredness of human life and thus the necessity for the compassion of restraint. Sensei said, “Harming others is a bad habit.” It is a bad habit because if we follow the way of the samurai then we have to surrender our sacredness or humanity in order to do harm to another and that’s why “true budo does not kill.” Marvin Gaye sang that, “War is not the answer for only love will conquer hate.” He was right because compassion takes more strength than hate and killing and that’s why a true warrior serves others.
Today’s goal: Please take a moment to remember the 2,977 who lost their lives 19 years ago. Don’t let hate win. Find ways to spread kindness and compassion and be of service to others.