“The sword shows no mercy.” - Old samurai saying
The sword is merciless, but the warrior is merciful. The highest teaching in the martial arts is shinmu fusatsu (真武不殺) or that “True budo does not kill.” This maxim goes along with the idea of bushinonasake (武士の情け) or “Samurai compassion.” Most don’t think of the samurai as being all that compassionate or merciful since their job is to kill. The word samurai (侍) means “One that serves.” Technically a samurai’s job is not to kill per se but to give their life, if necessary, in the service of their lord and that could mean having to kill or getting killed. Thus, the samurai’s job wasn’t all that glorious because it deals with death. A samurai kills instead of maiming their opponent because it was the most merciful thing to do given the unsavory situation that they both find themselves in. It was merciful because to be maimed could be worse than being killed for a samurai. Being maimed could cause a samurai to lose their usefulness and be cast out of their clan which could cause their family to become destitute. However, if a samurai lost his life in a battle, his lord could see it appropriate to keep their family in the clan as a reward for his ultimate sacrifice. A samurai understands that both combatants are in the same quandary because what it takes for one to be a samurai on one side of the battlefield is the same as what it takes their opponent to be a samurai on the other side of the battlefield. In honor of the sacrifice of what it takes to be a samurai, they train to mercifully cut their opponent down with one cut instead of hacking away at their dying opponent which is cruel and causes them to needlessly suffer. The samurai are a sad lot who find themselves employed to do what society deems to be its most abhorrent act. The samurai does what needs to be done but it can still be done with dignity, so they develop themselves to perfect one cut, one kill. The sword that "preserves life" not "destroys life” is the highest teaching in the martial arts and the difference between the two is a mindset driven by compassion and mercy. This could be one interpretation of katsujinken satsujinto (活人剣殺人刀) or “The sword which gives life or the sword which takes life.” The sword alone is an inanimate object and is designed to kill but in the hands of the one who wields it, it can become a sword which gives life. The life in this sense that we are saving is our own because we learn to be compassionate and merciful in a world filled with chaos. That is why the sword is merciless, but the warrior is merciful.
Today’s goal: Regardless of the situation, can you still be merciful?
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