Virtue in the Shade of the Leaves
“Fit oneself inwardly with intelligence, humanity and courage. The combining of these three virtues may seem unobtainable to the ordinary person, but it is easy. Intelligence is nothing more than discussing things with others. Limitless wisdom comes from this. Humanity is something done for the sake of others, simply comparing oneself with them and putting them in the fore. Courage is gritting one’s teeth; it is simply doing that and pushing ahead, paying no attention to the circumstances. Anything that seems above these three is not necessary to be known”
—Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure
This is the third in a series of meditations on lessons from the Hagakure—in the Shade of the Leaves. My suspicion is that the wisdom imparted to us by the adherents of Bushido is applicable far beyond its original, intended context; and my hope is that we people of today might apply these lessons in overcoming our own adversities, anxieties, depression, and resentments.
And so, arriving here, you have prostrated yourself before the heavens and the earth. You have stripped the scales from your eyes and lifted your head high so as to see the star burning bright on the dawning horizon. Likewise, you have seen the darkness, have entered into the shadowy stretch between you and that ever elusive existence. You are on the narrow Path that cuts through the deep forests, delves into black caverns, scales insurmountable mountains, and plunges again beneath abyssal oceans. It is the Way beset by all manner of monstrosities, all modes of forked tongues like forks in the road tempting you from your arduous course. And there is your own heart to contend with, whose tortured pangs push you forward while pleading for rest at every step, every breath quarrelsome and laborious—It is too much! How can you continue to move forward in such a state of disarray? In such constant pain, knowing full well now so many of your vulnerabilities and inadequacies?
Virtue: you must make your character more than you currently are. The dragon will not surrender its treasure hordes; and furthermore, it seeks to steal all that you have accrued to yourself. Therefore, you must forge from yourself the arms, armor, and tools of virtue. These are the three attributes described by Yamamoto as, “intelligence, humanity, and courage.” Intelligence: eyes open to the horrors intrinsic to reality and ears willing to hear myriad discomforting facts and opinions. Humanity: devotion to a higher form of being, the valuing of transcendental potential over transient materialism. Courage: to accept responsibility for the tragedy of life, of suffering, and of one’s inevitable death.
Wisdom hides where you’d least like to find it, in the squalor. This is an alchemical dictum, and it has its echoes in the philosophy of Bushido. This is why Yamamoto suggests that intelligence is gained merely through conversation with others, because others come to conclusions different than our own. Naturally, we think these people are wrong, and so we do not listen to them. We assume they have nothing of significant value to offer us, just incoherent babble, and so we become eager to speak over them. But this only turns others against us by punishing them for sharing what little wealth they possess—as the Hagakure states,
Being superior to others is nothing other than having people talk about your affairs and listening to their opinions. The general run of people settle for their own opinions and thus never excel. Having a discussion with a person is one step in excelling him. A certain person discussed with me the written materials at the clan office. He is better than someone like me in writing and researching. In seeking correction from others, you excel them. (Yamamoto)
Speak as is necessary and no more than that. Think little of what you want to say and listen instead. Take in the uncomfortable ideas that you are being told and allow them to wage war with ideas of your own. Do this, and do not fear the outcome. It is true that the person to whom you are speaking may condescend to you, or waste your time, or worse; he may sway you to his opinion and make your prior position look foolish. So be it. If such is the Path to virtue, you should be willing to walk it even if to your feet it feels like treading hot coals. Noticing the pain, march stalwartly forward, for it will only burn you worse to dig in with your heels:
It is said that one should not hesitate to correct himself when he has made a mistake. If he corrects himself without the least bit of delay, his mistakes will quickly disappear. But when he tries to cover up a mistake, it will become all the more unbecoming and painful. (Yamamoto)
Only once you are willing and able to listen to that which you do not desire to hear will you be capable of identifying those inadequate, malignant, and malevolent components of your character. With the help of others who are less blind than you, or who are less deaf, or less numb, or less lame, you can rout from your person those degenerative traits. You can cease retreating into drugs and drink, sugar and carbohydrates, day dreams, television, video games, and pornography. You can stop sliding backwards. With eyes and ears open, you can take aim and move forward. Unburdened by your limitations, you can ascend toward a higher purpose.
Purpose is meaning, and meaning is motivation. Motivation is that which moves you. Likely, you are mistaken as to what constitutes motivating force. Perhaps you imagine a sudden rush of emotion, a spontaneous gust of inspiration so strong that it carries you involuntarily like a leaf on the wind to some new location. But waiting for inspiration to court you is like expecting the muses to be wooed without effort or accomplishment. Since when has any worthy woman taken interest in a man who sits back on his haunches? Why then would you expect inspiration to do the same?
To harness internal motivation—inner meaning; inner purpose—means just that, to put oneself into bondage and service. You must toil as a voluntary slave to those above you, or even to those below, if you are to develop the strength of will, discipline, and skills necessary for an apprentice to become a master—or for a child to mature into an adult. If this is a harrowing thought, if you are consumed by lethargy and hate your current job, consider,
For a retainer there should be nothing other than doing his own job. For the most part people dislike their own jobs, find those of others more interesting, cause misunderstanding, and bring on utter disasters....If a retainer will just think about what he is to do for the day at hand, he will be able to do anything. If it is a single day’s work, one should be able to put up with it. Tomorrow, too, is but a single day....One must edge forward like the inchworm, bit by bit. The gods and Buddhas, too, first started with a vow. (Yamamoto)
Your lack of motivation is inhuman—is a lack of humanity. This is because human beings, to the degree that they are conscious, require purpose in order to determine what action is virtuous and what is sinful. Without intention, there is no significance between one decision and another. Without significance, there is no disparity; and without disparity it does not mean anything to choose between one thing or another. That is meaninglessness, the destruction of your motivation caused by a deficit of devotion to that which would strengthen your humanity that it might withstand the harsh nature of reality and of its own finitude. Do not allow envy or resentment trick you into believing otherwise. For, “all of man’s work is a bloody business. That fact, today, is considered foolish, affairs are finished cleverly with words alone, and jobs that require effort are avoided. I would like young men to have some understanding of this” (Yamamoto).
The Hagakure describes the consequence of such arrogant resentment and dearth of devotion thusly,
Once there was a certain man who was very clever, but it was his character to always see the negative points of his jobs. In such a way, one will be useless. If one does not get it into his head from the very beginning that the world is full of unseemly situations, for the most part his demeanor will be poor and he will not be believed by others. And if one is not believed by others, no matter how good a person he may be, he will not have the essence of a good person. This can also be considered as a blemish. (Yamamoto)
What is the “essence of a good person?” And what is our hypothetical man lacking that, despite his supposed character and achievement, blemishes him? In answering, we arrive at the final virtue: courage—that matter of spirit which, paradoxically, underpins the prior two yet can only be developed from them. You must be courageous to suffer and learn from the opinions of your enemies. You must cultivate bravery in the face of betrayal and in the sacrifice of immediate gratification for something higher than your current self. And yet courage is not a thing possessed. It is the very act of putting yourself at risk, knowing full well the potential consequences. Then how does one solve this riddle? How do you obtain that which can only be captured by itself? Tsunetomo solves this puzzle for us in a quote from Lord Naoshige.
Lord Naoshige said, “The Way of the Samurai is in desperateness. Ten men or more cannot kill such a man. Common sense will not accomplish great things. Simply become insane and desperate.’ “In the Way of the Samurai, if one uses discrimination, he will fall behind. One needs neither loyalty nor devotion, but simply to become desperate in the Way. Loyalty and devotion are of themselves within desperation.” (Yamamoto)
This is the riddle-capture of the Alkahest, that substance which renders all compounds down into their base elements. Courage is that which manifests as an emergent property from the forging of the proper vessel out of the dissolved components of the former self. It is a thing born from inaction within through disciplined action without. You stop thinking and practice acting in accord with your singular intention. Doing so, you learn to forget yourself, and thus you forget the consequences of you action. You forget everything but that higher aim in your desperate rush toward an inevitable end—whatever that end may be. This is why,
Young men should discipline themselves rigorously in intention and courage. This will be accomplished if only courage is fixed in one’s heart. If one’s sword is broken, he will strike with his hands. If his hands are cut off, he will press the enemy down with his shoulders. If his shoulders are cut away, he will bite through ten or fifteen enemy necks with his teeth. Courage is such a thing....Although this may be a most difficult thing, if one will do it, it can be done. There is nothing that one should suppose cannot be done....Even if one’s head were to be suddenly cut off, he should be able to do one more action with certainty. (Yamamoto)
The essence of Bushido, the Way of the Warrior—the Path of the Hero; the Magnum Opus by which one transmutes his soul into the Philosopher’s Stone, the substance that turns poisonous lead into precious gold—is to be found in the cultivation of these three virtues: intelligence, humanity, and actions of courage. Nothing else is required to bear the suffering of the world nor to slay the infernal serpent. It is only your decision which separates you from your heroes, from your myths and legends. Do not blame chance, fate, or your circumstances
Everyone says that no masters of the arts will appear as the world comes to an end. This is something that I cannot claim to understand. Plants such as peonies, azaleas and camellias will be able to produce beautiful flowers, end of the world or not. If men would give some thought to this fact, they would understand. And if people took notice of the masters of even these times, they would be able to say that there are masters in the various arts. But people become imbued with the idea that the world has come to an end and no longer put forth any effort. This is a shame. There is no fault in the times. (Yamamoto)
Fault can only lie within the self just as only from within the self can you find virtue.
Yamamoto, Tsunetomo. Hagakure.
