Exercise
The Bushido Code
I. Rectitude or Justice
Bushido refers not only to martial rectitude, but to personal rectitude: Rectitude or Justice, is the strongest virtue of Bushido. A well-known samurai defines it this way: Rectitude is ones power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right.
II. Courage
Bushido distinguishes between bravery and courage: Courage is worthy of being counted among virtues only if its exercised in the cause of Righteousness and Rectitude.
III. Benevolence or Mercy
A man invested with the power to command and the power to kill was expected to demonstrate equally extraordinary powers of benevolence and mercy: Love, magnanimity, affection for others, sympathy and pity, are traits of Benevolence, the highest attribute of the human soul.
IV. Politeness
Discerning the difference between obsequiousness and politeness can be difficult for casual visitors to Japan, but for a true man, courtesy is rooted in benevolence:Courtesy and good manners have been noticed by every foreign tourist as distinctive Japanese traits.
V. Honesty and Sincerity
True samurai, according to author Nitobe, disdained money, believing that “men must grudge money, for riches hinder wisdom.
VI. Honor
Though Bushido deals with the profession of soldiering, it is equally concerned with non-martial behavior: The sense of Honor, a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth, characterized the samurai.
VII. Loyalty
Economic reality has dealt a blow to organizational loyalty around the world. Nonetheless, true men remain loyal to those to whom they are indebted: Loyalty to a superior was the most distinctive virtue of the feudal era.
VIII. Character and Self-Control
Bushido teaches that men should behave according to an absolute moral standard, one that transcends logic. Whats right is right, and whats wrong is wrong. The difference between good and bad and between right and wrong are givens, not arguments subject to discussion or justification, and a man should know the difference. Finally, it is a mans obligation to teach his children moral standards through the model of his own behavior: The first objective of samurai education was to build up Character.