２０。What is freedom in Bushido?

What is freedom in Bushido?　

One of the questions I get asked by many people these days is about how they feel confused by or have trouble dealing with people's claims of diversity.

It is wonderful for people to be free and happy, and prosperous while maintaining their "differences" and diversity.

However, when individuals become too assertive in this regard, mutual acceptance becomes unacceptable, and coexistence becomes impossible.

We are now witnessing that this will take the form of even stronger individual assertion of rights, forcing people to change. which is not the way forward for a strong and healthy society.

One of reason why differences and diversity, inevitable in the world but especially Japan which have existed in the culture since ancient times, are now becoming a social problem, and preventing people from being in harmony, may be because all claims of freedom are based on western style free thought concept.

The Western type of thought is basically based on the idea of dualism. This is the thought that emphasizes the visible world (objective or concrete physics), separating matter or event on the concept of two choices, even separating the self from the others.

In Japan, this Western-style dualistic liberal ideology has taken root in the form of “postwar democracy”, so Japan is un-knowingly based on the liberal ideology that came from the West.

By dividing oneself and others into two choices based on dualism, it is you versus the other party, which makes it difficult to consider the other party because, people naturally become more concerned with oneself and less concerned with the other person. It is no secret that the number of such people is increasing these days. Even in Western societies, the lack of respect among people today is said to be a problem, for respect based on harmony is difficult to achieve based on the dualistic philosophy.

In the end, there is no harmony even if one cries out for diversity and individualism, and a comprehensive society is created in which disparate ideas are forcibly integrated and regulated by rules and laws. The result will be a controlled society that is regulated by the ruling body, ultimately people will lose their true freedom if only the Western-style freedom philosophy is practiced.

Freedom in Bushido, the fundamental spirit of Japan, is based on monism, which includes invisible (metaphysical) world of Yin and Yang and emphasizes the unity of the inner space (private), which belongs to yin, and the public space, which belongs to yang. This yin yang aspect is harmonized to considering the harmony of others and the whole, not oneself.

This expression of freedom comes with respect, reverence, and courtesy based on the "kata" of manners.

In Bushido, one of the roots of Japanese thought, respect, courtesy, and modesty are embodied in the kata called Saho, and the kata (form) of body art as a martial art is used broken down in actual combat to be practical. In the same way, in actual society, one should always be in harmony with others while respecting the basic manners and keeping oneself in harmony by breaking them down somewhat depending on the occasion.

This is also in line with Japanese philosophies such as "courtesy even amid familiarity" and "wabi and sabi. Those who do not know the pattern of manners and courtesies are too disruptive and cause inconvenience to others because they do not have the original standing and form, but when they know these basics, respect for others automatically manifests itself.

In other words, for the Japanese, freedom is essentially embodied in kata (form and shape) that represent monism that makes harmony possible. Japan has long been based on such a fundamental idea, which has enabled a society in which all kinds of colorful diversity have been well integrated. Therefore, especially the Japanese influencers who talk about freedom and rights, should review their own culture and spirituality, and will find that harmonious freedom is the result.

If we are to pursue freedom in the future, it is important for the Japanese people to review their own unique freedom based on Bushido and create a happy society where everyone is united and functions spontaneously. The Bushido-style freedom philosophy, invoking the oneness would have a positive effect to today's chaotic world.