Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
    Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
    Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
    Ebook131 pages2 hours

    Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

    By Yamamoto Tsunetomo

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A Collection of Thoughts, Sayings and Meditations on the Way of the Samurai

    "It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation." — Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

    A formerly secret text known only to the Samurai, Hagakure is a classic text on Bushido--the Way of the Warrior. More than just a handbook for battle, Hagakure is a text that filled with teachings that still apply in business, political and social situations today.
    This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This eBook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXist Publishing
    Release dateJun 8, 2015
    ISBN9781681950440
    Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

    Related to Hagakure

    Related ebooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Zen And The Art Of Combat

      Sep 19, 2018

      Zen And The Art Of Combat
      3 min read

    • Article

      Secrets Of The Samurai

      Jun 18, 2020

      Secrets Of The Samurai
      10 min read

    • Article

      Modern Musashi

      Sep 14, 2020

      Modern Musashi
      12 min read

    • Article

      Miyamoto Musashi

      Jan 12, 2021

      Miyamoto Musashi
      6 min read

    • Article

      Why Empathy Can Be So Hard

      May 1, 2023

      I RECENTLY SPOKE at a conference for CEOs in North Carolina, and after I gave my presentation, an enthusiastic gentleman came over to speak with me. He told me how great my presentation was and how he worked with “coloured people” back home and how i

      7 min read

    • Article

      Always Different, Always the Same

      Feb 22, 2022

      The superb science journalist Sharon Begley, who wrote a regular column for Mindful until her untimely death in early 2021, was fond of studies of personality: the different types, how much they’re influenced by our environment and our relationships,

      9 min read

    • Article

      Awkwardness, Why?

      Apr 27, 2017

      Awkwardness, Why?
      6 min read

    • Article

      Hooked On A FEELING

      Feb 16, 2021

      Hooked On A FEELING
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Force For Change

      Mar 10, 2021

      A Force For Change
      8 min read

    • Article

      How To… SORT YOUR SHIT OUT

      Jul 15, 2020

      How To… SORT YOUR SHIT OUT
      6 min read

    • Article

      How To… SORT YOUR SHIT OUT

      Jul 15, 2020

      How To… SORT YOUR SHIT OUT
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Unique Estate Planning Idea: How to Write Your Memoir

      Jul 6, 2018

      Do you sometimes feel like your life isn't valuable? Everyone does at one point or another. I've interviewed all kinds of impressive people about their legacies, and you know the most-common response I get? "My life isn't that interesting." Some of t

      6 min read

    • Article

      ARE YOU Too Nice?

      Mar 20, 2022

      ARE YOU Too Nice?
      1 min read

    • Article

      Six Facts About Kong-ans

      Aug 7, 2018

      Six Facts About Kong-ans
      7 min read

    • Article

      From One Widow to Another: Words of Wisdom for Hope and Happiness

      May 24, 2021

      Widows (and widowers) often need help, even years after the death of their spouse.  I often share about this from my point of view, as I lost my husband in 2016.  However, for this article I wanted to share others’ helpful advice, gathered from my ta

      6 min read

    • Article

      How To Start A Kindness Revolution

      Apr 21, 2021

      How To Start A Kindness Revolution
      4 min read

    • Article

      What Death Can Teach Us

      Oct 30, 2017

      Life and death are a package deal. You cannot pull them apart. In Japanese Zen, the term shoji translates as “birth-death”. There is no separation between life and death other than a small hyphen, a thin line that connects the two. We cannot be truly

      5 min read

    • Article

      Do You Struggle To Listen?

      Nov 9, 2023

      Do You Struggle To Listen?
      2 min read

    • Article

      Humane Nature

      Jul 20, 2021

      Humane Nature
      16 min read

    • Article

      Fire Up Your FRIENDSHIPS

      Aug 14, 2022

      Fire Up Your FRIENDSHIPS
      3 min read

    • Article

      Rebelling Against racism

      Nov 10, 2019

      She was educated, intelligent and sweet, a wife, mother and manager. A few drinks in at our work Christmas party, she started complaining about how long her house renovation was taking. As casually as if she was talking about the weather, she dropped

      2 min read

    • Article

      Toxic Positivity

      Sep 29, 2021

      Toxic Positivity
      2 min read

    • Article

      Tell Me All About It…

      May 19, 2020

      Tell Me All About It…
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Hagakure

    3.5/5

    311 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      The "Hagakure" is the rulebook for being a samura in that most interesting periods in world history, that of feudal Japan. The writing is remarkably fresh for so old a piece, and one is greatful for the work done by the translator in making it so.The most memorable aspect of the book is the fact that so many rules ended with 'the disgraced samurai is then supposed to commit seppuku - ritual suicide.' Even if he forgets to put the seat down!
    • 3/5
      Its alright but its probably not like what you think it I'll be like. Its more a guide to how to survive in the buisness world, similar to how to make friends... and books of that ilk. Yes you do have bits like "imagine yourself being ripped apart by arrows..." but at the same time you have it telling you to lie constantly for some relations, that if you are going to a party you should leave early before they get bored of your company, that too win an argument you should not confront people, but listen to their point say "I see that's what I was thinking, but..." and then attach your opposite view on the end.I dunno, it seems a bit half baked at times but ots interesting none the less.
    • 2/5
      Another one I read years ago. Note the biohazard kamon on the cover.
    • 3/5
      Never read cover to cover... browsed here and there... classic 17th century Asian philosophy
    • 2/5
      If you learn one thing from this book, it is that advice is cheap.
    • 3/5
      A severe world view; disciplined with much wisdom but with much hubris.
    • 3/5
      Some fascinating historical perspectives mixed with wisdom and what I can only describe as an alien mindset. I recommend this book not to those seeking a greater understanding of Zen, but rather to those who want to understand the spiritual underpinnings of samurai culture.
    • 5/5
      This book was scribed by a younger samurai who sat basically at the deathbed of the samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo. For seven years, the scribe sat and had conversations with Tsunetomo. Tsunetomo had become a monk after the death of his 'Master' in 1700. By 1716 the conversations ended, the result was a large manuscript. Hagakure is a compilation or thread of the most meaningful and 'best' of the manuscript.The book is a mix of advice, stories, Buddhist teachings and koans, and direction on how to be the best samurai possible. As is more realistic and pure samurai teachings, this focuses less on swordplay than do most of the contemporary 20th and 21st century movies. The book is very much about loyalty--so much so that it is bound to conflict with modern and especially American views of independence, bootstrapping, etc.Because it is written in small chunks without a specific plot or flow, I found the book to be great as a 'daily reader'. The author seems very calm, sane and without anger, and while I suspect no one would call him Enlightened, it reads without malice. From a Buddhist perspective, I had good luck replacing the word 'master' with 'compassion' and it worked almost seamlessly as a Buddhist reading meditation.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      This book was a disappointment, perhaps because I expected something along the lines of the Art of War or The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) that would have relevance to today's urban warrior.Instead, this would be a good book to give to a dog (if that dog could read). It is mostly about how to be a single-mindedly subservient retainer. I found very little to take away from it that would improve my martial arts, my daily life, or for that matter, my self esteem. It's all about being someone whose life is worthless, except as an unquestioning, willing martyr for one's boss.This book was quoted several times in Ghost Dog, and I had to check to see that the quotes were really in there. I think those few references contain all of the quotable insight in the whole book.
    • 2/5
      Another one I read years ago. Note the biohazard kamon on the cover.

    Book preview

    Hagakure - Yamamoto Tsunetomo

    Hagakure

    Selections from

    The Way of the Samurai

    Yamamoto Tsunetomo

    Xist Publishing

    TUSTIN, CA

    ISBN: 9781681950440

    This edition published in 2015 by Xist Publishing

    PO Box 61593

    Irvine, CA 92602

    www.xist publishing.com

    Ordering Information:

    Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the address above.

    Hagakure/ Yamamoto Tsunetomo

    ISBN 9781681950440

    Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes.

    Sign up for the Xist Publishing Newsletter here.

    Find more great titles on our website www.XistPublishing.com

    FROM THE 1ST CHAPTER

    Although it stands to reason that a samurai should be mindful of the Way of the Samurai, it would seem that we are all negligent. Consequently, if someone were to ask, What is the true meaning of the Way of the Samurai? the person who would be able to answer promptly is rare. This is because it has not been established in one's mind beforehand. From this, one's unmindfulness of the Way can be known.

    Negligence is an extreme thing. The Way of the Samurai is found in death. When it comes to either/or, there is only the quick choice of death. It is not particularly difficult. Be determined and advance. To say that dying without reaching one's aim is to die a dog's death is the frivolous way of sophisticates. When pressed with the choice of life or death, it is not necessary to gain one's aim.

    We all want to live. And in large part we make our logic according to what we like. But not having attained our aim and continuing to live is cowardice. This is a thin dangerous line. To die without gaming one's aim is a dog's death and fanaticism. But there is no shame in this. This is the substance of the Way of the Samurai. If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he pains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling.

    A man is a good retainer to the extent that he earnestly places importance in his master. This is the highest sort of retainer. If one is born into a prominent family that goes back for generations, it is sufficient to deeply consider the matter of obligation to one's ancestors, to lay down one's body and mind, and to earnestly esteem one's master. It is further good fortune if, more than this, one has wisdom and talent and can use them appropriately. But even a person who is good for nothing and exceedingly clumsy will be a reliable retainer if only he has the determination to think earnestly of his master. Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.

    According to their nature, there are both people who have quick intelligence, and those who must withdraw and take time to think things over. Looking into this thoroughly, if one thinks selflessly and adheres to the four vows of the Nabeshima samurai, surprising wisdom will occur regardless of the high or low points of one's nature.'

    People think that they can clear up profound matters if they consider them deeply, but they exercise perverse thoughts and come to no good because they do their reflecting with only self-interest at the center.

    It is difficult for a fool's habits to change to selflessness. In confronting a matter, however, if at first you leave it alone, fix the four vows in your heart, exclude self-interest, and make an effort, you will not go far from your mark.

    Because we do most things relying only on our own sagacity we become self-interested, turn our backs on reason, and things do not turn out well. As seen by other people this is sordid, weak, narrow and inefficient. When one is not capable of true intelligence, it is good to consult with someone of good sense. An advisor will fulfill the Way when he makes a decision by selfless and frank intelligence because he is not personally involved. This way of doing things will certainly be seen by others as being strongly rooted. It is, for example, like a large tree with many roots. One man's intelligence is like a tree that has been simply stuck in the ground.

    We learn about the sayings and deeds of the men of old in order to entrust ourselves to their wisdom and prevent selfishness. When we throw off our own bias, follow the sayings of the ancients, and confer with other people, matters should go well and without mishap. Lord Katsushige borrowed from the wisdom of Lord Naoshige. This is mentioned in the Ohanashikikigaki. We should be grateful for his concern.

    Moreover, there was a certain man who engaged a number of his younger brothers as retainers, and whenever he visited Edo or the Kamigata area, he would have them accompany him. As he consulted with them everyday on both private and public matters, it is said that he was without mishap.

    Sagara Kyuma was completely at one with his master and served him as though his own body were already dead. He was one man in a thousand.

    Once there was an important meeting at Master Sakyo's Mizugae Villa, and it was commanded that Kyuma was to commit seppuku. At that time in Osaki there was a teahouse on the third floor of the suburban residence of Master Taku Nut. Kyuma rented this, and gathering together all the good-for-nothings in Saga he put on a puppet show, operating one of the puppets himself, carousing and drinking all day and night. Thus, overlooking Master Sakyo's villa, he carried on and caused a great disturbance. In instigating this disaster he gallantly thought only of his master and was resolved to committing suicide.

    Being a retainer is nothing other than hemp a supporter of one's lord, entrusting matters of good and evil to him, and renouncing self-interest. If there are but two or three men of this type, the fief will be secure.

    If one looks at the world when affairs are going smoothly, there arc many who go about putting in their appearance, being useful by their wisdom, discrimination and artfulness. However, if the lord should retire or go into seclusion, there are many who will quickly turn their backs on him and ingratiate themselves to the man of the day. Such a thing is unpleasant even to think about. Men of high position, low position, deep wisdom and artfulness all feel that they are the ones who are working righteously, but when it comes to the point of throwing away one's life for his lord, all get weak in the knees. This is rather disgraceful. The fact that a useless person often becomes a matchless warrior at such times is because he has already given up his life and has become one with his lord. At the time of Mitsushige's death there was an example of this. His one resolved attendant was I alone. The others followed in my wake. Always the pretentious, self-asserting notables turn their backs on the man just as his eyes are closing in death.

    Loyalty is said to be important in the pledge between lord and retainer. Though it may seem unobtainable, it is right before your eyes. If you once set yourself to it, you will become a superb retainer at that very moment.

    To give a person one's opinion and correct his faults is an important thing. It is compassionate and comes first in matters of service. But the way of doing this is extremely difficult. To discover the good and bad points of a person is an easy thing, and to give an opinion concerning them is easy, too. For the most part, people think that they are being kind by saying the things that others find distasteful or difficult to say. But if it is not received well, they think that there is nothing more to be done. This is completely worthless. It is the same as brining shame to a person by slandering him. It is nothing more than getting it off one's chest.

    To give a person an opinion one must first judge well whether that person is of the disposition to receive it or not. One must become close with him and make sure that he continually trusts one's word. Approaching subjects that are dear to him, seek the best way to speak and to be well understood. Judge the occasion, and determine whether it is better by letter or at the time of leave-taking. Praise his good points and use every device to encourage him, perhaps by talking about one's own faults without touching on his, but so that they will occur to him. Have him receive this in the way that a man would drink water when his throat is dry, and it will be an opinion that will correct faults.

    This is extremely difficult. If a person s fault is a habit of some years prior, by and large it won't be remedied. I have had this experience myself. To be intimate with alt one's comrades, correcting each other's faults, and being of one mind to be of use to the master is the great compassion of a retainer. By bringing shame to a person, bow could one expect to make him a better man?

    It is bad taste to yawn in front of people. When one unexpectedly has to yawn, if he rubs his forehead in an upward direction , the sensation will stop . If that does not work, he can lick his lips while keeping his mouth closed, or simply hide it with his hand or his sleeve in such a way that no one will know what he is doing. It is the same with sneezing. One will appear foolish. There are other things besides these about which a person should use care and training.

    When a certain person was saying that present matters of economy should be detailed, someone replied that this is not good at all.

    It is a fact that ash will not live where the water is too clear. But if there is duckweed or something, the fish will

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1