Uhhhh!!! Heh, heh, heh!!! Hard questions...
Have you seen the film SEPPUKU? If you haven't, do so at your earliest
opportunity. There is a new Criterion edition out with subtitles in English.
Is English your native language, or is it Spanish? Don't know if a Spanish
sub-titled edtion is out.
At any rate, in this film, an impoverished ronin is torn between the choice
of selling his sword blades to raise money to feed his wife and child. If he
did not do this, then his family would get sick and starve. So he sells the
sword blades. And ends up being brutally punished for this "sin" by some
clan samurai who see him as being utterly dishonored. I personally see the
man who sold his swords to try and keep his family from starving as having
far more honor than the judgmental people who heaped blame upon him. As the
man's father-in-law states later on in the film, "even a samurai cannot live
on air."
I'm in the middle of writing a piece of fiction that deals with somewhat
similar themes. I try and ask,"what is a sword and what is the soul? Is a
sword simply a metal object or is it a part of your being?." There is an old
Zen saying, I do not know who wrote it, "I have no sword; I make my mind my
sword."
I studied kendo for ten years and I know personally about how a sword or a
bamboo shinai can become an actual extension of your body. I own a single
Nihonto, a 400 year old wakizashi without signature on the tang (it used to
be a katana but was cut down) and when I handle this sword, I know that it
is more than merely metal. So also, I know that when a samurai was forced to
give up or sell his sword to feed his family, it probably was agony for him.
But he might have had to do it and this was tragic.
I don't know if I made much sense here.
Cheers, Nina
-----Original Message-----
From:
samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of federico trejos
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 2:54 PM
To:
samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Sword Is The Soul Of The Samurai? (was RE: [samuraihistory] Re:
h itokiri kawakami gensai?)
Good afternoon.
Nina why do you always brings this hard to answer questions ??? jajajaja !!!
Ok, I think that it was something philosophical and spiritual.
Some one once told me that there is two senses in life that you can not
ingnore : first one is when your death time is getting close and second one
is when you are hungry !!! Then I understand why he brought out
his blades. Katana was considered the soul of the
samurai since it was considered what ebodied bushido.
This is interesting, a samurai think that his sword is an extention of his
body. So he consider his sword
a part of it. Besides, it was his primary weapon,
his life depends on it ( think about this carefully ).
The katana is that, a weapon !!! And the samurai
more than any one else new that.
Something funny about this is that there is anything on the Bushido code
that have to do with weapons !!!
It is a moral and correct conduct code. Then I
think that all this is a romantic tale out of some
Noh.
Now, if you tell me that a samurai fells something special and spiritual for
his sword, I will be with
you in a 100%.
Best regards.
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