The way of virtues
Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated by eastern iconography, the ways of their ancient heroes, philosophies, fables and, of course, movies.
At masquerades I wanted to be a ninja, or a samurai, my idols were warriors and fighters like Bruce Lee and later in school Jean-Claude Van Damme, even he isn’t actually from the East, but his movies involved old trainers, sages and introduced some eastern culture.
Besides the outer look of those fighting masters there were attitudes and virtues that stayed with me in my life. Honor, respect, grit, integrity… Virtues that are vital for a good life, in my opinion, a life that you live deliberately, being a good person for yourself and others.
As I grew older, interests became more focused on philosophies, like Zen and Buddhism, culture and the ways modern eastern society works. In movies there were less fighters and more lovers. Memoirs of a Geisha and The Last Samurai are two of the movies I like and lots of others explore eastern humanities and their inner worlds. They depict intimate culture and virtues like honor, humility, respect and courage.
As I browse about the warrior sages, eight virtues in Bushido sum up the spirit and virtues of a warrior, the way of the samurai life.
I think western society lacks a lot of eastern virtues and we should try to adopt more of them. Of course, not all is good in any society, and to just say that samurai were respectable on all accounts, is an overstatement. But we can learn a lot by starting to understand their virtues.
The only way to progress is to develop ourselves and our views on others and the world. To develop more compassionate worldview. And if we can simply start with more respect, we are well on our way.
This post is part 9. of my 100 Days of Writing Challenge.
