Words from a Samurai Warrior

Tags

awareness, benevolence, character, divine power, friend, home, honesty, Hurricane Maria, inner strength, lost everything, Meg Wheatley, mindfulness, miracles, parents, perseverance, right action, Samurai, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Thinking about the situation of those in the path today of Hurricane Maria, people who will be blasted for the second time in two weeks by devastation, I picked up Meg Wheatley’s book, Perseverance, since there is nothing I can say of any relevance on my own. What I found was a quote from a 14th century Japanese Samurai Warrior. It was not what I was looking for but did make me think. What if it seemed I had lost everything? I mused. What would be left that would make me refuse to lie down and die? The answer focused on inner strength and so I repeat it here as a hope for those whose lives seem empty at this moment and a way to consider hope when all outer hope is gone.

• I have no parents: I make the heavens and earth my parents.
• I have no home: I make awareness my home.
• I have no divine power: I make honesty my divine power.
• I have no means: I make understanding my means.
• I have no magic secrets: I make character my magic secrets.
• I have no miracles: I make right action my miracles.
• I have no friends: I make my mind my friend.
• I have no enemy: I make carelessness my enemy.
• I have no armor: I make benevolence and righteousness my armor.

Think on these things and then, perhaps, create your own list of your inner strengths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word from the Samurai

Tags

awareness, benevolence, centering prayer, character, honesty, Jesus, kenotic, letting go, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, righteousness, Samurai, self-discipline, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding

Yesterday I wrote about extremes – rigidity and/or laxity in regard to observance of law. This morning I read a passage from a Samurai warrior in 14th century Japan quoted in the book, Perseverance, by Meg Wheatley that seemed a good example of the rigid end of the spectrum of self-discipline. As I began to reflect on its meaning, however, I could see from a somewhat different perspective the kenotic way of life that Jesus came to teach us, the “letting go” that practitioners of centering prayer hope to achieve. If it seems extreme, take another look; see if there is not value in deep reflection on the meaning.

I have no parents: I make the heavens and earth my parents. I have no home: I make awareness my home. I have no divine power: I make honesty my divine power. I have no means: I make understanding my means. I have no magic secrets: I make character my magic secret. I have no miracles: I make right action my miracles. I have no friends: I make my mind my friend. I have no enemy: I make carelessness my enemy. I have no armor: I make benevolence and righteousness my armor. (Wheatley, p. 134)