The myth of Japan's Samurai (scam)

(nathaniel cho) The Japanese samurai scam explained

Samurai: Choose isolation over belonging?

(Presence & Purpose) What is a Samurai ronin good for?

How to Train the Mind the Samurai Way

Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵, circa 1583–1645) was a Japanese Samurai swordsman, strategist, artist (who drew Hotei Watching a Cockfight shown above), and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in 62 duels [3][a].

Musashi is considered a kensei ("sword saint") of Japan [4]. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū (Nito Ichi-ryū) style of swordsmanship, and in his final years authored The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書, Go Rin No Sho) and Dokkōdō (獨行道, The Path of Aloneness). More

• Buddhism — A Method of Mind Training (Bodhi Leaves 24)
• Mind Training in Buddhism and Other Essays (Buddhist Publication Society, BL 101)

How to train the mind to obey | MM Method

(Presence & Blade) Samurai swordsman Miyamoto Musashi trained the mind to follow commands instead of emotions.

• Miyamoto Mushashi: Samurai legend
• Mastery of the heart-mind: 21 Rules for Life from a Legendary Master Samurai | HighExistence
• Psychology | Musashi, as both a warrior and philosopher, understood that mastery of the self is greater than mastery of the sword | Facebook
• No-mind (Wikipedia)
• Resistance is Futile

Scholar holds magnifying glass

This method comes from Japanese philosophy about life and works by reshaping the power of the subconscious mind, where resistance, excuses, and hesitation are born. Learn:

• How to stop negotiating with the mind
• Why most people fail at self-control despite motivation
• The real strength and weakness of discipline in mental training
• Simple Japanese meditation techniques that build inner authority
• How this approach reflects the eight Japanese habits that can change life
• A practical way to understand how to maintain discipline in life consistently.

This is not about forcing the mind. It is about training it so that obedience becomes natural.

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  Miyamoto Musashi 宮本無三四

  Taming the Mind: Discourses of the Buddha (Wheel 51, BPS)

• 00:00 – The hidden reason the mind refuses to obey
• 00:45 – When we realize our mind is in charge (David’s awakening)
• 04:10 – Musashi’s core revelation: We are not our mind
• 07:40 – Forging obedience the Samurai way (training through resistance)
• 12:10 – Why big commands fail and small commands win
• 15:30 – Cutting off escape routes before the mind rebels
• 19:10 – Training immediate action (no delay, no debate)
• 22:30 – Ending the civil war inside our head
• 26:00 – What a fully obedient mind looks like in real life
• 28:40 – Retraining disobedience into absolute control
• 31:18 – The path forward: Command or be ruled.

When Buddhists Attack (Mann)

Some scholars like D.T. Suzuki see the term wu-nien (無念, "without thought," "without recollection," with nien possibly rendered as smṛti, "mindfulness," "memory") as being synonymous to wu-xin [2, 12].

Furthermore, while wunien is common in the texts of the Southern School of Zen, the texts of the Northern School prefer the term "freedom from thought" or "freedom from conceptualization" (離念) [13].

#MiyamotoMusashi #SelfDiscipline #JapanesePhilosophy #PowerOfSubconsciousMind #PresenceAndBlade

 

💬 COMMENT: Where does your mind disobey you the most right now?

 

Just do it (without paralysis by analysis)

No-mind (Mushin calligraphy/cathexis-life)

NO-MIND: The term 無心 contains the Chinese character for negation, "not" or "without" (無), along with the character for heart-mind (心).

Likewise, in Sanskrit, the term is a compound of the prefix a- (negation) and the word citta (mind, thought, consciousness, heart).

In China, the term came to mean a state in which there is no mental activity, or a mind free of all discrimination and conceptualization, making it similar to the Buddhist Sanskrit term nisprapañca [9] and the Sanskrit term nirvikalpa [10].

The Zen zero is the enso.

Another similar Sanskrit term is amanasikāra ("non-thinking," "mental non-engagement"), which is found in the works of the 11th century tantric Yogi Maitripa [11].

Some scholars also offer other Sanskrit terms as being the source of the Chinese term wunien, including: a-cintya, a-vikalpa, or a-saṃjñā [2]. More

• Presence & Blade, Jan. 9, 2026; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Samurai clean their minds every day

The Girl Samurai Master: Sasaki Rui

The story of 17th century swordswoman Rui-San

Kabukimono ancient cross dresser

Real-life samurai Sasaki Rui (佐々木 累), or Rui-San, was a Japanese swordswoman, Onna-musha and kenjutsu expert of the early Edo period (mid-17th century). She was known as the "Strangely Dressed Female Sword Master" [1, 2, 3].

Life of Sasaki Rui

Sasaki was born in Koga domain, located in Shimōsa province (modern-day Koga, Ibaraki), exact birthdate unknown. Her father Sasaki Uōto was a member of a clan of kenjutsu masters in service to Doi Toshikatsu and was thoroughly versed in the martial arts.

Samurai attacking on horseback (LACMA)

Crouch Tiger, Hide Dragon: Jen vs. Shu Lien sword fight (Michelle Yeoh)

Ancient samurai in his armor, 1860s

Since Rui-San had no brothers and her attempts to take a husband ended in divorce, upon her father's death from illness the Sasaki clan name became extinct [1, 2, 3].

Rui-San went to Edo, where she rented a house in present-day Asakusa and began teaching the martial arts.

At the same time that her teaching was becoming well-known, she began to be famous for her unusual dress:

Haori crepe formal Japanese jacket

She would leave the house wearing a black silk crepe haori (a man's garment at the time) emblazoned with the Sasaki family crest, her hair done up in an indoor style with hairpins, and wearing the samurai's long and short swords [1, 2, 3].

At that time, the ruffians known as kabukimono or hatamoto yakko were running rampant in Edo, and Rui-San began fighting with the "Shiroe" gang, among other groups [1, 2]. More

• Samurai women?

What was their religion?

Various samurai clans struggled for power during the Kamakura shogunate. Zen Buddhism spread among the samurai in the 13th century and helped shape their standards of conduct, particularly in overcoming the fear of death and [the wrongdoing of] killing. Among the general populace devotional Pure Land Buddhism was favored however. More

Marriage?

Samurai with wives and concubines, 1804

Samurai had arranged marriages, which were engineered by a go-between of the same or higher rank. While for those samurai in the upper ranks this was a necessity (as most had few opportunities to ever meet women), this was a formality for lower-ranked samurai.

Most samurai married women from a samurai family, but for lower-ranked samurai, marriages with commoners were permitted. In these marriages a dowry was brought by the woman and was used to set up the couple's new household.

A samurai could take concubines, but their backgrounds were checked by higher-ranked samurai. In many cases, taking a concubine was akin to a marriage. Kidnapping a concubine, although common in fiction, would have been shameful, if not criminal. More

How to stay calm in any confrontation

(Statue of Wisdom) Secrets to win: How to stay calm in any confrontation (Miyamoto Musashi)

• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Rui-San (video); CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly