{"product_id":"zen-and-the-way-of-the-sword-arming-the-samurai-psyche","title":"Zen and the Way of the Sword: Arming the Samurai Psyche","description":"\u003cp\u003eZen--serene  contemplative  a discipline of meditation associated with painting  rock gardens  and flower arranging--seems an odd ingredient in the martial psyche of the Japanese samurai. \"One who is a samurai must before all things keep constantly in mind...the fact that he has to die \" wrote a seventeenth-century warrior. \"That is his chief business.\" But the demands of that \"business \" writes Winston King  found the perfect philosophical match in the teachings of Zen Buddhism. In Zen and the Way of the Sword  King offers a fascinating look into the mind of the samurai swordsman in a far-reaching account of the role of Zen in the thought  culture  and the martial arts of Japans soldier elite. An esteemed scholar of Eastern religions  King deftly traces the development of Zen and discusses the personal nature of its practice  its emphasis on individual discovery and attainment. He then presents an accomplished capsule history of the samurai class  from its rise in the middle ages to formal abolition in the nineteenth century--an account filled with details of wars  political maneuvering  and cultural achievements. King also looks at the arms and vocation of the individual samurai  placing the details of armor and weapons in the context of the samurai conception of warfare. In particular  King focuses on the sword--the soul of the samurai  as it was called--describing how it was forged  the honor given famous swordsmiths  the rise of schools of swordsmanship  and breathtaking feats of the great swordsmen. Throughout  King shows how the samurai cultivated Zen  relating its teaching of a free and spontaneous mind to the experience of a warrior in individual combat  and finding philosophical strength in Zen as they prepared themselves for death. \"What mind can penetrate his opponents mind?\" one authority has written. \"It is a mind that has been trained and cultivated to the point of detachment with perfect freedom....His mind should reflect his opponents mind like water reflecting the moon.\" In other words  a mind trained by Zen. King goes on to trace the role of Zen in samurai life through the peaceful eighteenth and nineteenth centuries  examining the absorption of Zen into World War II psychology and broader Japanese culture. Throughout  he provides a thoughtful perspective  both sympathetic and aware of the ethical problems inherent in a school of Buddhism turned to the needs of a military class. A scholarly  absorbing account  Zen and the Way of the Sword provides fascinating insight into the samurai ethos  and the culture of Japan today.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44985954304053,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195092619","price":26.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195092615.jpg?v=1770879094","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/zen-and-the-way-of-the-sword-arming-the-samurai-psyche","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}