I strongly agree with those people, who consider Bushido as a perfectly logical and practical extension of Zen, due to the close relation between the two. For instance, Bushido was the ethical code of conduct of the entire Warriors of Samurai that originated from both Shintoism and Zen. Also, the developments of Bushido were highly influenced by several Zen concepts like upholding self-control, inevitable acceptance, as well as emotional control in the process of any function. Inclusion, most of the Zen teachers such as the Zen master, called Rujing taught the real concept Zen, which put more emphasis on its content as a mind based activity that controls all the human emotions and actions that are also outlined in Bushido. Therefore, this is highly verified in the death of Atsumori where Naozane, the Commander-in-Chief becomes emotional as he was overwhelmed with compassion and even considers sparing Atsumori’s life, but he upholds the emotional control and protects his tear from shedding excessively, which is practically and logically examined in both the Bushido and Zen.
Additionally, the Zen Buddhism also educated the Samurai the proper ways of attaining the intimate death awareness, as well as emphasized the total detachment of the material possessions. Also, this is evidenced when Atsumori faced the Commander-in-Chief; he never became afraid of death that instead, he asked the Commander just to take his head. Further, he also practiced the total detachment from wealth, possessions when he never mentioned that he was a son of the Palace Repairs Office Master and never even considered the great flute he had before dying (Tyler). Hence, the entire Bushido concept is a logical and practical extension of the Zen as it contains the soul and the heart of the Zen.
Work Cited
Tyler, Royall. The Tale of the Heike. New York: Viking, 2012. Print.
