Do: The Way
by Dave Lowry
Japanese culture is best represented in the "Way"
paradigms such as kado (flower arrangement), shodo
(calligraphy), budo (martial exercises), chado (the
tea ceremony), Shinto (the Way of the gods), Shikijima-no-michi
(the Way of poetry), and so on. These Ways are the
common product in their respective lines of the creative
efforts of many masters, generation after generation,
accumulating progressively the best forms and techniques
as well as the correct spirit to serve an education
purpose on the one hand and the acceleration of the
creative urge on the other. It is, therefore, nothing
but a waste of time and energy to neglect the existence
of these Ways. A casual glance at the Ways of Japan
gives one an idea they are nothing but so many different
formalisms. But a further practical analysis will
enable one to find them as the most effective composition
of the most carefully observed and the most logically
related facts avoiding through the most careful scrutiny
all possible shortcomings as well as extravagances.
Each step has its definite meanings and logical reasons
and a careless neglect of even one of them will spoil
the whole affair, no matter however completely the
rest is carried out. Every step of the Way is systematically
organized so that anyone can attain to the degree
of skillfulness according to his personal capacity
with the least loss of energy. Only a master genius
can add something to a given Way, thus contributing
to the progress of the Way through the combined efforts
of masters of all ages. Therefore the Way should not
be regarded as a mere gathering of forms, and techniques
since it is the spiritual symposium of the great masters
enlightening all ages with their accumulated cultural
inheritance.
The training of disciples in the Way is very severe,
following painful discipline and trials so that only
those people who are really worthy enough to receive
the secrets from the highest master can follow it.
The intention is to test the disciples in a way that
a parent lion tests the strength and courage of its
cub by kicking it down a ravine. The kind of discipline
and trials is of course different according to the
lines of culture, but they have something in common
as a prerequisite before becoming masters. The prerequisites
are: complete obedience to the higher masters, the
death-defying desire for learning and the complete
self-responsibility for the Way. The masters also
have something in common among them, such as their
complete negation of the sense of ego. They share
an identification with the larger community life.
They share a complete detachment from their own technical
achievements. They share a recourse to Nature as the
best ideal type of their cultural creation and so
they realize a stage of achievement where their art
identifies maker and community, the Gods and nature,
as indivisible unities.
These masters, no matter what line of culture they
belong to, are usually indistinguishable from the
rest of the people until they are required to express
themselves through their creations just as a drum
is made to produce sound which varies according to
the degree of strength applied by the beater. This
strange return of the masters after a long journey
of painful discipline together with technical acquirements,
back to Nature and humanity, is one of the most typical
characteristics of Japanese culture. A purposive expression
of their own personal acquirements and abilities is
regarded as a shortcoming to the perfection and is
branded as snobbish. It was out of this tendency that
there came into existence the so-called "Furyu culture"
as the most superior form of cultural enjoyment which
can be shared by masters and commonfolk alike. Thus
the masters, long after their existence of complete
detachment from Nature and humanity, have found the
way for the common people to achieve unity with Nature
and humanity. These Ways are welcomingly open, as
much to the outsiders as to the Japanese themselves.
The Ways lead us to the very center of humanity and
Nature itself, through the process of transcending
both. That is because the Ways are transcendental
and at the same time immanent by nature, neither platonic
nor merely material, but they are the ways of creative
action for building up a world of culture of their
own. The actual creation of a world of culture is
what constitutes the real value of the existence of
humanity and nature. It is their raison d'Ítre. Thus,
humanity and Nature have been discovered and rediscovered,
created and recreated, again and again by masters
who have an infinite love for these two and a death-defying
desire to put their love into practical form. The
culture we enjoy here on this plane is nothing but
the image of the transcendental world which the masters
reveal through their creative action. Each step of
the Way leads us nearer to the summit and opens up
new perspectives of the lower planes. The steps of
the Way are the result of undaunted efforts of masters
who are able to catch eternity in a moment and the
universe in a small spot through their creation. The
higher we rise on those steps of the Way of cultural
creation, the higher the world also rises with us.
About the Author
Dave Lowry is a writer and historian specializing
in Japan and traditional Japanese culture. He has
been a student of the modern and classical martial
disciplines of Japan since 1968 - including karate,
aikido, the bo and kenjitsu. His columns have appeared
for years in a variety of martial arts magazines and
he is also an accomplished calligrapher. His books
include "Sword and Brush - The Spirit of the Martial
Arts" and "Autumn Lightning: The Education of an American
Samurai".
This article was edited. Printed with permission of
Dave Lowry.
Copyright © Dave Lowry. All rights reserved.
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