Great Books - Seven

I'm re-reading a great book by Thomas Cleary, The Japanese Art of War: Understanding the Culture of Strategy. In it, Cleary presents a very insightful and revealing discussion of Zen, unusual in its assessment of what is real and what is pseudo Zen. He discusses what Zen is and what it isn’t and how it applies to the martial arts, as seen through the eyes, minds, and writings of a major Zen Roshi – Takuan – and three major samurai – duelists Musashi and Yagyu and warrior Shosan, who fought in many major, pre-peace battles. He discusses Japanese fighting history and how the samurai used Zen in light of Buddhism's complete opposition to the taking of life. The chapters include A Martial History of Japan, Zen in Japanese History, Bushido and Martial Arts, The Way of the Zen Warrior, Schemes of the Samurai, etc. Cleary came to my dojo many years ago and spoke with my seniors. He’s a brilliant guy who has translated many major Asian religious and martial arts works – including Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Musashi’s Book of Five Rings (which he calls Book of Five Spheres).