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1344 days ago
As the cross is to Christians, the Om is to Hindus. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined, make the sound Aum or Om. The most important symbol in Hinduism, it occurs in every prayer and invocation to most deities begins with it. As the symbol of piety, Om is often found at the head of letters, pendants, enshrined in every Hindu temple and family shrines. This symbol is actually a sacred syllable representing the Brahman or the Absolute -the source of all existence. Brahman, in itself, is incomprehensible so a symbol becomes mandatory to help us realize the Unknowable. The syllable Om occurs even in English words having a similar meaning, for instance, 'omniscience', 'omnipotent', 'omnipresent'. Thus Om is also used to signify divinity and authority. Its similarity with the Latin 'M' as also to the Greek letter 'Omega' is discernable. Even the word 'Amen' used by Christians to conclude a prayer seems to be ...
1369 days ago
The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (became ronin ) after their master was forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira, who had insulted him. They avenged him by killing the court official after patiently waiting and planning for over a year. In turn, they were themselves forced to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder , as they had known they would be—the tale being about the honorable fulfillment of revenge, especially for an honorable leader.
1379 days ago
Seppuku ( Japanese : 切腹 切腹, "stomach-cutting" or "belly slicing") is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment . Seppuku is also known in English as hara-kiri (腹切り 腹切り) and is written with the same kanji as seppuku but in reverse order with an okurigana . In Japanese, hara-kiri is considered a colloquial and somewhat vulgar term. The practice of committing seppuku at the death of one's master is known as oibara (追腹 or 追い腹); the ritual is similar.
1381 days ago
Bushido, literally translated "Way of the Warrior," developed in Japan between the Heian and Tokugawa Ages (9th-12th century). It was a code and way of life for Samurai, a class of warriors similar to the medieval knights of Europe. It was influenced by Zen and Confucianism, two different schools of thought of those periods. Bushido is not unlike the chivalry and codes of the European knights. "It puts emphasis on loyalty, self sacrifice, justice, sense of shame, refined manners, purity, modesty, frugality, martial spirit, honor and affection"
