Sincerity does not only complete the self; it is the means by which all things are completed. As the self is completed, there is human-heartedness; as things are completed, there is wisdom. This is the virtue of oneโs character, and the Way of joining the internal and external. Thus, when we use this, everything is correct.
Yamamoto TsunetomoWhen something out of the ordinary happens, it is ridiculous to say that it is a mystery or a portent of something to come... the mystery is created in (their) minds, and by waiting for disaster, it is from their very minds that it occurs.
Yamamoto TsunetomoMeditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when oneโs body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of oneโs master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead
Yamamoto Tsunetomo