"I went to the Russo-Japanese War and killed people until I had enough of it. If you think about it soberly, this is a serious matter. Today the newspaper writes about the extermination of the enemy or how we clean them away with machine gun fire. That almost sounds like everyday household cleaning. They fire with machine guns and call it "cleaning away the remains of the enemy". Imagine that would happen in the midst of the ginza: people getting "cleaned away" as if you were shooting animals! It would be a serious affair. Compared with today the former war was old fashioned. We shot only one bullet at a time. That was not so gross like shooting your machine gun as if you were spreading water with a watering can, or throwing big bombs, or poison gas. I also once killed enemies at the battlefield of Baolisi, chasing them into a hole, and I was never punished for it. I even received monthly payments as a veteran after I came back from the war. That means that you do not always get punished for killing a person. It depends on the regulations of the time if you get punished or not. But these regulations are made by men."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Comments on the Shodoka (Tokyo: Daihorinkaku,1st edition 1940, p. 414)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kodo_Sawaki
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Kodo Sawaki
Kodo Sawaki (June 16, 1880 - December 21, 1965) was a prominent Japanese SĹŤtĹŤ Zen teacher of the 20th century. He is considered to be one of the most significant Zen priests of his time for bringing Zen practice into the lives of laypeople and popularizing the ancient tradition of sewing the kesa.
9 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Kodo Sawaki →
Related Quotes
"The asshole doesn’t need to be ashamed of being the asshole. The feet don’t have any reason to go on strike just beca…"
"You can’t even trade a single fart with the next guy. Each and every one of us has to live out his own life. Don’t wa…"
"Religion means living your own life, completely fresh and new, without being taken in by anyone."
"Hey! What are you looking at? Don’t you see that it’s about you?"
"We stop the one who can't cease from seeking things outside, and practice with our bodies with a posture that seeks a…"
"Once there was a megalomaniac in the Sugamo hospital who called himself "Ashiwara Shōgun." He hung a cardboard medal …"
"My sermons are criticized by certain audiences. They say that my sermons are hollow, not holy. I agree with them beca…"
"How we live our everyday lives has to be the main concern of religion."
"As if to say— "Isn't it true for men, as well: that the more the words, the less they are of value?"— the cuckoo does…"
"When I look upon the rich sheen of summer hairs in my new brush, I am saddened by a deer drawn at night to a hunter's…"