Sarah Paine

where notions of morality come from religion.

In Japan, they come from bushido.

And what is it?

It's a chivalrous code of honor for the warrior class, these precepts of knighthood.

There are three pillars of bushido, according to Nitobe.

They're Buddhism, Shinto, and Confucianism.

From Buddhism is where

you see Japanese fatalism, the origin of it.

And here you have Nitobe saying, it's this calm trust in fate, a quiet submission to the inevitable, a friendliness with death.

And it strikes Westerners reading

this Bushido literature is a preoccupation with death.

For instance, Clausewitz will talk about violence in warfare, but he's not interested in what constitutes an honorable death, let alone choreographing a soldier's final moments, different culture.

And from Buddhism, there are

Four noble truths of Buddhism.

One is that existence is suffering, pessimistic view of this life.

Second, it's caused by craving and attachment, so don't cling to this life or the things in it.

It's all ephemeral, it's like a cherry blossom, blooms for a day and then it's gone.

But there's a good ending to it all, which is nirvana.

And how do you get there?

The fourth noble truth is through forms of right conduct.