Hagakure: Constant Refinement

It is not good to settle into a set of opinions. It is a mistake to put forth effort and obtain some understanding and then stop at that. At first putting forth great effort to be sure that you have grasped the basics, then practicing so that they may come to fruition is something that will never stop for your whole lifetime. Do not rely on following the degree of understanding that you have discovered, but simply thnk, "This is not enough."

One should search throughout his whole life how best to follow the Way. And he should study, setting his mind to work without putting things off. Within this is the Way.

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When meeting calamities or difficult situations, it is not enough to say that one is not at all flustered. When meeting difficult situations, one should dash forward bravely and with joy. It is the crossing of a single barrier and is like the saying "The more the water, the higher the boat."

Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai. Yamamoto Tsunetomo. Trans. William Scott Wilson. Kodansha Press, p. 37 and then page 51.

I have to think through this second one in particular. It sounds on the one hand foolhardy, and on the other hand like a kind of prayer or attitude adjustment. Anyone have a reaction to this?

The print is by Hokusai, Tametomo against the smallpox. As part of the cure, people looked at depictions of heroes, summoning the strength to get well.