Taisen Deshimaru Quotes


You must not take out your sword because if you try to kill someone, you must die for it yourself. What you must do instead is kill yourself, kill your own mind.


Context

In early WWII, he opposed the Japanese military practice of killing conquered civilian people to instill fear and make them accept occupation. He was arrested by the military and sentenced to death, but he never was executed. Though not generally known, there were a number of Japanese who opposed the Japanese military policies and practices. He was one.


Citations

Taisen Deshimaru, 1914–1982, Japanese dissident, Sōtō Zen Buddhist teacher & philosopher, Quoted in Glenn Kenny, A Galaxy Not So Far Away: Writers and Artists on Twenty-five Years of Star Wars, 2002

Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations

Related Quotes

See Noah Webster and Timothy Pickering for similar positions. The War of 1812 was very unpopular with the New England states. They had the most developed trade with England and were economically injured by the curtailment of that trade. The citizens of Essex wanted to give the State Legislature the most possible moral and political power to negotiate an end to the war.


Taisen Deshimaru
Taisen Deshimaru
  • Born: November 29, 1914
  • Died: April 30, 1982
  • Nationality: Japanese
  • Profession: Philosopher

Taisen Deshimaru was a Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhist teacher, who founded the Association Zen Internationale.