Brutality

I would not rate a man worth mention or account either for speed of foot or wrestling skill, not even if he had a Cyclop's size and strength or could outrun the fierce north wind of Thrace; I would not care if he surpassed Tithonus's looks, or Cinyras's or Midas's famous wealth, or were more royal than Pelops son of Tantalus, or had Adrastus's smooth persuasive tongue, or fame for everything save only valor; no, no man is of high regard in time of war unless he can endure the sight of blood and death, and stand close to the enemy, and fight. This is the highest worth, the finest human prize and fairest for a bold young man to win.

-Trytaeus 

This is for warriors. Others may not understand or find it disturbing.

Contemplate this; driving your thumb into the eye of an enemy, feeling the viscous liquid as the sclera pops, hear his screams of pain in your ears. His cries to family and God. See the twisted terror in his face, the writhing of his body under yours. You are killing him. 

Hold this in your mind in as much detail as possible, note what feelings you have, of regret, fear, pity. Let them wash away. Make your face a bronze mask of tranquility. Do this until you do not react. 

The aim of this practice is not to become a soulless beast, but to undertake the mental and spiritual training required to kill and die without hesitation. Informed by warriors of the past whose experience in personal violence is beyond reproach. 

A warrior must not hesitate to use the greatest violence possible to overwhelm his foe. Take this passage from Hagakure:

Yamamoto Kichizaemon was ordered by his father Jin’-emon to cut down a dog at the age of five, and at the age of fifteen he was made to execute a criminal. Everyone, by the time they were fourteen or fifteen, was ordered to do a beheading without fail. When Lord Katsushige was young, he was ordered by Lord Naoshige to practice killing with a sword. It is said that at that  time he was made to cut down more than ten men successively. 

A long time ago this practice was followed, especially in the upper classes, but today even the children of the lower classes perform no executions, and this is extreme negligence. To say that one can do without this sort of thing, or that there is no merit in killing a condemned man, or that it is a crime, or that it is defiling, is to make excuses. In short, can it not be thought that because a person’s martial valor is weak, his attitude is only that of trimming his nails and being attractive? 

If one investigates into the spirit of a man who finds these things disagreeable, one sees that this person gives himself over to cleverness and excuse making not to kill because he feels unnerved. But Naoshige made it his orders exactly because this is something that must be done. Last year I went to the Kase Execution Grounds to try my hand at beheading, and I found it to be an extremely good feeling. To think that it is unnerving is a symptom of cowardice.

He can harbor no anxiety about killing. A soldier can kill, even a farmer can if he must, but they might hesitate; wavering at the point of action. A warrior cannot hesitate. 

The only reason a warrior is alive is to fight, and the only reason a warrior fights is to win.

-Miyamoto Musashi

He does not crave killing for its own sake, or necessarily derive pleasure from it, but when he must he acts with the emotionless violence of a wild beast.

He is brutal; “Direct and lacking any attempt to disguise unpleasantness. Savagely violent.” We are not bred this way, but it can be trained. Recall the example of being made to slaughter beasts. A warrior hunts for this reason. To face death regularly and without emotion. 

A warrior’s trade is death, of his enemies and his own. To pretend otherwise is foolish. In her study of ancient Germanic warrior culture: The One-eyed God: Odin and the (Indo-) Germanic Männerbünde, Kershaw relates, “the warrior cult is part of the cult of the dead, the warriors themselves are Totendämonen” (Kershaw, 429)  they are part of a “Totenkult” (Kershaw, 435). 

Think of this often. Hold in your mind in as much detail as possible scenarios of yourself killing an enemy. See what emotions you feel and watch them dissipate as you grow more brutal, calm amid a storm of violence. 

Imagine also yourself being wounded or killed, face this with the same tranquility. Imagine your death in grisly detail, feel the pain of steel rending your flesh and shattering your bones. Let the fear and anxiety pass. A warrior does not fear being wounded or slain, and if he does he is more likely to wind up that way than if he accepts death and charges in with grim determination. You are already dead. Accept this. 

Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one’s 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 one’s master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. 

-Hagakure

This is the significance of the Death’s Head for a warrior, the memento mori. Accipito mori. You will accept death, and fight as one already dead; without fear.

A person who does not want to be struck by the enemy's arrows will have no divine protection. For a man who does not wish to be hit by the arrows of a common soldier, but rather by those of a warrior of fame, there will be the protection for which he has asked.

-Hagakure

A warrior lives for a second of brilliant action, a synthesis of body and spirit where he becomes lightning, an unstoppable bolt of focused energy. The conscious mind is an obstacle to this. He must act instinctually. Brutally. 

Perfect purity is possible if you turn your life into a line of poetry written with a splash of blood. 

-Mishima 

This is why he trains so diligently. This is his discipline. This is his art, his ‘Do’ his way. Just as a musician must practice for hours, alone, suffering over scales and repetitions, so a warrior drills with his body and his mind. He takes what was conscious and makes it instinct.  

The world is full of distractions from the way, since most do not (and could not) live by it. Pay them as little mind as possible. The more time a warrior focuses on training his mind and body he finds deeper tranquility and harmony within himself and greater poetry in his life. 

Sharpening the mind, like a blade, takes many passes of the whetstone. Whenever you find a quiet moment, contemplate some aspect of your profession and your way. The values of visualization need not be given here, but the results will reveal themselves. 

This is a warrior’s meditation. Do not empty your mind, concentrate it on action. See yourself training with weapons in as much detail as you can. Repeat over and over the basic drills in your mind. Contemplate killing, contemplate death. 

You may only be able to focus for brief spurts at first, denizens as we all are to a world of constant distraction. It is no different from any other training, small incremental improvements will become massive in due time. Cultivate the garden of your discipline with patience and its flowers will bloom. 

Brutality. Violence. Blood and bile pouring from rent guts. Vile stink and looks of terror in the eyes of your enemy. A bullet or blade strikes you in turn and destroys your arm, blood and marrow spill out of your shattered bones. This must be faced without emotion, as if one were watching the water of a winding stream. 

There was a video going around of a Ukrainian soldier engaging a Siberian-Russian soldier in hand-to-hand fighting. This is a grave moment due the highest respect, which watching and discussing like a news piece feels shameful. All there is to be said is that they treat each other with honor once the fight is over, while one man lays dying. This is as integral to the warrior as his skill at arms and his readiness for death. Look for this in ancient writings and never forget the honor due a defeated foe. 

Think on this often. Seek out further examples, read ancient warrior texts. This is a warrior’s meditation.