Sakura (cherry tree)

Meaning of Sakura

The cherry trees represent love, friendship and the transience of life so it is also the symbol of the Samurai. …
It also means the beginning of a new life.
Fallen petals symbolize the beauty of nature and the value of the transience of existence that life grants; but also the hope, the power, the sweetness and the rebirth that spring brings.
In Buddhism it is associated with temporality and the passing nature of beauty and life, but also with the cycle of transformation of life, therefore it is associated with rebirth.
In China it is associated with power, strength, beauty and female sexuality.

Cherry Tree (Sakura). This sacred tree has a special symbolic meaning to the Samurai & Bushido. Bu-shi-do or Military-Knight- Way is the moral and ethical code the famed Japanese Samurai lived their life by. Bushido (“the way of the warrior”) — a strict moral code of respect, honour and discipline. It was their duty to not only exemplify and preserve these virtues in life, but to appreciate the inevitability of death without fearing it — in battle, it came all too soon for the samurai. Ancient Samurai spent their lives cultivating their spirit, seeking knowledge and refining their martial techniques. Samurai pledged their life to the service of their Lord (Daimyo). In battle they thought nothing of dying for their cause, and yet did not carelessly give their lives away. They fought with the spirit of the Sakura.
When cherry blossoms are in full bloom, the future is bursting with possibilities.

Throughout Spring, Summer and Autumn the Sakura tree grows with little noticeable change above ground. Indeed for 49 weeks of the year its energy is purposefully channelled into its roots, forcing these deeper and thus ensuring a stronger, more resilient tree. Throughout winter the Sakura weathers the often unforgiving elements.
For just three weeks of the year, as the seasons shift from winter to spring the Sakura blossoms
Spring winds may blow the blooms away- but the Sakura tree still gives its all. The short life and beauty of the blossom it has been used as a metaphor for mortality and is an important symbol in Japanese culture.
The challenge is to emulate the spirit of Sakura in all aspects of our own lives. To do this we need to grow ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually. Through this we too can yield the fruits of our growth.
Cherry blossoms hold elevated status in China, signifying love and the female mystique (beauty, strength and sexuality),
Sakura are also revered as a symbol of rebirth, renewal, optimism, new dreams, mindfulness and living in the present.

Sakura (桜) – Sakura means “cherry blossom” and is derived from saku 咲, which means to bloom, or alternately to smile/laugh.  Cherry blossoms are a symbolic flower of the spring, a time of renewal, and the fleeting nature of life.
In Japanese culture, sakura as the embodiment of beauty and mortality can be traced back centuries. No one in history personified this metaphor more than the samurai, the warriors of feudal Japan who lived by bushido (“the way of the warrior”) — a strict moral code of respect, honour and discipline. It was their duty to not only exemplify and preserve these virtues in life, but to appreciate the inevitability of death without fearing it — in battle, it came all too soon for the samurai. A fallen cherry blossom or petal, it’s believed, symbolized the end of their short lives.
The Seven virtues of Bushido
GI      Integrity
REI   Respect
YU    Heroic Courage
MEIYO  Honor
JIN  Compassion
MAKOTO  Honesty and Sincerity
CHU  Duty and Loyalty

The work consists of: an Ensō (円 相), a cherry tree, cherry blossoms, the first Samurai on horseback, Samurai and the kanji of the word Samurai. The ancient code of ethics of the Warrior in Japan, the Samurai’s ideal was to live with passion or “live with beauty”, that is, to live with sincerity and inner beauty even if life were short. The fall of the petals of the Cherry tree (Sakura) represents the transience of life and the beauty of nature. But the blossoming of Sakura has a deeper meaning: the beginning of a new life.

Practitioners of Zen Buddhism (Most of the Samurai Warriors opted for Zen-like Buddhism that seeks enlightenment and salvation through meditation, they seek the spiritual harmony to flow between life and death) paint the Ensō (円 相) as part of their spiritual process and thus teach the spirit the double dimension. It is not painted with a uniform stroke, indicating perfection in imperfection and asymmetry in symmetry. In Japanese aesthetics it is part of controlling the balance in the composition, it is the negation of the perfect. It shows the movement of the spirit at a given time.

The word samurai (侍 samurai) is generally used to designate a great variety of warriors from ancient Japan, although its true meaning is “the one who serves” a military elite who ruled the country during hundreds of years.

The Samurai Culture of Japan admired the cherry tree because he considered that these flowers, like these Warriors, had a short life and believed that the flower represented the drops of blood shed in their battles.

The brief flowering represents temporality of life and the passing nature of beauty. It is also associated with the rebirth and the transformation cycle of life.

The 7 virtues of the Warrior Code (Bushido):

1. The right decision and righteousness
2. Courage and heroism
3. Compassion and benevolence to all
4. Courtesy and right action
5. Truthfulness and absolute sincerity
6. Honor and The Glory
7. The devotion and loyalty

In the Japanese tradition, the bushidō (武士道?) is a term translated as “the way of the warrior”.

It is a strict and particular ethical code to which many samurai (or bushi) gave their lives, which demanded loyalty and honor until death. If a samurai failed to maintain his honor, he could recover it by practicing seppuku (ritual suicide).

“The Way of the Warrior” is not simply a list of rules to which a warrior must adhere in exchange for his title, but a set of principles that prepare a man or a woman to fight without losing their humanity, and to lead and command without losing contact with basic values. It is a description of a way of life, and a prescription to make a noble warrior-man.

At the heart of bushido is the samurai’s acceptance of death.