Is your motive benign? Are you sure you are selfless?
Kazuo Inamori (Chairman Emeritus of Kyocera Corporation)
●Japanese
2007.12.21 00:00 | Today's word |
Track back(-) | コメント(2) |
The monthly “Chichi” is available only in Japanese.For further details regarding the contents of the magazine, please refer to Chichi WEB (Japanese version).
Buddhism has a teaching called “7 ways to give without having a fortune”, which teaches that everyone can give 7 things and plant seeds of pleasure even without having a fortune. How can you give without a fortune? What can you give?
”Zohozokyo (A Treasure House Miscellany)”, a Buddhist scripture, shows us the 7 ways, saying, “Buddha preaches that there are 7 ways to give, by which you can get very lucky without losing your property.”
1. A kind look.
2. Deal with others with a loving smile.
3. Warm words.
4. Use your body to serve others.
5. Have a considerate heart.
6. Give your seat to others.
7. Let others stay at your home.
It does not have to be something big. Buddha teaches us that people can plant seeds of pleasure by their small actions in their daily life, and make the flowers bloom. It is also the teaching of conditioning the way you are.
The teaching of “giving without having a fortune” reminds me of a story, which I heard from Mr. Yoshio Toi, who devoted his life to education of elementary and junior high school students.
There was a swimming competition held at a high school during summer vacation. One of the events was an interclass relay, in which representatives of each class participated. Among them, there was Miss. A, who was handicapped in her foot due to polio. She was selected as the representative for fun. However, she did not decline the role, participated in the swimming competition, and swam her course hard. Students at the poolside laughed and jeered at her clumsy swimming. Upon then, there was a man who dove to the swimming pool with his suit on. That was the principle of the high school.
The principle stayed by Miss. A, who was swimming hard, and cheered at her, saying, “Hang in there”, “Hang in there”. The students gradually became quiet by looking at his actions.
Let me share you another story. There was an elderly woman, who was bed-ridden and needed others’ help for everything. She was always grumpy while being taken care of, probably in dislike of her status as such. At a time, a Buddhist monk told her the “7 ways to give without having a fortune”, but she said, “You say I have things to give, but I have nothing to give to others with my body being like this.” The monk replied, “You have something to give as well. When others do something for you, join your hands in prayer and say thank you. Those who hear the word will be pleased. Your word of appreciation can plant a seed of pleasure.” The elderly woman cried in joy upon hearing that.
“If you rejoice, pleasure will come to you and rejoice with you, collecting the fellow pleasures in joy along the way. If you lament, sadness will come to you to lament with you, collecting the fellow sadness in lament along the way. ── These are the words I learned from an enlightened person when I was young. I wish everyone lives a life planting seeds of pleasure.
Lastly, let me share a poem that Mr. Toi presented me.
《Rainy days have hidden their intrinsic pleasures／Sad days have hidden their intrinsic pleasures／Let’s explore their intrinsic pleasures／And then…／Let’s plant seeds of pleasure／Let’s make the flowers of pleasure bloom／Everywhere around your bonds……》
2007.12.01 00:00 | Special Feature |
Track back(-) | コメント(0) |
There Are Two Ways of Living for a Person
Hidesaburo Kagiyama, Advisor of YellowHat
■A Life of an Invoice and a Life of a Receipt
“More, more, more.”
To live by asking and wanting indefinitely is the “life of an invoice”, so my acquaintance, Mr. Setsushi Ariyoshi once told me.
When Mr. Ariyoshi was a little boy, his grandmother taught him to worship when visiting temples and shrines, by praying and thanking the gods, in which the worship is in the form of a receipt, instead of an invoice.
Although aspiring and inquisitive minds are important traits which are indispensable for a person to grow, excessive desires could make a person vulgar, and lead to tarnishing the nations’ dignity.
Mr. Ariyoshi’s story taught me to live the “life of a receipt” that appreciates what is given to you now, instead of being demanding.
There are many people in Japan who are living a life of a receipt, but they are out of the public eye, because what is common to those living a life of a receipt is being unspectacular and clandestine, while those who live a life of an invoice are flashy and stand out.
People who live a life of a receipt sincerely work on things even if they are not sure when their efforts will bear fruit, without being given any attention from anyone, without being singled out. Their figures are untouched by vulgarity.
They continue working with all their hearts, with serving others alone in mind, without relying or asking others. Their figures are abundant with magnetic charm.
Their quiet character attracts me just by meeting once, and I can become close to these people as if old friends, though we live in different worlds. While we talk, I feel an emotion swelling inside me to pray for their success and to help them, even modestly. Also, I realize the importance of supporting those who live their lives like the life of a receipt to form connections among them.
■The Kind of Human Interaction to Pursue
Ancients admonish us that human interactions easily tend to become “interactions for interests”, which have 5 types: interaction for bribery, interaction with powerful people, interaction comparing advantages, interaction of suave talkers, and interaction of “Misery loves company”. Many people finish their precious lives in vain interactions.
What is common to those who live in the world of interactions for interests is “a way of a living of an invoice”. Even in diplomacy among nations, if each side insists on the “national interests” alone, it is not diplomacy but just an interaction for interests.
The interactions of those of a life of a receipt are called “natural interactions”, and are unknowingly in compliance with 3 principles as friends. I am convinced that Japan can become a truly beautiful nation when the 3 principles are followed in its politics, administration, and economy.
●3 Principles（Excerpt from ”The Buddhist Scripture on Causality of Past and Present”）
1. If your friend does something wrong, do not oversee it but advise with all your heart.
2. If your friend encounters good fortune, rejoice from the bottom of your heart.
3. If your friend is in difficulty or in misfortune, never abandon him.
2007.12.01 00:00 | Prefatory Note |
Track back(-) | コメント(0) |
【Conversation】 Everyone has One’s Own Light, So Nurture the Light
Yo Ishikawa (Mendicant Priest) & Kayoko Sakaoka (Representative of Haguruma-no-ie)
Mr. Yo Ishikawa has been living his life in the “geza*1” training of humility, as the last disciple of Mr. Tenko Nishida*2, the founder of Ittoen*3. Ms. Kayoko Sakaoka has been supporting the recovery of children with problems in the “Haguruma-no-ie”, or the House of a Cogwheel. The two have overcome various conflicts and feuds, and have been planting many seeds of pleasure. They exchange their views sharing their experiences, and that the current society is in deeper disarray and we should have the heart to return it to order, and to what the parent-child relationship should be as it is the foundation of our society.
*1 "Geza" is the "life of sitting at the lower end” by placing yourself at a lower position than others, and by living according to the standpoint of suffering people and weak people at all times.
【Top Interview】The History of My “Boiling Water Management”
Takeo Higuchi (CEO of Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd.)
Mr. Takeo Higuchi is at the helm of Daiwa House Industry, which is a large organization with the sales of \1.6 trillion and 13,000 employees. Mr. Higuchi met the founding owner, Mr. Nobuo Ishibashi, and had been under his tutelage. Mr. Higuchi took up the slack in the organization, which was on the verge of a crisis after years of stability, and has injected new life into the company admirably. Let’s look into the boiling water-like hot business life of Mr. Higuchi, who has been planting seeds of pleasure through management.
【Conversation】Learn the Secret of Service from Konosuke Matsushita and the Ritz-Carlton
Akira Joko (Representative of Kokorozashi Network) & Noboru Takano (Regional Director of Sales of the Tokyo International Sales Office, the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company of Japan)
The Ritz-Carlton has an established reputation with its full of hospitality service. The service philosophy of this hotel, which came from abroad, is said to be very similar to the spirit of Matsushita Electric Industrial, which was said to be the representative of Japanese-style management. Mr. Akira Joko, who was under Mr. Konosuke Matsushita’s*1 tutelage and was once selected as the head of Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, and Mr. Noboru Takano, Regional Director of Sales of the Tokyo International Sales Office, the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company of Japan, discuss the essence of service to give pleasure to customers.
*1Konosuke Matsushita is the founder of the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
【Conversation】What Sontoku Ninomiya’s Way of Living Teaches Us - Plant Good Seeds and You Will Bear Good Fruits
Tadashi Tachibana (Representative of Ninomiya Kinjiro-no-kai) & Issei Terada (Representative of Fujin-sosho-kankokai）
At the end of the Edo Period*1, Sontoku Ninomiya*2 won the domain lord’s confidence despite his origin as a farmer under the feudal system, and headed agricultural promotion. He established his unique “Hotoku*3” style of diligent labor, remaining within bounds, and giving to others, and saved more than 600 villages. His way of living and his words have been giving hope and pleasure to modern people, even now. Mr. Tadashi Tachibana, Representative of Ninomiya Kinjiro*2-no-kai, made up his mind at the age of 85 to disseminate Sontoku’s philosophy and its implementation with a strong sense of mission, and Mr. Issei Terada, Representative of Fujin-sosho-kankokai, who edited the best seller “Daily Word from Sontoku Ninomiya”, talk about the greatness and magnetism of Sontoku Ninomiya.
*1 The Edo Period: 1603-1868
*2 Sontoku/Kinjiro Ninomiya (1787-1856) was a prominent 19th century Japanese agricultural leader and philosopher. He was born to a poor peasant family but became a great landowner through hard work. Even to this day, he tends to be regarded as a symbol of hard work and perseverance.
*3 Hotoku, or to repay virtue, is the concept meaning that all benefits received should be repaid.
2007.12.01 00:00 | PickupArticles |
Track back(-) | コメント(0) |
The monthly “Chichi” is available only in Japanese.For further details regarding the contents of the magazine, please refer to Chichi WEB (Japanese version).
Make Your Intrinsic Qualities Bloom
A legendary instructor──participants of his training classes call him so. The depth of content he teaches and the beauty of his movements are still deeply engraved in the minds of many people. This instructor is Mr. Kanji Nakata.
Mr. Nakata was born in the year Showa 35 (1960) in Osaka Prefecture. After graduating the School of Economics of Osaka University, he entered Daiei, where he was in charge of training in the Education Department. This had decided the direction of his life. He was attracted by the significance and appeal of human resources education, and changed his job to work for a large-scale training company, aiming at becoming a training instructor. It was when he was 27.
He stepped up tremendous efforts. Days of smooth sailing waited ahead. In his 4th year in the company, he won the Best Employee Award. In his 6th year, he became a manager supervising several instructors. He married Ms. Right and had kids.
Things went wrong in the year Heisei 8 (1996). He developed acute myeloid leukemia. He struggled with the disease for 4 months. Anticancer drug treatment was effective, and he was discharged in February next year. He relished the happiness of being with his family.
However, the peaceful days didn’t last long. On January 1 of the year Heisei 10 (1998), Mr. Nakata’s elder brother forced him to go to hospital, assuming something was wrong with him. Then a new disease was found. He was suffering from a brain tumor. He was immediately hospitalized and received a craniotomy procedure. Fortunately, the operation was successful. However, the pleasure didn’t last long. The leukemia recurred. This time, the treatment was effective again, and he was discharged in July of that year.
Nevertheless, destiny continued to give him even tougher ordeals.
After 1 month from being discharged, he happened to wake up early in the morning to find that he could not see out of his right eye. He received radiation therapy but it was not effective. Eventually he lost his vision in his left eye as well. Mr. Nakata became completely blind.
However, many people adored his character and asked for receiving his training, even in such a state. With the support from people whom Mr. Nakata called “people like God”, he continued working as an instructor.
After finishing his first training class since becoming completely blind, the managing director of the company that received his training said to him, “I have received and also held various training classes so far, but I have never encountered any training like yours. Your training is the best I have experienced.” This comment gave confidence to Mr. Nakata, and became the source of his activities afterwards.
Amid such days, his leukemia recurred once again. It was in January of the year Heisei 16 (2004).
“I can’t describe the feeling upon then with words. The shock was so tremendous that I felt like giving up my life.”
Yet, being encouraged by amazing supporters, Mr. Nakata started to powerfully walk his way again. It was then that our magazine featured him.
What matters for flowers is fragrance. What matters for people is personality. He was a kind of person who reminded me with these words. His struggle with the diseases that inflicted him refined his character as if it were shining.
Mr. Nakata suddenly passed away in August this year. While bathing, he collapsed face down in the bath tub, due to a stroke caused by the aftereffect of the brain tumor. Everything happened in just about 10 minutes. We suffer a real loss. Our sadness is endless.
“Tenshin”, or intrinsic qualities, is the world of Mr. Shinzo Mori in “Shushin-kyoju-roku*”. I interpret its meaning as the truth that Heaven gave to the person alone.
Mr. Nakata is exactly the person who lived his life by making his intrinsic qualities fully bloom.
He used to say with belief, “The spread of your magazine, ‘Chichi’, is sure to make Japanese people happy.” I sincerely pray for this soul mate. May he rest in peace.
*Shushin-kyoju-roku” is a book containing lectures on life delivered by an unparalleled educator Mr. Shinzo Mori.
2007.11.01 00:00 | Special Feature |
Track back(-) | コメント(0) |
Calendar
