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 ■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.

　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.

 

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.