Accept circumstances gracefully. All things have their reason, so don’t grumble and complain. In a word, this is simply the way things are. Stoutheartedly, no matter your current situation, you must get back upon your feet; you must not become discouraged. Most important for this is having faith. Unless the dynamo of your faith is strong, it will be very difficult to regain your feet, and even having done so you will soon become disheartened again.
Therefore, you must equip yourself with a dynamo of faith, and know how to care for it and use it. All of this is essential. It may sound a simple matter, and in theory it is quite plain and clear, but in a pinch it is hardly such an easy matter.
Rather than simply enduring difficulties passively, let us accept them with gratitude. If we start by feeling thankful for our hardships, rather than simply bearing them in helpless resignation, we will then develop a positive attitude.
Why must we feel gratitude? We did not create this world, nor are we able to create so much as a single drop of water. Air, soil, sunshine—all these we receive from a greater power wholly beyond the influence of mankind. Even the development of our own knowledge occurs through our asking others about that which we do not understand: receiving the teachings of masters, reading books, or benefiting from the prevailing culture of the time. These are the essential means to intellectual growth.
Thus we must discard the urge to do things solely on our own. Unless we do so, we will be unable to know true feelings of gratitude. In nine cases out of ten, we must be aware that we have been helped by others.
Once we come to know feelings of gratitude, an opportunity for reciprocation will follow. Merely clasping your hands while entertaining thankful feelings is not enough. If you feel gratitude for having benefited from the help of others, then you must strive to repay the debt you owe to heaven, your parents, and your fellow men. Unless you have accomplished something for the sake of the earth, cultivated something, and left behind at least a small mark of your time here, then your birth into this world will have had no meaning. You will die a good-for-nothing louse.
Aren’t first impressions perhaps more correct than we realize?
With familiarity, we are no longer able to clearly judge matters. Caught up in something, we cannot truly perceive it.
In this sense, the dissatisfaction felt by youth regarding society is extremely pure, but as they gradually become inured to the world and caught up in mundane matters, they lose this clarity of spirit.
Idealism divorced from reality is a castle built on sand. Without a firm foundation, one cannot hope to build a stable house.
If neglect the small step in the present moment, you can go nowhere.
The young and inexperienced are apt to do nothing but spout theory, thinking themselves well-learned, when in truth there is not a single thing they are capable of. A true master of an art will appear lacking in any great erudition.
The only way to go about things is by forming a personal resolve to action. No matter how much others ply you with advice, until you can agree with what is suggested, you should continue on according to your own convictions.
Since even external restrictions, from a broad point of view, are bestowed by God, it is best that we make the best of our situations patiently, and without chafing. If we fail to find such patience through the understanding that all things come from God—and instead think “I hate this! I hate this!” while piling up evil in our hearts—then the poisonous thought “I hate this!” will stifle us inside, while injuring all around us.
We often tend to bear a lump of ill-feeling deep in our hearts. In failing to reflect fully upon our inner selves, we do not realize that this ill-feeling is the reason why we find everything unpleasant, and we instead blame those around us. Because people tend to be incorrigibly self-centered, they are apt to thoughtlessly blame others without realizing that it is their own lack of understanding which is at fault. No matter where they go or what their circumstances, such people can never know true happiness. Only their degree of discontent and displeasure varies with change in place and situation. This is because their spirits reside in the infernal.
However, since we all tend to be creatures of vanity by nature, unless we are humbled by a truly bitter learning experience, we will never realize that the fault lies with us. If we find our present circumstances unpleasant, and so set about to escape them, we will find ourselves in an even worse situation than before. And so again we turn to something else. But things are still just as difficult. At this point we finally realize that our original situation was actually something to be grateful for. From then on, even if we return to those original circumstances, we will at last know composure, and will understand that no matter how difficult things are, we must patiently persevere.
If, in turning to a wholly new situation, we find in it far greater happiness than before, then of course nothing could be better than this. Since following your instincts and satisfying your inmost spirit by attempting something will not sully your heart, then rather than always worrying and vacillating it is best to make a clear decision and be at peace.
Follow the principle of “Experience rather than study”. If you have the leisure to spout various petty arguments, you should simply shut up and pliantly set about taking action. Today’s young students are quite skillful at polemic, but in actual practice they are often found to be unable to do a single thing properly.
There is nothing wrong with scholarship. The problem lies with people’s attitudes. Not just with scholarship, but with fortune, social status, talent, and looks as well, so long as we take pride in such possessions we are wholly unable to receive any true spiritual advancement or Divine blessing. But there is nothing wrong with having such backgrounds or possessions. On the contrary, the more assets we have, the more we can take positive action in all areas. It all simply depends upon our individual intentions.
Armchair logic is plain and easy. But in actual practice things are complex and delicate, and it soon becomes keenly apparent that trifling theories are of no use. Though having read a million books about sugar, the person who has never tasted it will be no closer to understanding its flavor than before. He who has practiced swimming atop a bench for years will still quickly drown in deep water.
Those who wish to taste deeply of life should immerse themselves in a great many different experiences. This is the only way. However, ordinary people like you and I are liable to be encumbered by our backgrounds and trivial possessions, becoming indolent, arrogant, and ungrateful. Thus, those who gain distinction after being raised in prosperous circumstances are rare—in eight or nine cases out of ten, such distinguished people are those who have overcome adversity and endured great hardship in their lives.
We are by nature lazy. Knowing full well that we should do this or that, and meeting with favorable circumstances to do so, we somehow still fail to take any action. We tend to put things off until the very last minute, when we can no longer avoid them. Because we are filled with a deep inclination towards self-absorption, we are apt to avoid any unpleasant self-exertion at all costs.
Therefore, we should develop the habit of spurring ourselves on without cease, doing what must be done, and accomplishing our tasks one after another. When doing something one believes must be done, to the best of one’s ability, even though one is suffering greatly in mind and body, deep in one’s heart there arises an inexpressible feeling of invigoration and happiness.
Act! Act widely! Act unhesitatingly! Act unflaggingly!
Without acting you will know nothing, gain nothing, and understand nothing.
