f done in anger, any action will be the creation of a hell; if done in joy, everything one does will be the creation of paradise.
If only we are conscious of serving God in all we do, our actions will be happy, carefree, and full of gratitude. Moreover, to act with the feeling that it is for God will not go unnoticed. Without realizing it, we will come to receive the blessing of God in equal measure.
In all matters, if we approach a person with a feeling of gladness, without fail that person will feel happy and grateful too.
On the other hand, if you approach a stranger with even the slightest feeling of dislike, he will be compelled to feel the same dislike for you.
A bushel measure holds only a bushel, a pint measure no more than a pint. A vessel for happiness attracts all the joy it will hold; a vessel for sadness will be filled to capacity with sorrow.
Luck and misfortune, sorrow and joy, good and evil—what returns to us is no more than what we send out.
An infant in a poor and struggling household knows no worry. This is because such things as poverty do not enter its thoughts. Even among merchants who are rolling in wealth, there are some who fail to sleep at night from worry over small changes in market price. This is because they have come to identify themselves completely with their business. For the person planning to hold a picnic, overcast weather the evening before will keep him up and worrying till dawn, while the person who is planning to stay home will care not a whit whether it looks like rain or not. Thinking brings on worry; what we are unaware of does not trouble us.
Even when it rains for days on end, because we all know that it will eventually stop, we do not worry. However, when a little bit of hardship befalls us, we worry and feel sorry for ourselves, thinking only of the worst.
It is a curious fact that even a person who understands something of the workings of this world—rain and sunshine, sunrise and sunset, blooming and withering—will, in a pinch where his own body is concerned, completely lose all his savoir faire. As a rule, the outsider sees more; even if we are able to appraise others fairly, when it comes to judging ourselves we become lost. This is the weak point of human nature. Because our physical bodies are instinctively no more than lumps of self-interest and self-preservation, we need to reflect deeply, and learn to feel the pain of others as our own.
To think that everyone else is happy, and only you are not, shows scant understanding of the reality of this world. It comes from only comparing yourself to people of a higher station. It is human nature to ignore our own faults while envying and grudging others, but we would be wise to get in the habit of first reflecting upon our own conduct.
In travelling widely over this earth, from beginning to end we will encounter myriad varieties of suffering, anguish, trouble, and calamity. Conscious of this, instead of becoming disheartened and upset by our own trifling troubles and failures, we should be able to live always with gratitude and joy. Tolerant of the actions of our fellow men, we will be able to view ourselves and others with calm deliberation.
The infant is an infant, and lives from day to day without worry or doubt; the child is a child, and passes his days without pondering the mysteries of this world; the adult is an adult, and grows inured to his world, living without surprise or wonder. Each becomes unwittingly set in believing that “the world is thus.”
A single thing can be perceived in a myriad of ways, depending on who is doing the looking.
As we progress, our earlier accomplishments come to seem without value, though at the time we may have felt we were doing work of the highest significance.
In the eyes of God, our actions must appear similar to those of a laughing and crying infant playing with its toys.
To steal ten yen from a man who has but a hundred, is a far greater sin than to steal a hundred yen from a man who has ten thousand. For a person who fills a broken bucket with soil and lovingly raises a morning glory in it, that plant is more valuable than the finest cypress on Mt. Ari. To the man whose house is on fire, a single ladleful of water is more precious than the Emperors highest decoration. If you are caught in a flood, a single floating log is infinitely more desirable than a chest filled with gold.
The value of all things is relative, and changes with the person, place, and time. This being so, to judge things to be good or bad based solely on their outward quality and quantity, is wholly inexcusable.
All of our preconceptions are the fruit of one-sided and limited human reasoning, unnaturally drummed into us since childhood. We must cast these aside, and quietly looking over the vastness of Nature, reflect upon man’s inborn nature. As long as we cling to various ideologies, and insist that things must be a certain way, we can only be called immature.
Spring puts forth spring colors; summer displays the air of summer—this the way of nature and Divine will. There are clouds and water, birds and trees—here can be found all the elements of a landscape painting. There is good and bad, west and east, floating and sinking, salt and sugar—this is the way the world works.
Spring is fine. But to become too caught up in spring, will only lead to restless angst. Sugar is sweet. But to gorge oneself upon it is a sure recipe to shorten one’s life.
If you become caught up in the belief that your own thoughts and possessions are unique, and indulge in it, it will only lead to the harming of nature, and the profaning of God.
All things are in constant flux. Everything is regenerating without cease. At dawn one’s spirit is newly born, by nightfall it is a mature corpse. Higher, deeper, broader, further, better, more beautiful—it is my desire to live each and every day renewed and afresh.
By following the exact same mottoes, ideals, and principles year after year, persisting to the end in furthering one’s own selfish interests, it is abundantly clear that any country, race, or individual will make not the slightest progress.
Nothing is better than for the child to act like a child, the youth to act befitting a youth, and the old man to act appropriate to an old man.
Just as an infant starts out being raised dreamily in the brightness of this world, and gradually comes to take interest in the things around him, for adults too it is uncommon to feel a fascination with something from the very beginning. Instead, we start off doing something with indifference, and in the process gradually come to take an interest in it.
For some people, just the thought of mathematics is enough to give them a headache. But even with dry and dull math, through the process of doing it one gradually comes to feel the interest it holds.
Therefore, instead of trying something just once and giving up, by quietly persevering, you will eventually warm to it, and come to enjoy it.
Because art is long and life is short, if we are overly fastidious and choosy, we will find ourselves at the end of the line without having accomplished a single thing.
A good life is to be as patient as possible, taste as much of the world as possible, and to die having felt much gratitude to God.
