World peace can be achieved easily

World peace can be achieved easily

We, humans, have repeated wars and conflicts for thousands of years, yet tragic wars and conflicts are still happening around the world at this very moment.

Especially those who are well aware of such a fact may think that nothing is more difficult than achieving peace, but I'm confident that world peace can be achieved easily.

Many people in their right mind have expressed various opinions as to how we can rid the world of wars and conflicts to attain peace.

However, I think that most of the opinions focus on how to suppress the potential for wars and conflicts, based on a concept that wars and conflicts will occur if nothing is done.

In order to achieve a peaceful world without wars and conflicts, there's no other way but to first identify the root cause of wars and conflicts and remove it.

Why do wars and conflicts occur?

The reason is that (most) humans have a sense of separation, where not only humans are separate from each other, but everything is separate from everything else.

Why do (most) humans have the sense of separation?

Because humans have a cerebrum (brain) that can only think in relative, dualistic terms, unlike other animals.

For this reason, we tend to see things superficially or have a one-sided view, and are much more likely to be deluded that all beings are separate.

If humans were all separate individuals that came together to live, then it would be natural to feel that one man's loss would be another man's gain.

This is true for both person-to-person relations and country-to-country relations.

Students are told to help each other at school, but parents and teachers actually say "You have to win the rat race in a society that places emphasis on academic background."

When we go out into the real world, it is competitive societies that exist between and even within companies.

This is really an eat-or-be-eaten world for countries.

Yet, the truth of existence is the sense of inseparability. Not just humans but all animals and plants are your buddies, your second selves, and your brothers and sisters.

Once you realize the truth, the idea or the feeling of fighting never occurs.

An increase in the number of people who realize the truth of existence, the sense of inseparability, will bring the world rapidly closer to peace.

Fortunately, this is not difficult at all.

The sense of inseparability is the essential nature of this world, so it cannot be difficult.

Anyone that tries to see the world with the feeling that all things are one will understand it easily.

All that is required is that everyone realizes the truth of existence.

World peace can be achieved very easily.

(Here’s a rare message: The "Life Seminar" I lead helps almost all participants to realize the truth of existence with clarity, in just a few hours.)

Let’s live pleasantly

Let’s live pleasantly

I decided to live my life pleasantly at the age of 22.

The fact that I had met Master Shigemasa Wada was the biggest reason that inspired me to make the decision.

Having met him, I paused to realize how my way of life had been far from pleasant.

Since then, I have lived my life, occasionally telling myself to live pleasantly.

I’m well aware that I have no words to reply with if someone asks, “You’re pleasant? How?”

At the same time, it’s true that I think I’m living much more pleasantly than before I made the decision.

Anyway, to be more precise, my expression “let’s live pleasantly” would be “let’s live pleasantly no matter what the circumstances may be or no matter what may happen.”

This is because life does not always go the way you want.

“Life does not always go the way you want.” This is an absolute truth.

For your thoughts originally differ from facts.

In other words, the stream of thoughts differs from the stream of facts.

You can envision something and try to influence a fact accordingly, but it cannot be said that doing so necessarily makes or changes the fact as you wish.

Consequently, it’s a big loss to feel depressed or unhappy or get angry when you find that things failed to work out as you wish. It might be better to say it’s utterly foolish.

Many people assume somewhere in their minds that facts must end up as you want, which is really illusion and also delusion.

So many people also seem to be bound by the idea of “having to do things.”

Mind you examine the idea carefully. There’s essentially nothing you have to do in the world.

I cannot help but hope that people will realize as soon as possible how silly they are to be bound by the illusion, rather, the delusion that things have to be a certain way, which makes themselves as well as people around them suffer.

These may sound like very rude or arrogant comments, but I’m forced to accept that I myself was most silly.

Some people might say, “Actually, I’m not really sure if this is an illusion or a delusion.”

I recommend a method to these people.

The method is to live from this very moment with a determination to live pleasantly no matter what the circumstances may be or no matter what may happen, even though you are not sure if that is an illusion or a delusion.

That way you can really live pleasantly no matter what the circumstances may be or no matter what may happen. In addition, you’ll naturally realize that the ideas such as “facts end up as expected” and “facts will work out as expected” are illusions or delusions.

You’ll see once you try it.

Creating peace (part 3)

Creating peace (part 3)

A person who reads my blog all the time told me her thoughts on “Creating peace (part 2).”

Here’s what the person said: “I think I should or I have to stop my way of life built on the sense of separation and switch it to a way of life built on the sense of inseparability, but I can’t imagine why living in that way would make me excited because I’ve never lived based on the sense of inseparability.”

Actually, a surprisingly large number of people have such impressions or doubts.

It’s really a pity that people get stuck in that kind of doubt and hesitate to go ahead with the true way of life.

Let me explain it with a couple of examples.

The first example is a story of smoking. To not smoke is very natural and nothing particularly exciting for non-smokers.

On the contrary, if smokers examine the truth about cigarettes and clearly realize that smoking has only outrageous demerits, then they will be happy to have realized the truth. They will be dying to stop smoking. They will find themselves feeling excited, thinking about being freed from their enslavement to smoking.

Let’s take another example. It is a matter of course and nothing particularly exciting for ordinary people to be able to go anywhere and do anything they please.

Suppose someone has, for some reason, been put in a dark, damp jail for years. They can’t go anywhere freely and their movement is restricted. How wonderful it would be for them if they could get out of jail and go anywhere or do anything freely. Then, if they were finally allowed to go out of jail, I’m sure they’d be excited just to think of it.

Here’s still another example. It is said that people know the value of health only after they lose it. To be in good health is natural and nothing particularly exciting for a healthy person.

In contrast, if a person who has suffered for a long time from a disease is told by someone reliable, “if you do so-and-so, you’ll definitely recover your health,” the person will be automatically excited and smile, imagining themself getting better and healthy.

As evident from the above examples, the true way of life built on the sense of inseparability is actually a natural, ordinary way of life, and the way of life itself is nothing really exciting or special. The only thing is that you are always satisfied and have a peace of mind.

However, the way of life built on the sense of separation causes distress not only to yourself but also to people near you, and is also the root cause of various problems in society as a whole. With a clear realization of this fact, who wouldn’t want to escape from it as soon as possible to switch to the way of life based on the truth of inseparability?

Doesn’t just imagining it make you excited and happy?

Creating peace (part 2)

Creating peace (part 2)

Some people still continue their way of life built on the sense of separation even after they realize that it’s incorrect and that a way of life built on a sense of inseparability is true.

I think there are a couple of reasons for this.

Firstly, their understanding is inadequate in some cases.

Secondly, more than a few people do not have sufficient intuition to feel something is wrong, even if their actual way of life differs from what they have realized.

I think this is because their attitude toward a true way of life is not strong enough. If it was stronger, they would find their way of life to be different and change; but they still continue to live in the same way without noticing anything. This is truly disappointing.

Life is indispensable to anyone, and I cordially advise you to reflect on your past conduct and firmly define the direction of your life if you think this may be the case.

Thirdly, people have thought a lot about a true way of life in their own way, have understood more or less that the sense of separation is incorrect and that the sense of inseparability is the truth of existence, and they believe that they are determined to change their way of life built on the sense of separation and switch it to the way of life built on the sense of inseparability; in fact, they still continue their way of life built on the sense of separation.

In other words, in the third case people think they have got off the train for Tokyo (way of life built on the sense of separation) and have changed to the train for Kyoto (way of life built on the sense of inseparability), but actually they’re still on the train for Tokyo powerwalking toward Kyoto.

This is often the case with people who use their heads too much. Let me explain it as usual by taking the story of quitting smoking as an example.

It goes this way: you have realized that smoking has no merit and you think you are determined to give it up. Nevertheless, the determination lasts only a couple of days at the most, and before long, you give way to your desire and start to smoke again.

So many people fit the description above regarding smoking.

How can you tell the difference between the case where you have really changed to the train for Kyoto and the case where you think that you have, but are actually still on the train for Tokyo?

You can tell in the following way.

Although you try to stop smoking, if you still have any halfhearted or regretful feelings, “I should quit. It can’t be helped. I’ll do my best somehow,” it means that you still want to smoke and you don’t want to quit at heart, which means that you haven’t quit in fact.

In other words, you merely half-think in your head that you have changed to the train for Kyoto.

When you decide to stop smoking, if you are dying to quit as soon as possible, are excited and bursting with joy, it means you have genuinely stopped smoking.

Ascertaining the truth about smoking to that extent is the key to quitting.

This criterion for judging is the most important point for making a variety of selections and decisions in your life, as well as for stopping smoking.

Creating peace (part 1)

Creating peace (part 1)

To date, so many people have made strenuous efforts wishing for a peaceful world; yet the world of truly everlasting peace hasn’t be realized.

Why is that?

In my opinion, this is because a surprisingly simple thing has been left unnoticed due to some serious oversights.

Let me explain it in plain terms.

Suppose you are at Nagoya Station, on the bullet train platform now. You are waiting for a train to go to Kyoto. The train comes and you get on the first car.

After the train starts moving, you notice you have jumped on a train bound for Tokyo, in the opposite direction, by mistake.

Do you powerwalk toward the last car of the train to head in the right direction, toward Kyoto?

This does not allow you to approach Kyoto at all. Rather, it makes you advance rapidly toward Tokyo, despite all your efforts.

Likewise, no matter how hard we oppose war, we cannot realize a world of truly everlasting peace if we leave a breeding ground for war.

In order to achieve a world of truly everlasting peace, we need to eradicate the breeding ground for war itself and create a breeding ground for peace.

Calls for opposition to war may have the symptomatic effect of temporarily stopping movements toward war, and are necessary in that sense, of course.

Forces for war, however, turn out to view opposing movements as a threat, which unfortunately creates more powerful reactionary movements. Don’t you think conflicts between the two sides would escalate readily in this manner?

Even if you desire peace from your heart and eagerly express opposition to war while ignoring its breeding ground, that alone will not contribute to the ultimate impoverishment of the breeding ground itself because it partly contains an opposing element.

Herein, the breeding ground for war refers to the state of society based on a sense of separation. The breeding ground for peace refers to the state of society based on a sense of inseparability.

We should still promote campaigns against war as a symptomatic treatment to stop (even if only slightly) the present movements toward war. In addition, in order to realize a world of truly everlasting peace by eradicating the breeding ground for war and creating a breeding ground for peace, we should also strongly and seriously promote non-opposing peace movements by treating the issue fundamentally.

It should be noted that if the non-opposing peace movements are merely self-satisfying, by simply praying for peace for example, it fails to help in eliminating the breeding ground for war and creating a breeding ground for peace.

Fortunately, the key to creating a truly everlasting peaceful world is right in your hands.

It would be much appreciated if you could thoroughly read my book Beyond National Egoism for details.

The button of hope

The button of hope

We need to pass through many processes before the ideal of a Nation for International Peace and the Environment* is raised in Japan.

For these processes, we would do well to think about the most effective way of proceeding with them at each occasion as changes develop in line with this proposal.

The most important process among them is obviously that the number of proposal supporters needs to increase rapidly.

So how can we increase the number of supporters?

To begin with, do you support the proposal yourself?

Do you think it is difficult to increase the number of supporters of the proposal?

You might feel a little puzzled being asked one question after another in this way.

Let me give my opinion.

First of all, I myself think that we can rapidly increase the number of supporters of the proposal.

The reason is simple. If we think we can’t, then it’s finished.

I’m confident that we can surely find an effective way to do it if we all consider how to, in the belief that we can make it.

Next, I think that it’s easy to increase the number of supporters of the proposal.

The approach does not suggest changing current politics, economy, or anything else right now. Instead of directly touching upon these topics, it only asks “what do you think would be best for the future state of Japan?”

Considering this, isn’t it such an easy thing to support the proposal?

The first stage only requires an increase in the number of supporters.

Once the number of supporters reaches a certain level, various movements arise among them, causing the number of supporters to increase even more.

It’s just like when a small fire starts in a dry, grassy plain where it has hardly rained, and in a moment the fire grows stronger and spreads to cover the whole area.

Simply put, if you think something is “difficult,” it will actually be difficult for you.

Anything, even something possible, cannot be achieved if you’re trying it in a pessimistic mood with negative thoughts, like “Oh, dear! What a pain!”

The key to success is to try to make things work positively, with a bright and cheerful attitude, like “We can’t fail! It’s easy!”

Now you have a button in your hand.

If you press this button, a world of everlasting peace will definitely come true, as if by magic.

I name it a “magic button,” but it may be better to call it a “button of hope.”

Why don’t you press the button of hope one more time at the beginning of the New Year?

Why not let as many people as possible know about the presence of the button of hope this year?

May the New Year be a hopeful year to all that live!

* For full details, please refer to my book:
Shohei Nomura, Beyond National Egoism - The Road to a Nation for International Peace and the Environment (English ver.), Mamizu-Shuppan, 2008

And the Beyond National Egoism NetWork website:
http://beynatego.jimdo.com/

Life and death

Life and death

Everything existing in this universe, regardless of whether it is an animate or inanimate being, is present and active owing to the fundamental force of the universe, “life.”

In short, the appearance and disappearance of all things merely puts the act of life into motion.

It follows that the mechanism of life’s activities also includes physical human life and death.

Such activities of the universe are performed because of physical life and death, leaving aside the way each of us reacts emotionally.

To say it in a different way, life is here because of death and death is here because of life.

In that sense, if birth is a congratulatory occasion, then we may as well rejoice over death.

The bottom line is that both the phenomenon of life and the phenomenon of death are essentially just occurring to make life apparent.

I never think of the many people afraid of death or those who feel sad about someone’s death as being funny.

But if you feel fear and sorrow over death, I think it would be all the more better to treasure every moment spent with people joined by fate to you, to get along with everyone the whole time, and to live your life to the fullest, without regret.

What I’d really like to say here, however, is that you’ll neither die nor suffer.

It’s certainly safe to say that we humans have life and death, both physically and spiritually.

Having said that, our body and mind are the means for our essence to live.

Our essence, or what we really are, is life itself.

Life is using this body and mind to live.

Life was never originally born and will never die.

Life never suffers and cannot be contaminated.

This is why I’d like to say that we should live fully, contribute to all even in some small way, and get along with everyone, in every respect, sincerely and free from fear, without being narrow-minded.

By the way, life itself has no difference in its nature or size.

This means that the life that uses the body and mind to live, or your true self, is completely the same in quality as the life, or the fundamental force of the universe, that creates the universe and acts on everything thereof.

This is the same as the fact that the water in the ocean does not have the slightest difference from a dewdrop on a leaf.

If you think about it with your brain, it may not seem to make sense because our brains can only process things based on relative concepts; the fact is that there’s only one life, which is not different in its nature or size.

Here’s a question: where were you five years before you were “born” into this world with your body and mind?

Thinking about it won’t lead you to the true answer.

Practicing meditation will enable the answer, in good time, to suddenly occur to you.

Natural Way of Meditation

Natural Way of Meditation

People are inherently enlightened.

People are happy as they are.

You cannot pass the truth of existence to people by teaching them, nor can you see it by being taught.

You can realize the truth of existence only through your own real experience.

I have repeated this many times in this blog.

I have also talked about some ways to realize it.

This time, I’ll explain its very essence, the “Natural Way of Meditation.”

I gave it that name myself.

There might be other meditation methods with the same name. They’re probably different, although I wouldn’t mind if they were the same.

The Natural Way of Meditation I propose is a method of doing nothing that requires no effort. I think it is the most natural method.

First, switch off your mobile. Turn off your home phone, or put the answering machine on.

Sit on a soft floor cushion, a sofa, or an armchair.

Sit in a comfortable position that doesn’t create tension.

Seating in the seiza position (with your legs under you) or in the fold-legged zazen posture is fine, but if you feel your knees or legs tense, then sitting cross-legged is better.

Don’t lower your head too much, or you will have clouded thoughts and also become sleepy.

If your head touches a wall or the back of a chair, you will be concerned about the area, so keep your head apart from surfaces.

Close your eyes. You may practice meditation with your eyes open once you are fully used to it.

Just be here and now, as you are, without doing anything.

Simply observe sounds that reach your ears, thoughts that come into your head, emotions, and sensations of the body, as they are, without analyzing or criticizing them.

When it comes to “observing,” you may think that you have to concentrate. Just relax however, because concentrating means tensing up.

If an analytical or critical thought appears following an emotion or thought that comes to your mind, do nothing but watch the thought as well, just the way it is.

Our brains are always divided by conflicts that arise between facts and thoughts, such as “it’s supposed to be this way” or “is this OK?”

The conflict is very subtle, but causes tension and a feeling of uneasiness.

The conflict itself prevents us from seeing the bare fact.

The thought that “it’s supposed to be this way” or “is this OK?” is also a fact happening here and now all the same; accordingly, watch the thought as it stands.

Thinking that it should be removed adds another thought: “it’s supposed to be this way.”

You therefore only need to observe everything happening here and now, as is.

This is exactly the truth of here and now, the one and only truth; there are no other truths.

Realizing this fact will bring you great peace of mind and sheer bliss.

You will then find complete silence.

Moreover, you will know that this silence is your true self.

Everything is simply happening in complete and utter silence.

You will see everything—the sound of a refrigerator, a voice, the sound of a car, a thought in the head, an emotion, and sensations of the body—happening in complete silence.

And you will realize it is everything happening that is silence.

Everything is one.

There is no inside or outside.

There are no boundaries.

There is no self; there are no others.

Here and now lacks nothing.

Everything is just happening.

Everything is perfect.

How to see your self properly

How to see your self properly

The Self-seeing Method is the practice of simply seeing thoughts (ideas and emotions) that arise and then fade away, as they are, without any criticism or judgment. You can do it in your everyday life, just like watching scenery, for one to three minutes (or longer when you get used to doing it).

The purpose of this method is to realize the following: it’s the “great being,” not the body, the thoughts nor the emotions that is exactly what your true self is; and your true self exists permanently, without death or harm, under any circumstance.

Once the above has been clarified, you’ll be free from all suffering.

The Self-seeing Method is an excellent practice anyone can perform easily.

This is why I recommend this method to many people, some of whom say they can’t do it properly.

Asking them how they do it, I find that most people seem to do it the wrong way, based on assumptions or preconceived notions.

The preconceived notion is to see thoughts while being conscious that it is “you” that are thinking these thoughts when they arise.

That is to say, the concept of “yourself” is attached to thoughts that appear, right from the beginning.

For this reason, people see thoughts in such a way that makes these thoughts almost equal to the self, which prevents them from seeing at a distance.

The fact is that thoughts simply arise from nowhere, stay for a while, and then fade away into nothing, in the same manner that white clouds appear on their own in a blue sky, stay there for a while, and then fade away into nothing.

However, because people unconsciously take it for granted that “I” am thinking so and attach the idea of self to thoughts that appear, they cannot clearly define their true selves apart when seeing these thoughts from a distance.

You do not personally create white clouds, and neither do you create thoughts, likewise. Thoughts simply arise by themselves and then fade away.

When you see white clouds in the sky, the clouds and the self that is seeing them are clearly separate from each other.

When you feel pain in a part of your body, the pain in the body and the self that is seeing it are obviously separate, as long as you don’t have the preconceived notion or assumption that the body is “me.”

The point of the Self-seeing Method is to realize the wrong assumptions, “my sensations” and “my thoughts,” and simply see the sensations of the body or the thoughts arise, stay, and fade away by themselves, just like watching the scenery.

If a thought arises, followed by a critical or judgmental thought regarding the first, the only thing you should do is simply see the latter thought.

World of truth and world of illusion (part 2)

World of truth and world of illusion (part 2)

The world of truth is laid bare here and now.

This crude reality is exactly what the world of truth is.

Separate individuals or your self are nowhere to be found in reality.

Life simply manifests itself in various ways.

There’s no good or bad.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t think something is good or bad.

Thinking something is good or bad is neither good nor bad.

Originally, there’s no good or bad. I’m just stating the fact.

In short, the world is merely happening beyond every (good or bad) thought, every (sad or happy) emotion, and every notion or concept.

The world is thus complete as is with various things happening (there’s a limit to what words can express).

Everything is just happening in this completeness.

This doesn’t mean I’m saying you should do something, or you don’t have to do anything.

In reality, it’s a very simple world.

Complete freedom, serenity, and joy are here.

It’s really easy to enter this world because you’re already here.

All you have to do is admit it: “Oh, so this is how it is.”

For example, quitting smoking is said to be very difficult.

That’s because people take it for granted that their life won’t be enjoyable without cigarettes, which they absolutely need, and so they try to suppress their desire to smoke.

Even those current smokers should readily understand that smoking is not necessary at all, if they can recall that they never originally needed to smoke in the past.

So, no desire to smoke occurs. If you don’t feel like smoking, you don’t need any suppression or effort to keep you from it.

As described above, in order to quit smoking, you only need to realize that everyone is a nonsmoker by nature.

Likewise, you have only to realize the idea that the existence of individuals and your self is an illusion.

Humans aside, animals have no sense of individuals or self.

When we were babies, each of us never had an idea of individuals or self. As we grew up in this society where people firmly believe in separate existences, we automatically came to have this sense.

It’s actually easy to realize that there are no individuals or self.

Without a pressing awareness of the issue however, you might end up understanding it only intellectually.

That’s not the way to do it.

Anyway, it may be that humans are designed to need to tread a paradoxical path, unlike other animals and plants.

Nonetheless, realizing the truth is such a simple thing because that’s essentially how it is.

The truth of existence is here and now, in a truly simple manner.

World of truth and world of illusion (part 1)

World of truth and world of illusion (part 1)

The world of truth is the world of “life.”

Only life really exists; nothing else essentially does.

This is one inseparable world where life weaves various tapestries moment by moment.

There is not a single thing separate, nor is there an “individual,” or a “self.”

Humans have a cerebrum (brain) that can only think relatively, perceive through the five senses, and recognize the world as a patchwork of individual things.

In other words, humans tend to be deluded that countless individual entities exist, one of them being themself.

Conversely, if you see the world of truth assuming your self exists, then it looks like a mixture of separate individuals.

That is merely the world of illusion, however.

How can we see the world of truth?

The world of truth becomes visible once the sense of self disappears and blends into the whole.

Humans aside, plants and animals have no human-like thoughts, and human babies have brains that are still developing; they live in a straightforward manner in the inseparable world without a sense of self.

Actually, at the instinctive level humans also live in a straightforward manner in the inseparable world of truth, independent of the brain and the sense of self.

You can observe this fact instantly from the various instinctive functions of the human body.

Humans are aware of the world of truth not only through the body but also by instinct or somewhere beyond, while perceiving the world as fragmented by their brains.

Even though the perception is an illusion, it is also true that humans live in the world of truth, including the illusion.

This is because nothing leaves the inseparable world of truth.

The only fact is that it feels somehow unsmooth.

Nonetheless, that is also a manifestation of life.

Perhaps, life manifests itself in a human way with some kind of intention.

How does the sense of self disappear and melt into the whole?

That is unknown.

One cannot say when or how because it just happens when it does.

It might be triggered by meditation.

It might happen when you reach a literal dead end of something.

It might happen while you’re walking casually in an absentminded manner.

It might happen while you’re washing the dishes in the kitchen.

Still, it is not that the world of truth exists somewhere.

The world of truth exists here and now.

Here and now is the world of truth.

It’s never been separated.

In the world of life, everything is complete as is and everything is fine beyond thoughts of good or bad.