Compass of the Times by Keiko Takahashi
March 2016
Compass of the Times 144
To Release Our Power
Keiko Takahashi
The Season of Life — Yayoi
March is traditionally called yayoi in Japan. This is the shortened form of the phrase ki-kusa iya oi zuki, which means “the month when plants finally begin to grow” and describes March of the lunar calendar.
We see that all plants across the fields and hills begin to sprout; the land rejuvenates and colors into young green all at once, while the buds open to reveal new life. That energy and power, of course, is what was in the plant itself.
What has been stored within the tightly sealed branches and stems of cherry trees, comes out all at once as cherry blossoms. In the same way, in the season of yayoi, inner energy and power begins to gush forth and flow. It is the time for buds to form, flowers to blossom, and hidden inner power to appear everywhere.
It is my wish that our March, befitting this season of life, will be the time to reveal our hidden inner power.
To Know Our Inner Power
Human beings harbor hidden powers.
We do not only live by accepting reality but also harbor the power to live our lives better.
It would be impossible for other creatures living in nature to produce a new reality, no matter what abilities they have. This is because they live in the present by instinct.
In contrast, human beings do not live entirely by instinct. Although they can show instinctive behaviors such as response to the stimuli of pleasure or pain, it still does not control all of their actions.
Human beings are distinctive in having the ability to think. They have the ability to choose right or left of their own volition. They can create what has never existed before. They can choose a different way of life from that which came before.
In addition, humans possess an ability to live by reflecting on the past and thinking of the future. They can imagine what will happen next based on the current situation. They can make judgments and take action by referring to incidents that happened in the past.
Humans have the power to choose the best way to deal with the reality that they face. By repeating in trial and error during the course of life, they learn from their experiences.
Of course, because of that power, human beings harbor anxiety and fear, and are tossed about by suspicion and jealousy. Intending to do something “for the better,” they sometimes make mistakes and aggravate failures. It is true that they can become involved in cruel or destructive acts that no creatures other than humans could bring about. We can never say that human power has only a a positive side.
Nevertheless, despite this fact, inner power of human beings has no other match.
Humans possess the ability to think as their unique feature. They have the power to choose according to their own will, to imagine something transcending time, and to create new realities. These realities are brought to the world only from within humans.
We are beings that harbor much greater energy and a more splendid power than we feel in the dimension of the soul. However, we ourselves do not understand the true power that we hold within.
The energy and power that has already appeared in our lives is merely a small part of the whole. This means that behind what has appeared lies an untouched deep resource.
To Release Our Potential Powers
More than we think, all of us possess the power to live our lives with strength. It is the power to go forward without wavering and protect the things that are important to us under whatever hardships.
At the same time, more than we think, we harbor the power of wisdom, with which we can relate with others caringly and with empathy. We can accept and embrace various differences with each other and live flexibly.
We can call these the potential powers of the soul. We usually cannot see them, and do not know that we have them, therefore we cannot even think of bringing out those powers.
However, they certainly exist. Therefore, it is important that we should not simply judge, limit or deny our abilities. Instead we should release our inner powers, our potential powers.
Preliminary translation as of March 15, 2016
GLA member-volunteers translated Takahashi Sensei’s words.
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