Compass of the Times by Keiko Takahashi
December 2016
Compass of the Times 153
To Return
Keiko Takahashi
A Time to Return
December is traditionally called shiwasu (month of running masters) in Japan.
Although its derivation is not certain, the most common theory is that it derives from the Buddhist monk masters who ran from east to west to recite sutras.
Thus December derives its name from normally calm monks, who instead start to run and hence it may be seen as a season that is restless and busy. This is the same for everyone. In such an atmosphere, that is different from the usual, we can see that this month is something special.
This year, I would like to present a theme for such a
month. The theme is to return.
To return means to go back to the beginning. There are twelve months in a year. The time of one year passes by going through twelve months and then returning to the beginning.
In order for us to live our daily lives, we must interact with the outer world. The more active we are, the more intense our interaction with the outer world becomes. In this we shift the center of gravity of our consciousness outwards and extend it to the outer world.
To return, the theme we consider this month, is an event in which our consciousness, which has been driven to the outer world throughout the year, come back to our inner realm. It means to put our feelings and thoughts back into the heart and to bring our aspirations and visions back to the soul so that we can revitalize them to the state when they were born. I want you to imagine the process of returning in such a way.
This means for us, who sailed off at the beginning of the year, and dropped anchor at different ports as we sailed
the ocean, return to the home port once again.
To return to the Origin: Our Original Aspiration
What kind of feelings and thoughts have filled your heart throughout this year?
You have repeatedly produced and materialized feelings and thoughts. Into what kind of reality have your feelings and thoughts been crystalized as they emerge from within you to the outer world?
What were the visions and aspirations that have driven you and which lay deep beneath those feelings and thoughts? Even if it is not sufficiently clear to allow you to say “This is my aspiration and vision,” did you not have an ache or an emotion that led your inner realm and become the basis of your actions?
Our inner realm is difficult to grasp and express in words. It has no shape or outline but keeps changing without
pause. Even if we think we see its shape, it changes in the next instant; even if we think we find its clear traces, they disappear. Even if we can focus on our inner realm, it is not easy to stay focused.
However this inner realm is, without a doubt, the basis of our reality and the key to our life. This is the reason why we place importance on the above facts in the Study of the Soul*1 so that everyone acquires the ability to face their own inner realm.
To return means to come in contact with the inner realm and, at times, delve into it. It also refers to the return to the origin that was initially engraved there, which means nothing but the recall of our original aspiration.
How have I lived up to the resolution I made at the beginning of the year? I recommend you to ask this and take the above-mentioned important steps as you live through the time to return, (which is) a turning point of the year.
A Time to Reset
There is another thing. The way that humans live is defined as being equal to the creation of numerous habits. No matter who it is, we all have numerous habits of which we are not aware. Once habits are created, from how we feel and think to how we take actions, such a flow becomes gradually deeper and intensified without us being aware of it.
I would like to take up the path of becoming aware and of resetting our habits once again, as the path to return. We will make this time an opportunity to reexamine our life style, reconfirm it from the beginning, and start to live anew.
Editor’s and translator’s note
1 The Study of the Soul
It is the perspective that grasps our lives from the level of the soul, and refers to the system of the truth, the Divine Truth, that permeates every aspect of the human soul and the world. As opposed to the study of phenomena that is directed at the tangible world, the study of the soul is an investigation of all things, including the formless and intangible world.
(excerpted and summarized from page 3 of The Reason Why You Were Born as You
Preliminary translation as of December 5, 2016
GLA member-volunteers translated Takahashi Sensei’s words.
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