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Why Does Not a Chimpanzee Commit Suicide?

2012-02-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Approximately one million people die every year in Japan. Some people die due to their sickness. Some die from accidents. Some others commit suicide. Almost thirty thousand people commit suicide a year in Japan. In other words, one person commits suicide in every 17 minutes. Why do people commit suicide? There are various reasons for people to kill themselves, such as money problem, health problem, lives' hardship, family problem, or relationship problem. They kill themselves from their depression and desperation arising out of these reasons. They think they are useless. They lose meaning of lives. They feel helpless. They become hopeless. The question is why only human beings become despair and commit suicide.

There was an article in Japanese newspaper. The article was entitled; "Why are only human beings despaired?" The article talked about an interesting story on a chimpanzee kept in a research institute, in Japan. The chimpanzee's name is Leo, 28 years old. It was May 2006 when Leo became sick with bone marrow infection. His body was totally paralyzed other than his head. He lost his appetite. Administers needed to give him an intravenous drip injection for keeping him alive. His weight once was over one hundred pound, dropped being seventy pounds.

He could not move his body at all. He stayed still in bed. He developed severe bedsore. People felt pity on him. They considered putting him to sleep. They could not do it, because he was conscious. He looked enjoying to interact with staff. He reacted when he was called. Leo was not depressed or despaired.

The Japanese article analyzed why Leo was not despair when he was seriously sick. They believe that a chimpanzee does not compare him with others or himself in the past. Leo did not have the sense of envy, grudge, or misery. He was not depressed or despaired thinking about his past or future. The past is history and tomorrow is a mystery to Leo. He was not envious, resentful, or jealous on others who had complete freedom of their bodies. He was not despair because he did not use imagination in the negative direction, in other words.

Human imagination, being the cause of despair, is also the producer for hope. Human beings should realize that the difference between hope and despair are only in their brains. If one used his imagination in a negative way, he would be despair. The other imagined bright future would be blessed with hope.

This chimpanzee, Leo, taught us it is important not to use one's imagination in the negative way. Leo made a miraculous recovery from his sickness. He recovered from his sickness and regained his freedom of body in 2007. Leo must be teaching to people not to despair. There is a hope.

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Do Not Let Loneliness Eat You Up

2012-02-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Among the many factors, which adversely affect people's minds, loneliness would be the worst. If one worked from the comfort of his home as a writer, designer, or photographer, he would have thought that he could accomplish more without constant interference from his family members, his spouse, children, or even from his dog. Then his wife goes away to take care of her old and sick mother in her hometown for a month. She is taking the entire family except her husband. He may think that he could then work more efficiently. It would actually be the opposite.

He would wake up in the morning and find there is nobody who cares about what he did. He would think that one more hour of sleeping would not hurt. He would end up sleeping the entire morning. In the afternoon, he might remember that he forgot to watch the movies he rented last week and would start watching them. He would then promise himself that he would not be this lazy the next day. The fact of the matter is that things would stay this way, until his wife comes home.

The above may be an extreme example. You may handle your loneliness better than the person I described in the paragraph above. However, the point is that one's productivity, when he is completely lonely, would go down lower than when he is with his family or colleagues. Disturbances are negative impacts on one's productivity. Even after subtracting this negative factor from the overall performance, the productivity of a human being is higher when he or she is not lonely.

Loneliness is not just a negative factor in one's productivity. It affects the stability of one's mind. Homesickness is one of the adverse effects of loneliness. If one kept lonely for a long time without interacting with others, he could start suffering from mental disorders which could include visual or audible hallucinations. It is thought that the loneliness is one of the main causes of addictions such as drugs or alcohol. As a matter of fact, many of these addictive diseases can be cured by social interaction such as group therapy.

Is there any advice that could help avoid any mental problems resulting from loneliness? There seems to be only 2 pieces of advice:

1) Find the cause of your loneliness. Talk about it with people who do not have conflicting interests.

2) Avoid being isolated. Continue to seek social interaction.

One can get professional help, such as a psychiatrist or mental therapist. One can go to church. He can volunteer to do community service. He can meet with his friends. Next time when our work is disrupted by our wives, we should be thankful for not allowing us to become lonely.

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Learn the Strength of Willow Trees

2012-02-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

It is the middle of January, now. It is getting to have some warm days that make us feel that spring is no longer far out. There are trees starting to grow buds. There are no leaves, yet. One can see lots of leaf buds on branch tops. Soon we will see some colorful lines on the small buds, which will eventually bloom into beautiful flowers. Trees will grow and regain young leaves.

Big trees look very strong. They open their thick and strong branches to the sky. They resemble strong and masculine men. In contrast, there is a tree which looks like a sensitive young woman. Willow trees are the ones which make us imagine women. There are willow trees everywhere in Tokyo. They seem to be prosperous in Asian countries. Because it looks weak and quiet, Japanese people used to believe that a ghost would always appear under a willow tree at night.

Are willow trees that weak? It looks weak and quiet for sure. However, they have fundamental strength that belongs the other side of the usual definition of strength. Usually, people would imagine firm, solid, thick, hard, big, heavy, or stable objects when they think about strength. It is like imagining a big and solid tree standing in a forest. On the other hand, softness, flexibility, elasticity, thinness, or lightness is supposed to belong to sensitive category. A willow tree would belong to this category. That is why willow trees carry a weak impression.

However, having equivalent functions as other big, hard, and masculine style trees, the willow tree's strength is different from others. While big trees with strong branches can be damaged by occasional strong winds like a hurricane or typhoon, it seems damages on willow trees are almost none. Their branches are thin and flexible. Their leaves are not thick or solid. They are blown by the winds and change positions with the direction of the wind. That is why they do not have any damage from strong wind.

Suppose a car hits a hard and solid tree branch hanging low on a street. The car will surely damage the branch hit. Now suppose willow branches are hanging low to the ground. The car would touch and swing their branches, but it would damage neither its branch nor its leaves. It teaches us a meaningful definition of strength. They are strong because they are thin, flexible, and light.

There are martial arts which use this theory of strength. Tai-chi, Judo, and Aiki are the ones. Masters of these fighting arts do not take on their opponents attack. They do not counter powerful attacks. When their opponents push, they pull. If their opponents pull, they follow to push. As soon as they find their enemy has over-pushed or pulled, they will apply their force to the same direction as their enemy to break his balance. This is the essence and mechanism of why smaller, thinner, and less powerful people can defeat big, masculine, and more powerful people.

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Is Virtue Universal?

2012-02-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

Talking about the war is no longer taboo in Japan. Instead, Japanese people need to be careful when talking about the war outside of Japan. He never knows with whom he is talking. He may be talking with a person whose Grandfather lost his life fighting the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. A friend of mine happened to be talking about a ghost story of Japanese soldiers in Singapore. Unfortunate for him the person to whom he was talking was a Singaporean lady whose grandfather was killed by the Japanese army in the war.

Japanese before World War II used to believe that the Japanese race was the most superior race among the races of the world.The Emperor of Japan was God with human appearance. The Japanese Army was an Imperial Army, which belonged to the Emperor of Japan. Therefore, the army was divine. Japan was a divine country. Thus, she would never lose the war. All of these ideas sound ridiculous today. It is a historical fact that Japan lost the war. Japan was not sacred. The Emperor is not half God. In interviewing Japanese people who experienced World War II, they all say that they were educated about the sacredness of Japan in this way. If some one expressed a different opinion, he would be caught and most probably killed or kept in prison for the rest of his life. To fight and die for the divine country was a virtue.

The authorities were protecting what they taught to Japanese people at that time, even for ones who did not believe any of the above, it was easier to be obedient. It might have been more than the value of easy or not easy. If they did not obey the Japanese Imperial Government, they were either killed or kept in prison. So it was a life or death issue for Japanese people.

Japan lost World War II in 1945. It was proven that the virtue, which was most important for Japanese people's survival, was wrong. American soldiers were not cruel and violent. They were friendly and gave chocolate to Japanese children. They helped old ladies trying to walk to her home. The Emperor of Japan declared himself to be a human being, not God. Japan was not a divine country. It could lose the war.

This 180-degree change of virtue may be quite unusual even in human history. However, we are experiencing change of virtue in our daily lives. If one were an employee, it would be important for him to be obedient to his employer trying not to run any risk. If one were an owner of a business, he would need to run risks to be successful in his business.

Despite that virtue changes like money value changes over a period of time, there are some virtues, which seem to be unchangeable. Like the virtue of love. It is a virtue of humanitarian actions, which we experience across country borders and ethnic differences.

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Yesterday Is History, and Tomorrow Is Mystery

2012-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

Mr. Jones is my friend. He always regrets what he did the day before. He wakes up in the morning and remembers what he said to his boss, the day before. He worries about going to his office because of it. Working in his office, he received a phone call from angry customer, and he thought he should not have said what he said to his customer. At home, his boy told him he had a lousy mark in his examination. Mr. Jones regrets that he should have pushed his boy to study harder. At the end of the day, as a result of his many regrets, he remembers that he did not do anything productive that day. He regrets it before he goes to bed.

I have another friend. His name is Mr. Smith. He worries so much about what will happen tomorrow. He has a young and beautiful wife. He worries his wife will not love him any more tomorrow. He also has a beautiful boy. He worries if he loses his son for a car accident tomorrow. His mother is old, but she is still healthy and active. He jumps one foot above from the chair he was sitting, when his home phone rings, wondering if it is the notice for his mother's passing. His job is prestigious with high pay. His boss is kind and generous man. Still he worries if his manager will be mad at his work and fire him. He constantly worries he makes a mistake in his presentation next day.

Mr. Jones can never release him from regretting. Therefore, he cannot think something productive today. As a result, his life becomes miserable and affects his life style. He thinks a lot about yesterday and his colleagues think he is almost daydreaming whole day. In the middle of his, so-called, "day-dreaming", he sighs so often that his friends think that something dreadful happened in his family yesterday.

Mr. Smith cannot stop worrying about the future. He looks being afraid of something all the time. He has lost his ability to address problems in the right moment in worrying that something terrible will happen tomorrow. He over-reacts to things. When office phone rings, he looks at the phone as if the phone itself is something evil. When his supervisor knocks his office door, he is ready to jump out of his office window. He feels miserable for his future.

Yesterday is history, and Tomorrow is Mystery. Only today is the reality. Are they not manufacturing their own miseries by their imagination and illusion? Do not let history and mystery waste your valuable time today.

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Although Problems Happen in Life, You Should Not Over-React to Them

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

In recent times, it seems to be more common than before to hear someone says that life is tough. The economy has not recovered from the recession well. It may be true that there are many difficult things happening in our lives. Most of them affect our lives and life styles.

There are so many foreclosures occurring in the market. This means that there are still many families who are losing their homes. Even for ones whose houses' have not been put in foreclosure, they are suffering from experiencing high interest rates from loan return. However, their salaries have been going down for years, now. No wonder people say their lives are hard.

When Mr. Suzuki spun out of his previous employment, it was during the 'dot-com' company's recession. He was stationed in New York at that time. He did not like his company order to send him back to Tokyo. He had a vision to be successful in the US. He did not want to give up his dream. However, it was the worst time to leave. He could not find a job. His visa was going to expire because he lost his sponsorship following his resignation.

In addition, he had family problems. His wife did not like the idea of her husband staying in the US. She wanted to go back to Japan, and hence, she wanted a divorce when she heard of her husband's idea. He needed to take care of his family problems, as well. His situation was almost like a crowd of angry people marching into a storm. He found someone who wanted to hire him in Japan. In order to prevent his wife from divorcing him, he decided to go back to Japan to work. He was hired as No.3 leadership position of a company with 50 employees, but he could not agree with his employer on the company management.

Mr. Suzuki thought it did not make sense if he continued to look for a job, despite his dream to be successful for his own business. He decided to go back to the US. He looked for his business partner. He met one woman who shared her business vision with him. They started their own business.

Business was not easy because of the bad economy, but they worked hard. Later Mr. Suzuki married to his business partner. Since she was an American, she could sponsor him to get him a Green Card.

Mr. Suzuki is not yet successful to his own satisfaction. Still, he is happy to work in the US with his new wife. He tells himself that it was the right decision to spin out of his previous employment. He remembers that a lot happened in his life. He believes that the best decision he made was not to over-react to the problems in his life. He took his time, relaxed, and carefully addressed his problems.

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Subtle Difference of a Word's Meaning in Different Languages

2012-01-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

It was my wife who sponsored me to get a Green Card. Now she is helping her own mother obtain a longer stay by getting a Green Card. She is an American citizen, but she asks my advice on language of business or legal documents in English. Her English is good. She hopes to double-check her understanding with me because I have been in business with foreign countries for more than 20 years. In answering her question or discussing a meaning of a word, I found that even the officially approved and accepted English - Japanese or English - Chinese dictionaries' word selection would not be a 100% perfect match for one foreign word to the other.

It occurred to me while we were taking a look at a Green Card application form downloaded from the website of USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services). It was an English word "Nationality". When one turns to an English - Japanese dictionary, one will find the Japanese word for Nationality is "Kokuseki". All the Japanese senior-high school students would properly answer this question what is Japanese word for an English "Nationality". I have never doubted it would not be 100% correct for my English education experiences for almost 40 years.

Let us take a look at a Japanese government document now. A foreigner that travels to Japan must fill in and submit an entry form. There is a column which says "Kokuseki" in Japanese on top. Turn it back; the equivalent column says "Nationality" in English. They look to have the same meaning. However, they are subtly different.

The difference would be obvious when one filled in the column. If one were Japanese, he would write in Japanese in the"Kokuseki" column "Nihon" (Japan). What about in English column? In "Nationality" column, he needs to write "Nihon-jin," Japanese.

The immigration service of any country would not reject the entry if they referred to the country from which the foreigner travelled. However, this shows in English "Nationality" does not exactly mean "Kokuseki" in Japanese. The English word "Nationality" is a word which refers to the person's citizenship. Japanese "Kokuseki", instead, refers to the country to which the person belongs.

There are several other examples. They are usually words related to words which describe people. "Niece" and "nephew" in English refer to both sides' families of a married couple. Japanese "mei" and "oi", equivalent to niece and nephew, do not refer to children of their spouse's brothers and sisters. English "Knights" is equivalent to "Bushi" in Japanese. The people who edited dictionaries recognized the difference and used different words for the English word "knight." Knight in Japanese is "Kishi," implying a warrior on a horse. Though Japanese Bushi also uses horses, they are referred to as Japanese version of knights. It may indicate the difference of the language origin. It is the cultural background. Japanese culture tends to put emphasis on land, house, or country to which individuals belong. English always put people before environment to which they belong.

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Some Things Are Too Big to Hold

2012-01-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

The human mind is a fragile thing. It is easily hurt from small incident. It becomes upset with misunderstanding. As expectation increases, its disappointment is even bigger when things do not go well. Some times it is broken when sad or hard things happen. Yes, our minds can be broken. I am not talking about losing a love, I am talking about literally broken. It goes out-of-order and loses sound function for a long time. Anything can cause one mental disorders. Some group therapy treatment uses "Confession" style process to give a treatment for chemical dependence patients.

As a therapist educate patients to be honest and confess what patients have done to harm others, during chemical dependence. This can be a private one to one confession. Often, they share their wrong doings to the people who attend a meeting. One must have an experience that when he told his secret to others, possibly his closest friends, he feels relieved.

One therapy process includes listing a patient's wrong doings to others and sharing with his therapist. This process can be uncomfortable and agonizing. Everybody has a secret, maybe tow, three, or four secrets, which one determined not to share or disclose to anybody else. They are secrets which a holder hopes to bring to his grave. Some recovering patients go back to chemical dependence due to painful, uncomfortable, and embarrassing process, though this is one of the most important processes for recovery.

Small advice from a friend may be very helpful for those who feel uncomfortable to take this step. One day when a patient expressed his uneasy feelings about sharing his shameful secret, his friend helped him by telling her own story. She said that when she told her older brother the same thing, he told her that she was carrying a thing which is too big. If the thing she was carrying was awkward, heavy, and big, her brother could help her carry her stuff. He told her further that if she continued to hold it by herself, it would become too big for her to keep holding. Later, she might have a bigger problem.

She told him her secret. She was later glad she did. It helps to share some awkward secret with someone who one feels less uncomfortable. It worth trying, if it prevents one's heart from broken. One should take time to consider with whom he can share his secret. The one should be neutral interest or no conflict of interest. If one cannot select anyone, he would think to consult to his church clergyman or his psychiatrist.

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Time Is Given by God

2012-01-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

When you are worrying about something, or you are angry or sad, the feeling is terrible. You try to ignore or not to think about it, but you cannot keep your attention away from it. You try to concentrate on your work, or you try to enjoy your favorite movie, but you cannot. You try to sooth your feeling by telling yourself that it is God testing you. But, you still cannot ease your emotion. Your bad feeling is there. It looks as if it will stay forever. There seems to be no solution at that moment. Is not there any solution?

Mr. Konishi works for an electronics company. He received a claim last week from a customer. He had tried to address and solve his client's problem for about a week. He had not been successful in calming them down. Mr. Konishi could not find a way to soothe his customer. All claimed problems were solved and their system was working. His client is still raging. Konishi started to worry what happens if the customer cancels the order, returns the system, and seeks a refund. His supervisor may be angry, and he may fire Konishi. He may lose current position even his job.

Mr. Konishi had kept receiving offensive complaint mails from his customer. It was starting to be personal. He started to think that they should not have said such bad things to him. He started to feel angry with them, too. He felt terrible, with mixed emotions of fear and anger.

On day one, he could not concentrate on his other works. At home, he did not enjoy anything. He could not even recognize his daughter was talking to him. He was fearful when it started. On day two, he was more angry than fearful. He thought that his customer was giving him unreasonable treatment. He did not have to be treated that way. Three days had passed. He was still receiving nasty emails from his customer. However, there was something that changed in his mind. He could shrug off his client's emails. He stopped responding immediately after he received the emails.

He realized that he had built his own anxiety within himself. He finally became relaxed allowing him to deal with the problem. He received several more emails, but they gradually died down. What was Konishi's magic to solve his problem? Well, he did not solve his problem. Time did. Time is the best healer of our fear, anger, or any bad emotion. Be aware that time can solve any problem. Time must be given by God.

When you are aware that time will solve your problem and ease your emotions, miraculously your bad feelings started to diminish. It is a good idea to take one or two days to calm yourself down instead of reacting based on your immediate emotion, especially when you feel fear, anger, or anxiety.

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6 Points to Remember When Your Emotion Becomes Out of Control

2012-01-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Zhen International is a company formed 9 years ago. It is becoming 10 years old in year 2012. It could not last this long without help from people. I am very grateful on all the help rendered for me. Before I formed this company, earlier in my carrier stage, I worked for a Japanese electronics company for 20 years. Becoming an assistant manager in 1988, I started to study how to be a good manager. It included emotional control for better performance and better management.

Later, company recommended me to develop own scheme to control myself and teach our team member. My team used to hear I say:
"Do not show it when you are angry. Use your anger to get what you need to achieve in business. Control your emotions so that they do not harm your business or life. Use them to benefit yourself instead."

This concept used to give me confidence and comfort in the way I could control my emotions to the extent that my emotion did not damage any of my business or relationship. I was comfortable to ask my team members same.

It was end of the year 2000 when I faced a decision if I should quit the company and start my own or stay. I made a decision to quit and tried to start my own business. It was my own decision and I believed that I am emotionally stable.

Then, in my effort of starting up my own company, which was supposed to be full of fun, I found myself out of control of my own emotions. Resentment, remorse, instability, confusion, and depression constantly attacked me. My emotion went out of control in a very sensitive and critical moment. The worst is that all these negative emotions hit me same time and I did not know what to do. I had never went to a hospital, but I might have some psychological problem called panic attack. Luckily my wife helped me and I could gradually regain my emotional stability. From this experience taught me a precious lesson how difficult to control our emotions.

It was near end of last year when my wife and I were looking for information on IQ level of dogs on Internet, we happened to find the word "Emotional IQ". We were interested and did further research on the definition.

According to the information in Internet, Emotional IQ and Emotional Intelligence are almost same meaning and definition. Emotional IQ is the ability, capacity, skill or, a self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of ourselves, of others, and of groups.

I have been aware there are several therapies, which is not known in outside of US, such as emotional control or anger management. But, I was not aware that there is a study trying to measure ability of controlling emotions until last year.

If you acquire an ability to perceive and control your emotion and others, you can have better control over your life, business. Most importantly, if you are confident and comfortable controlling your own emotion under no matter what kind of panicky situation, you can be more relaxed all the time. You can be very much peaceful in your mind in your life. That is why I believe learning and knowing on Emotional IQ is very important for all of us.

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Best Possible Tips for Mind Reading

2012-01-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

People cannot read other people's minds. However, people want to read other people's mind. When you are dating someone, you want to read your lover's mind. Does he or she love you? Will he or she marry you? When you work in sales in a company, you want to know if your customer will place an order. You would like to know if your boss will give you a raise or promotion next month. Nobody can read mind of another person like the above examples. However, people can analyze the situation and guess what other people are thinking. This kind of analysis and imagination is needed sometimes in life or business.

If one were doing business with a customer for a long time, he would know the pattern of new orders from the customer. He can predict when this customer will place his next order. When you are working in an office, and you want to know whether you will be promoted, you would take a look at people who got promoted recently, among those who joined your company around the same time as you. You can take a reasonable guess by doing this analysis.

Oddly enough, when one hopes to use logical research when reading somebody else mind, there is an obstacle in the way. It is our emotions. Unfortunately, we need to read someone else mind when we happen to be fearful, resentful, or upset. In trouble in business, you need to know what the complaining customer really wants. However, you are not able to use logic to analyze the customer's reason for the complaint, desires, and intentions, simply because you are already upset about the complaint. Sometimes, you will be resentful of a customer who made a complaint. Further, if you are fearful of what this customer would do next, your brain locks and your eyes fog to conduct logical analysis.

The minimum requirements to analyze other people's mind are to stay calm. Do not be afraid, fearful, or resentful. Your fear would drive your thinking to the situation which you feel fearful. If you were upset, you would be confused on the logic you are constructing. Your anger would also bring you worse result of negotiation, because it made you think about the claiming party apologizing and drop their claim. In calm brain, you know it would never happen, right?

There are some things which you want to do for better solution:

1. Be aware that you are emotional. Do not worry nobody can control his emotion in troubled situation.

2. Try to stay calm. Try to stay calm as much as possible. Do not forget you do not have to be perfectly calm. Do not over-react. It does not help.

3. Get a third-party opinion. You can get a non-conflict interest third-party opinion. Such third-party does not have to be a lawyer. He can be your best friend.

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Work Now, Enjoy Later

2012-01-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

There is a Japanese proverb. It goes, "You should worry now, enjoy later." In more proper English, it should read, "You should work now and play later." It may have several different interpretations, but it means you should work to address and solve problems in your work to enjoy your time after your problems are gone. Then, you can enjoy your time more without problems. A big question is, "Is it true?"

My father had a strange habit. He needed to give his own interpretation to every proverb he knew. He gave his own proverb. This time, his proverb was as follows:

"You say work now, enjoy later. I say enjoy now, work later." I remember his interpretation of this his own proverb. He explained that if one continues to work until he solves his problems, he would never be able to have time for enjoyment. It would be better to find time for enjoyment, first. It would not be fun if you continued to work finding no time for enjoyment. He said that if one followed this proverb, most probably he would never be able to hold his time to enjoy himself.

A serious Japanese would frown and say that he was murdering Japanese language and saying. However, these sentences of my father hold a truth. Suppose one has five oranges to eat in front of him. Does he begin to eat from the biggest or the smallest? If one decided to eat from the smallest thinking that the biggest is the last one enjoyment, the next one he ate was next smallest. The third one was the third smallest, and the last one was the last smallest. In this way, he continues to eat small orange in his consciousness. Instead, if he started to eat the biggest, the last one was still the last biggest one.

Does it sound like a sophistry? However, when you start from smallest, your mind-set for small concept until the end. Therefore, you remember that you ate all small oranges. If you start from big, you have an impression that you ate big oranges to the end.

This affects one's way of logic. People, who think big, continue to think big to the end. They may achieve something big some day. On the contrary, the people, who think small, keep thinking small. They will not be able to accomplish anything big.

Let us go back to my father's interpretation of the proverb. It would be correct to say that if one thinks about enjoying, he would continue to enjoy to the end. In contrast, if one keeps thinking about working, hoping that he can enjoy later, he would end up having no time for enjoyment in his life.

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New Year, 2012

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

I wish you have a Happy New Year.

May your New Year full of happiness, prosperity,
health of you and your family, and lots of lots of
enjoyment.

Shaw Funami
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@ San Francisco, CA

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How Does International Misunderstanding Happen?

2011-12-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

There are stereotype actions when a Japanese businessperson arrives in the United States of America. The first step he needs to take is to go to Japanese consulate office and submit "Arrival Notice" and register as a resident in their covering area. The second item is to take driving license examination in Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) in the state where he starts to live. In 1980's, there were lot of Japanese people sent to US. The most of them carried "International Driving License". Their companies and authorities, however, instructed Japanese living in the US to take local driving license.

The period was Japanese overseas' investment rush, backed by high Japanese Yen evaluation. Japanese staff was sent to open their offices, facilities, and factories. Since a variety of people must have been involved in establishing operation of their business, many people came to the US. Factory manufacturing workers were sent. Middle age management people were went for production management and administration. Senior management also stationed in the US at that time for the company start-up, management, and supervising.

Despite of their variation of the company or social hierarchy, to which they belong in Japan, they all needed to take an examination for driving license. There was no exception. All of them needed to do so. They went to US Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) and took the exam. Among the ones who passed the examination, this Japanese gentleman, Mr. Minoru Shiraishi, was in the waiting room for receiving his first US driving license. He was age of middle fifties, white hair, and the president, newly established American subsidiary company of Japanese electronics firm.

He did not seem unreasonable or stubborn person as some of Japanese managers. He was patiently waiting for his name called. A young female DMV staff came. She started to gave new licenses to the people waiting there. She started to call the names. She called this Japanese gentleman's name. Because she was not certain how to pronounce Mr. Shiraishi's name, he did not react to her first call. Since he did not respond to her call several times, she started to raise her voice. She called his last name only without "Mr.". "Shiraishi!" "Shiraishi!" This gentleman finally noticed that his name was called. When she called his name last time, he looked upset. He stood up, walked toward her, and snatched his license. He stared at her without a word for five to six seconds. He walked away.

There was nothing wrong in this staff's attitude. She did not know that calling senior Japanese people's name without their titles, such as "Mr." or "Dr." was terribly rude in Japanese culture. Mr. Shiraishi did not know it is not particularly rude or unusual to call someone's last name without title like this occasion in DMV.

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Enjoyment of Business

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

Being in business is like living itself. When one is in business, one encounters many things, including a few moments of enjoyment, pleasure, or happiness. Many times there is devastation, panic, desperation, or confusion. The majority of business consists of not-so-exciting, repetitive, and half-pleasant daily experiences. Some people become successful in business. They become rich because business is mostly about making money. These successful businesspeople have basic and common ground. When asked how and why they became successful, they always answer that they are lucky.

Of course, they were not just lucky. They put a tremendous amount of effort into studying, researching, and experimenting. They reached the point where they had gone through thick and thin. They all had embarrassing failures. They all share in common that when they failed, they did not give up, and they did not run away and disappear. Instead, they thought, analyzed, and built the next step.

There seems to be a pattern or cycle in business experience. It consists of three realms. The first and bottom is the "Lower Ground." The second located above "Lower Ground" is "Water." The top of the structure above "Water" is the "Higher Space." The structure is shown below:

Higher Space (Solutions and Experience)
Water (Devastation and Desperation)
Lower Ground (Problems and Suffering)

Someone starting a business stands on the "Lower Ground" at the bottom. He has lots of problems. He is suffering. He does his best to address and solve problems, but his situation does not improve. He goes up to the "Water" process, where his problem gets worse. He is devastated and desperate because he cannot breathe. He feels like he could suffocate to death.

Most people give up at this stage, therefore, they cannot be successful. Only one who has continued to maintain effort and struggle to survive will find himself in Higher Space. Oddly, this happens suddenly. This person finds himself breathing normally and no longer suffocating. He finds himself with solutions and experience.

After one has reached this stage, there is only one process left. It is analysis. The individual needs to consider, analyze, list, and record the successful process in a business journal or personal article. This also must occur when a person fails. He needs to know exactly why and how he succeeded. If one does not run this analysis process, he will go down to the Lower Ground, just like one loses all his skills if he had not practiced his favorite sport for a long time.

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Strength of Emptiness

2011-12-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

If one practices a form of martial arts, such as karate, kung fu, tae kwan do, or judo, or otherwise, he will have learned that the must have heard about ultimate status of one's mind in martial arts is "emptiness". The literal translation of word karate is empty hand. They always talk about "emptiness". Why is the emptiness the critical state of mind so crucial for martial artists arts as their ultimate status of mind? Why is it not using a vigorous fighting spirit to defeat one's opponent? All martial arts place importance on natural reaction and emptiness. The masters of martial arts tell trainees to not think too much about fighting, winning, or losing. They teach us to be natural, be stable, and be empty.

Suppose one is participating in a martial arts tournament as a representative of his area or school. He would train harder than usual. He would have been under a tremendous amount of pressure for a long time. He would not be able to relax the night before the tournament. He would have spent several sleepless nights. He might have thought about his skill, his strength, or his responsibility. He would think about his opponents. Would they be big? Would they be fast? Would they be skillful?

At the tournament's location, he saw his opponent for the first game. He looked stable. He seemed skillful. He appeared to be confident. Under this much pressure, he could never maintain his stability of mind. He had lost long before he began to fight.

Even a game taking place in peaceful times puts people under much pressure. It is beyond ordinary expectation how high the pressure would be in the case of a real war or duel. One may lose his life, an eye, an arm, or a leg the next day. People living in a peaceful society would never be able to imagine how tense it can be. It must be experienced their bodies stiff, brains locked, and eyes fogged.

Now, think of someone walking down a street. He was skillful in martial arts, almost at a master level. He noticed that there was someone walking behind him. That person suddenly attacked him. He avoided the person's first strike, but he was in a fight with that person. Because he was undamaged from the first strike, he was able to use the full extent of his strength and skill in martial arts during the sudden attack. Do you know why? It is because he was free of any pressure, anxiety, ambition, or fear.

This example was not a perfect emptiness of his mind, but it was close to it. If one can produce this mental state of emptiness in a matter of seconds, it would become an extreme strength against an opponent who has an unstable mental condition, whether in games or real fighting.

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The Truth Is That There Is No Spoon

2011-12-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

The movie that has impressed me the most in recent years is "The Matrix." While the movie has many profound meanings, I specifically remember the scene where Neo met Oracle for the first time. He is ready to meet Oracle and is waiting for him. He sees several children practicing supernatural abilities. One of them is holding a spoon in his hand. The boy looks at his spoon and bends his head. The head of the spoon bends without being touched. Neo asks him how he did it. The boy answers, "Do not try to bend the spoon. Instead, try to look at the truth." Neo asks, "What truth?" The boy answers, "The truth that there is no spoon." Interpretation may vary. I recognize that the important message is "try to take a look at the truth." In other words, "look at the real nature of things so that you will not misunderstand them."

In the 17th century, there was a Zen priest, Ikkyu, who was famous for his knowledge in Japan. In his temple's backyard, there was a pine tree with branches that were all twisted and curved. One day, Ikkyu gathered his pupils and asked them if they could see the pine tree straight. All of Ikkyu's pupils told him that the tree was twisted and curved. They said they could not see it straight. Ikkyu repeated, "See it straight; can you not understand?" His pupils were all puzzled. Ikkyu told them to go to his friend Rennyo who was a priest, and ask him how to see the pine tree straight.

The pupils went to Rennyo. They asked him how he could see the tree straight. Rennyo replied that it bends. The pupils were confused. They repeated the same question to Rennyo and told him that their master had said that there was a way to see it straight.

Rennyo answered Ikkyu's pupils and said that he was telling them that it bent. They began to somewhat panic. Finally, they went back to Ikkyu without understanding. They said to Ikkyu that Rennyo had told them that the tree was not straight. Ikkyu pointed out that Rennyo did not say that it was not straight. He said it was bent. Ikkyu explained that Rennyo was seeing the true nature of the tree straight and thus had said that it bends. Rennyo was explaining to Ikkyu's pupils the true nature of the tree.

It sounds like a play on words. Some may call it sophistry. This story is effective, however, in teaching people to take a look at the nature of things. The tree may be simple. In the real world where we live, there are things full of outside decoration. These confuse our eyes and we forget to take a look at the world's true nature.

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The Result Will Be 180 Degrees Different Depending on Your Approach

2011-12-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Any religion refers to both the bright and dark sides of human nature. A poisonous snake is spoken of in Buddhist doctrine, and people keep that story in their minds. Buddha, however, did not necessarily deny the existence of the poisonous snake. Rather, Buddhism teaches people that they should manage and control the snake. The Zen sect of the religion says that everyone keeps one poisonous snake in his mind. He needs to control it. In order for him to control his snake, he needs to train himself. Religious principle can train him. There are some people who state that they do not have religion. From a religious viewpoint, they are saying that they drive cars without brakes. It is meaningful statement.

Here is another story about the snake. It is about Buddha himself.

In his younger days, as he was struggling to achieve enlightenment, Buddha traveled. One evening, when Buddha needed a place to sleep, he visited the home of a stranger. The owner of the home allowed Buddha to stay. However he brought Buddha to a tent in the back yard of his house instead of giving him a room inside the house. Buddha still thanked him and went into the tent. The owner of the house was a nasty person, however, and threw a poisonous snake into Buddha's tent. He wanted to surprise Buddha and see him run out of the tent.

After a while, when nothing happened inside Buddha's tent, the owner of the home wondered if Buddha had been bitten and killed by the snake. He went into the tent and found Buddha sitting in the tent, awake. Puzzled, he asked Buddha what had happened to the snake. Buddha pointed to the corner of his tent, to a bowl he carried with him. The owner looked into the bowl and found the poisonous snake sleeping inside!

Even a poisonous snake could not attack Buddha, who extended his love to it. If Buddha had been surprised and had tried to kill the snake, the snake would have attacked Buddha and bitten him. This is significant because we may experience a similar situation in our daily lives or in the world of business. If someone has an angry customer and responds to that customer with anger, the customer will surely become even angrier, and perhaps even violent! If we approach an angry customer with rhyme and reason, however, calmly explaining our own position and hope, the customer will listen to us, and the result will not be violent or devastating. We should remember that it is not others who make us angry or upset; it is we who make others angry or upset.

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A Rope Is Made With Twisted Threads

2011-12-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

All languages have proverbs. Most of them come from old historical facts, and many originated from the wisdom of ancient people. The similarity of proverbs in different languages, such as English and Japanese, is interesting For example, a Japanese proverb states: "Life is like a rope. As it was made with many twisted threads, sadness and gladness succeed each other." When someone looks at a rope from a distance, it appears to be one straight line. However, it is actually a gathering of numerous twisted threads. Looking at a rope from the side shows how the twisted threads go around the surface to the back and then return from the back to the surface. This composite structure makes a rope durable. It is no wonder that ancient people see lives as represented by ropes. Although English has many expressions that describe the cycle of happiness and sorrow in people's lives, it is not easy to find one that matches the exact meaning of this Japanese proverb. The English proverb closest in meaning is: "Every cloud has a silver lining."

Liz was a sales manager in an electronics company. She found a small company as a partner, client and helped it grow through financial and other support. This once-small company became a very good customer which ordered at least one million dollars worth of her products every month. Her sales record soared, and her bonus increased because of this customer. She eventually became a sales director. She was proud of her evaluation because she was the one who had carefully supported this customer when nobody else would.

This company grew too fast. One day, an offshore company offered a tendered amount to take it over. Liz and her company support team played the role of the white knight for their customers and tried to save the company from this hostile take-over action. Unfortunately, Liz's company was not big enough to effectively defend their competitor's attack. Her small company was taken over by a foreign business, a direct competitor. She lost one million dollars per month value order with this customer. She thought, however, "Well, every cloud has a silver lining. I will find the next one and grow it."

Even if a rope looks solid and durable, if it is partially broken in one or two pieces, with small and thin threads hanging off, the result may be a chain reaction of many broken threads. This can happen in a matter of minutes, just as how our lives can be turned upside down very quickly.

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What Is Your Interpretation of the Proverb, A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss?

2011-12-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

This is a controversial proverb. Generally it means that the people who change their occupations often do not obtain a particular professional skill. The other interpretation is that people who pursue new challenges never get old and dull, but stay young and fresh. We have never known a proverb that has such different interpretations. The Japanese version of this proverb, in its negative form, is same as the English version. Most likely, the Japanese version was translated from the original English. The version with a positive meaning in Japanese is, "When the stream of a river is fast, the water does not go bad."

Hanako was a dreamer. She had many dreams. She wanted to be a window decorator. She hoped to have a job in a Web creation business. Sometimes she thought simply marrying a person whom she loved would not be a bad idea. She graduated from college and started working as a secretary for an executive in an electronics company. She liked her job, but she could not give up her dream of having a creative job. To this end, she attended design school after work.

Hanako had a friend named Minori. She did not consider herself clever. After finishing her study of English literature, Minori continued to study English, and became an English-Japanese translator. Her translation speed was not fast, but she worked with attention to detail and made few mistakes. She did not take more work than she could handle, but for the jobs she did take, her translations were detailed and thorough. She gradually became popular. She began getting offers for jobs in the academic translation field.

As a one of the leading professionals of the age, Minori was interviewed by a TV program. Hanako watched Minori receive VIP treatment in the program and envied her. Hanako had been unable to get a creative job. She had changed her job several times. She found herself lacking professionalism in many things. Well, she thought, if nothing works, I will find a partner and marry him.

Minori did not look very pretty on TV. She was wearing a dark-colored suit like a man would wear. Her suit was dark gray and did not match her shirt. Her hair was not well styled; it was just tied back on her head. Hanako thought herself more attractive than Minori.

Which woman do you find more attractive? The bottom line is that everybody is different and everybody is attractive, as long as they live their lives to the full extent.

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Can Passion Overcome Talent?

2011-12-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

People often talk about talent. Someone can be talented in many areas, such as business, design, language, math, martial arts, writing, or negotiation. However, it appears that people do not talk about passion as much as talent. We tend to categorize anyone who is successful as talented and ignore his passion and effort. However, both effort and passion are key factors for success. Which is more important, passion or talent? In other words, what is the most critical factor for success?

Minoru has a friend named Takuro. Minoru and Takuro met while attending junior high school in downtown Tokyo. They lived in the same neighborhood and became very good friends. They walked to school together, played together, and studied together. Soon, Minoru discovered that Takuro was talented in many areas. Takuro received high scores on examinations in almost every subject. He was also a good athlete who could run fast, swim fast, and jump high. In addition, Takuro was good at many kinds of ball games, such as baseball, basketball, volleyball, or football.

Minoru's academic achievements were not poor. However, he needed to study hard in order to get a score above average or higher. He was not very good at sports and played poorly in all ball games. He hated running, because he was always last. In contrast, Takuro did not seem to need any extra preparation or hard work to attain high scores. Minoru had never seen Takuro practice the skills or techniques of ball games. He thought Takuro was simply talented. No matter how hard Minoru tried, he could not perform better than Takuro.

Minoru, however, liked English. He was not so good at grammar and his vocabulary was still poor, but he loved watching American movies. He tried to copy the expressions used in the movies. His pronunciation was terrible, but he tried to use his new idioms with foreigners whom he happened to meet on the street. In junior high, Takuro's score in English was higher than Minoru's. It was the end of their senior high school days; Minoru's grade started to pick up slowly but steadily. By the end of senior high, Minoru was one of a few who could use English to communicate with foreigners. Minoru and Takuro graduated from the same high school and entered the same university.

Minoru majored in academic debate in English. Although he had lost many matches earlier, he would win second prize in the All Japan English Debate tournament during his last year at the university. Takuro would no longer be superior to Minoru in English. Takuro needed Minoru's help for his English exam. There were few who could compete against Minoru's English at his university any more. Looking back, Minoru thought that he could do it not because he was talented in English, but because he was passionate about the language. He even thought that he would not be able to achieve it if he were merely talented.

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Is There Justifiable Anger?

2011-12-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Anger does not help solve problems. Throughout my life, I have heard my father, my mother, my teacher, and my mentor tell me this many times. I agree with them and believe it is true. I have talked, taught, discussed, and written about it. However, I still get angry sometimes. It is not easy to manage one's emotions, especially anger, which arises instantly. Some people are angry for no reason. Other people get angry because of misunderstandings. Some people become angry because others do something to make them angry.

Suppose you are walking down a street alone in the middle of the night. If someone steals your wallet from behind and runs away, you will be angry at first. There are some people who have lost family members through accidents, war, murder, or as a result of terrorism. These people must be terribly angry. A long time ago, I had a discussion with my friend about whether or not there is such a thing as justifiable anger. My answer had always been, "Yes, there is." However, recently, there was an occurrence that made me reconsider my stance. As a result, my conclusion today is that there is no such thing as justifiable anger, no matter what wrongs have been done.

Carlos was a happy-go-lucky person. He was friendly, open-minded, and joyful. However, he had a problem. As many cheerful persons are, he was emotional. When he got angry, no one would be able to calm him down. Unfortunately for him, his wife was even more emotional than him when she became furious. Whenever they had an argument, the situation would become out of control. There were often broken cups, dishes, glasses, or saucers to pick up after the fight.

One day they started arguing over their difference of opinion. However, afterwards they both did not remember what the cause of their argument was. The arguing increased, and they were shouting at each other. Carlos' wife broke several dishes and he was upset about it. His wife said that she was tired of fighting and she wanted a divorce. Still extremely angry, Carlos accepted his wife's request. His wife was still resentful the next morning. She drove to the local court and filed a divorce claim. By that time, Carlos had calmed down and regretted what had happened. He was no longer able to stop his wife. He could not handle the situation properly, simply because he was angry. He was not sure why they needed to divorce.

Why is there no justifiable anger? It is because anger makes one confused, uncontrollable, unreasonable, and illogical. Anger locks one's brain, fogs one's eyes, and deprives one of the ability to think reasonably. People cannot properly handle situations when they are angry. When I last had an argument with my wife, it cost me my favorite mug and a hole in our wall.

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Do You Look at the Head or Tail of a Coin?

2011-11-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

There are many people who throw away a single yen coin in the Narita airport. It is understandable, to some extent, because it cannot be changed into their original currencies. Its value is too small for exchange, and it is not pretty enough to be kept as a souvenir for their children. However, the coin will take up space in their pocket and can be confused with other countries' coins. Therefore, it is natural for people to decide that one yen coins are of no use. I had a similar experience with the penny coins in U. S. currency. When I returned to Tokyo from New York in 1986, I had many pennies. During my time in New York, I kept pennies in a jar, which was full after a year. Prior to my departure, I donated them to a local humane society that helps abandoned and abused animals. Almost 15 years have passed, and I still receive seasonal greeting cards from the organization. When I later returned to the United States, they sent me a welcome back letter. I believe those pennies did their work.

Mr. Kawabe worked for a marketing company that plans, schedules, promotes, and hosts events. He was in charge of a professional wrestling event in the suburban outskirts of Tokyo. However, he had a supervisor who was extremely difficult to work for. His supervisor did not like Kawabe making mistakes with scheduling, advertisement leaflets, contacting sponsors, or introducing the event to the local communities. All Kawabe did was complain about his supervisor over drinks at night.

Mr. Hirose worked under the same supervisor as Mr. Kawabe. Hirose drank with Kawabe and listened to his complaints about their supervisor. However, Hirose did not simply complain. He wanted to know why his supervisor was stricter concerning the promotion of the event than the event itself. He later discovered that their supervisor's responsibility was to recoup operating expenses on the event itself and make a profit by gathering sponsors for it. This technique was used to reduce taxes. In addition, while it was difficult to get one sponsor who could spend a large amount of money on the event, it was rather easy and effective to obtain many sponsors with less spending on advertisements. Later, Hirose started his own event promotion business based on the knowledge he acquired from his experience. However, poor Kawabe continued to work for the same company and grumbled.

Mr. Kawabe only looked at the head of the coin. However, Mr. Hirose wanted to see both sides of the coin, which allowed him to discover a good money-making mechanism for his industry.

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Look Inside of a Box

2011-11-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

It was a while ago people were talking about "think outside of the box." It recommended changing the way of thinking, and thinking in the ways others would never think. Though I agree with the importance of thinking outside of the box, there is one other theory as important as it. It is "look inside of a box."

When we are working in an office environment, information is supplied in various forms. Some comes with e-mail. Some others come as a formal letter. Handwritten memos can be good information. You can also look for the information you need on the Internet, today. Facebook and any other Social Networks can be good informational sources. Although a beautiful new envelop or a neatly packaged letters tends to draw our attention, we may need to pay attention and be aware of the information contained in the package or decoration.

Hiroshi was working for a Japanese electronics company. One day, he received a letter in a brown, cheap envelope placed on his inbox tray. The envelope was dirty with fingerprints and other stains. It looked as it was sent not by airmail, but instead by sea. He did not feel like touching it at first glance. When Hiroshi took it in order to open the envelope, his boss called, and he did not open it. The envelope was sitting on his desk for another week, untouched.

He went to his office one weekend to working. He picked up the letter and opened it. The 2-page letter was inside of the envelope. The paper used for the letter was thin, and some parts were torn. He was finally reading the letter. The letter was an invitation to a tender offer for electronics components used for the next government project from a third-world country.

The project cost $200 million. The contents of electronics components were mostly those that his company could supply. Surprised, Hiroshi turned to the offer deadline, the tender closing date expired two days ago. He faxed a hasty note asking if he could still offer. He received their reply the following Monday stating that the tender was closed. Hiroshi lost his opportunity on the $200 million-dollar project.

I remember that the handwritten, almost illegible memo was on a torn off piece of paper from the president of my former company. It did not even have a package. We should not be too influenced by the decoration of the package. We must keep our eyes on the information contained within and try not to make the same mistake Hiroshi did.

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Three Mirrors to Check Ourselves In

2011-11-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Buddha once said that there are three mirrors to watch and check ourselves in as listed below:

1. Mirrors we own
2. Mirrors others own
3. Mirrors of a Higher Power

The first one is how we view ourselves; we all have our own self-image. The problem is that sometimes our view is subjective and may be different from what others see. A Japanese story states that once upon a time, the queen of the ocean asked a fish what color the crystal ball she had was. A fluke answered it was brown. A snapper said it was red. A blue fish said it was blue. The queen told them that the crystal was transparent. It did not have any color. They saw the crystal ball as being the same color as their own.

Our own image is quite subjective reflecting his own color on the transparent crystal. When we look into the mirror from a distance, we may think we look okay. When we take a closer look, we may have a beard growing, have small scars on the skin, or eyes that are not clear. As long as we are using just our own judgment, we in the mirror might be the illusion we created.

The second is how others view us. We need to be careful on this second mirror. When an ancient Chinese general became an emperor, he was congratulated by the crowd who shouted out the name of the new emperor in great delight. When a close subject praised him, the new emperor told him that the people's voice could not be trusted. Once he lost a war, they shouted to kill him. He knew their nature. Others love us because they have reasons to love us. If we do not have a reason to be loved, they do not love us, anymore. It is selfish, subjective, and changeable.

The third one is the spiritual mirror. The Buddhism doctrine teaches people that they need to train themselves that they can reach and use this mirror by a higher power. Buddha told his principles that Buddhism itself is a mirror to reflect the truth.

Our own image could be distorted due to our subjective nature. How others view us could be variable and changeable based on who and what we are. Since we recognized the subjective nature of the first two mirrors, it would be worthwhile to keep trying to reach and use the third mirror of spiritual being or of Higher Power. It would take us some time and training to become able to reach and use this spiritual mirror, but it is worth trying to reach in order to learn the truth.

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