Compass of the Times 212

Which Path to Choose?

Keiko Takahashi

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Something We Cannot Live Without

There will be things that, when we know nothing about them, we can live without them with no inconvenience, but once we know about them, they then become something that we cannot live without.

I am sure many of you can think of something like that.

There are many tools of the modern age that have become indispensable to our lives, such as washing machines, refrigerators, rice cookers, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, lighting equipment, cars, cell phones, and so on. If any of them were to disappear, we could not go about our daily lives as we used to. That is how we would feel.

They have become such essential tools in our lives, and we cannot imagine living without them.

However, “material objects” are not the only things that we feel that we cannot live without.

If you have been studying and practicing the Study of the Soul*¹ for five to ten years, I am sure that you have become familiar with the way of thinking, perceiving, and living based on the Study of the Soul, and such a way of living should have become indispensable to you.

When trials come, we will think, “What kind of calling*² is this?” When something goes wrong, we will look within ourselves. When we meet someone, we will ask ourselves without being conscious of it, “What type of Ju-Hatsu-Shiki (Reception-Transmission-Reality)*³ does this person have? Will they be a Pleasure-Reckless*⁴ or a Pain-Reckless*⁴ type?” Furthermore, we will think that we should prepare ourselves before doing an important task by working on the Wisdom*⁵.

Even if we are told, “Don’t think of the world in this way,” it is impossible to perceive the world in any other way. We will naturally think and act in this way as naturally as we breathe.

Indeed, we are no longer able to live without it anymore.

We Live in a Materialistic World That We Do Not Question

I would like you to consider the following thoughts in these matters.

Is it not true that you once did not know the concept of the Study of the Soul, and you did not think it possible to live such a way until five or ten years ago? In addition, many of you probably did not even feel any inconvenience in living without knowing the Study of the Soul. What do you think?

Consider those who have pursued the Study of the Soul and now equally accept the World of Phenomena and the World of Real Existence, the visible and invisible dimensions, and who naturally live their lives by connecting the two; at one point, those same people did not practice the Study of the Soul and lived without questioning the materialistic view of the world that denies the invisible dimension.

Before we understood this new view of the world, we were influenced by a trend that emphasized the value of visible numbers or money, a view that much of the world presently takes.

When trials come, we can resent such trials and think, “Why do I have to go through this?” When there is a problem, we blame something or someone other than ourselves. When we meet people, we assess them based on how valuable they are to us or how much authority they have.

We adopt these attitudes, such as trying to act like a respectable person in front of others, according to our public stance, and yet, when we get tired of taking on such pretense, we complain and reveal our raw, honest feelings.

While we go through repeated elations and depressions due to the stimuli of pleasure and pain, we become unable to choose any other way of living, and we have had no other choice but to live in this way.

The Hidden Choice—The Materialistic World or the World to Live as a Soul

I would like you to consider the following thoughts in these matters.

I would like you to consider how distant your current state is from that of your past. Depending on whether or not you encountered the Study of the Soul and chose its way of life, a big difference was made. This means that there is an important, if not obvious, a choice that arises unexpectedly in everyone’s life.

Whether you choose to live based on a materialistic worldview, as you might know, or you open the door to the invisible dimension, the world that regards human beings as souls. This choice will bring a much greater difference to your life than you will think.

By regarding human beings as souls, everyone will be able to live their lives more profoundly than ever before. We will be able to accept the existence of others deeply, including their backgrounds, and will go beyond what was once only a superficial understanding. We will be able to recognize the network of connections that exists in the world and live by understanding the meanings that exist there.

This means that we will be able to believe in ourselves, in people, and in the world. This is the path that leads us to true happiness.