Compass of the Times 229

Being Given the Chance to Live

Keiko Takahashi

There Are Things That Are Beyond Our Control

There is something that we all have been feeling during the several years of the COVID pandemic. That is, sometimes, no matter how hard we try, there are circumstances beyond our control.

There is a reality about which we cannot do anything, no matter how hard we try; we have no choice but to be swept away in its enormous flow.

We want to go outside, but we cannot. We want to meet people, but we must give up. We want to work, but we cannot. We want to open a store, but we cannot. I suppose that many of us have experienced such feelings of helplessness.

This was no exception for the medical professionals who faced the situation most bravely during this time.

Even though they had the medical knowledge to deal with infectious diseases, they initially had no idea what kind of disease they were dealing with. Despite all efforts to treat them, the symptoms of the patients did not improve, and eventually, they ran out of strength and died. I believe that many healthcare providers felt a sense of limitation in the face of such a reality.

In other words, in the past few years, we human beings have faced more realities than ever before that are beyond our control. The shock must have been even greater today, the time when humankind has solved so many problems of poverty, illness, and war through the power of science.

Being Given the Chance to Live

And yet, that is why we have come to realize that we are beings who are given a chance to live in the midst of this overwhelming distress and the enormous flow of the times.

We human beings do not live alone by ourselves in every sense of the word.

At first glance, we who live in modern society tend to think that we can survive on our own.

Once we obtain a job and earn a certain amount of money, we are free to live wherever we want, free to live in any way we want. In today’s world, it is possible to live a carefree life on our own.

If we face the facts of life, however, nothing is possible without the existence of others. It is undeniable that the reality in which we live is supported by the various infrastructures of society. This one fact alone is enough to make us think that we are supported by a vast number of people.

That is not all. We are who we are because of our parents and many others. Without them, we would not be able to live as we are.

Furthermore, for those of us who pursue the Study of the Soul¹, which views human beings as a soul, we cannot forget the help of the invisible world and invisible existences. Most people today are oblivious to these existences, but the invisible dimension is the foundation that sustains us all.

I must say it again. In every sense, we are beings who cannot live alone by ourselves.

If that is so, then what is it that we, who are given a chance to live, need to think about?

Responding to the Dimension That Keeps Us Alive

We understand that we humans live by supporting each other. And there is a dimension that supports all the interactions of a mutual support system.

In the past, Japanese people called that dimension God or Buddha. In the Study of the Soul, this refers to the dimension of the World of Real Existence, which is captured as Great Existence, cosmic consciousness, or the totality of connections of invisible dimensions.

Our soul, which is our essence, is born from that dimension as our home. That dimension is the source of our aspirations and mission in life.

We are all beings who are given a chance to live; however, it is not the end of the story. There also exists a dimension that is trying to keep us alive.

To live as a being who is given a chance to live means to live by responding to this dimension that is trying to keep us alive.

I cannot help but hope that the new fiscal year starting this April will be a year of walking together with this dimension that sustains us.

Editor’s Note

1.Study of the Soul

The Study of the Soul is a system of theory and practice in which we seek a way of life by connecting the visible and invisible dimensions. In contrast to the study of phenomena, which science represents by dealing with the materialistic dimension, the Study of the Soul goes beyond that, dealing comprehensively with the materialistic dimension and the invisible dimension of the mind and soul. That is a principle that I have discovered from intensive studies of human beings and the individual life journeys of the many people whom I have met. By looking at the soul, mind, and reality as a whole, we observe human beings and hope to respond to every possible occasion. (Excerpted from page 40 of How to Make Your Life the Best by Keiko Takahashi)

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