Compass of the Times 192

To Live in the Present

Keiko Takahashi

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The Rhythm of Life 

In Japan, March is the month that completes the fiscal year. It is also the month that marks the rhythm of the year that leads to another year. This month, I want to think, together with you, what the rhythm of life is calling.

I talked about the three rhythms of life at this year’s “New Year Gathering.”

First is the daily rhythm, which is the rhythm of each day and every day. The second is the rhythm of the year comprised of four seasons-spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Lastly, there is a rhythm of transmigration, which is produced by a shift of the entire life. The soul, existing as an eternal being, repeats its transmigration in between this world (the phenomenal world) and the other world (the world of origin).

No matter how busy we are in our daily lives, we all live with these three rhythms in our background.

I was not able to mention this at the gathering, but we can also add the Ten Year Law to such rhythms. Everyone has learned in the Study of the Soul¹ about this law, which is the rhythm of life over the cycle of a decade.

When we genuinely try to pursue things, it takes a decade for these pursuits to take a concrete shape. The same can be said for work since each result from work is produced in the rhythm of a decade.

I also mentioned that it is with the timing of a decade that the Great Chaos² makes its appearance, which creates the turning points in our lives.

That is to say, our life inevitably has a rhythm of a decade.

The resonance of rhythms of one day, one year, ten years, and of transmigration that influences our entire life reaches us in our daily lives.

And, if we wish to live out our life, we must perceive such resonance or calling, and live by responding to them.

Live in the Present

What does it mean to live by responding to the resonance of the rhythm, or the calling?

I think living in this way in itself means “to live in the present.” It means to live by focusing on the present in a real sense.

Responding busily to the daily demands that confront us does not mean to live in the present. Even if we feel that we are living by doing our best, it merely means that we are living by responding to the stimuli that come to us one after another. This way of living cannot be called living in the present in a real sense.

If we repeat the same thoughts and interactions with others in the same way, it means that we are only rotating an automatic circuitry; thus, we cannot say that we are focusing on the present.

Or, when we live by worrying about tomorrow, and being fixated in the past, it becomes difficult for us to focus on the present.

In Chapter Four of my book, The Power to Know Oneself, I wrote about Mrs. Kimiko Matsuyama. She realized, “Oh, today had never existed for me. What had existed for me was yesterday and tomorrow.” Her realization indicated that she had lived by applying a fear of the past to the future while living in increasing anxiety. By seeing right through herself in this way, Mrs. Matsuyama was able to liberate herself from the constraints of anxiety to live in the present.

To focus on the present means for us to think of all the possibilities that are entrusted to the present. To live now, at this very moment, means to do the best we can at that moment.

Heeding and responding to the callings-the resonance of the ensemble of rhythms that reverberates there, is the best sign of us doing our best.

Callings that are brought forth by the present
Possibilities that are hidden in the present
The blueprint³ that is harbored in the present

When we try to perceive them firmly and respond to them, the present will resound by surpassing one day, one year, ten years, and through an entire life. The present does not end ephemerally but is linked to eternity.

To live in the present is to live in eternity.

When we try to perceive them firmly and respond to them, the present will resound by surpassing one day, one year, ten years, and through an entire life. The present does not end ephemerally but is linked to eternity.

To live in the present is to live in eternity.

2020.03.01