Compass of the Times 265

Staying in Motion

Keiko Takahashi

Proof That We Are Human

April is the start of a new semester, a new fiscal year in Japan.

What hopes and aspirations do you hold?

As this new beginning unfolds, I sincerely hope it will be one filled with action because I believe that is absolutely essential for us now.

People can use their imagination to think about or worry over things, even if they are not manifested as reality before them.

In contrast, other animals are living organisms that live in the “present.” They instinctively react to what is happening right before them to protect their own lives.

Humans, too, can respond to what is happening right now and to stimuli from the outside world.

But we are not limited to doing just that. While living in the “present,” we can envision the “past” and the “future.” We are beings who can repeatedly recall the “past” and regret it, or imagine an unseen “future” and worry about it.

In other words, we can live within the realm of our minds alone.

This could be called the “proof of humanity.”

Having this as a premise, I suggest shifting the emphasis of our way of living toward taking further action at the start of this new academic/fiscal year.

I hope this will be a year where you not only pause to think and imagine, but also take action on your own.

The Soul Is Born Seeking “Experiences”

I suggest such a life of self-driven action because there are things we can only understand by actually taking action ourselves.

When we think in our heads, we can depict an ideal picture.

When we make a plan, everything flows perfectly in our imagination, and we can accomplish it in our mind according to that plan. Everything functions smoothly, connects without issue, and is completed.

But what happens in actual situations?

It is filled with factors that deviate from the plan everywhere.

We come to realize that our influence is far smaller than imagined, and that changing the world is difficult. Things do not proceed on schedule, and we miss our timing. We cannot exist in two places at once, and we often have to choose one or the other.

By acting not in imagination but in real situations, the harshness of our relationship with the world becomes apparent, and the limitations of time and space are starkly revealed.

And this is what is important.

The memories of stepping out of the realm of imagination, colliding with reality, and responding by mobilizing all our Sense, Emotion, Thought, and Volition are etched into our souls¹. That is what we should call the “experience” of the soul.

Ultimately, whether we succeed in creating the reality we wish for or not, it becomes a step-by-step journey using the whole of our “Soul-Mind-Body.”

Our soul was born into this world and began walking the path of life seeking precisely such “experience.” For it is that “experience” that truly nurtures the development of our soul.

What matters is that unless we take action—unless we break through the realm of imagination and act in the real world—an “experience” cannot be born.

Staying in Motion

That is precisely why, as you begin a new academic/fiscal year, I urge you to focus on “staying in motion” and trying to take action.

Of course, taking time to think deeply, reflect, and conceptualize is important as well. Cultivating the habit of deep contemplation during moments of silence is also valuable.

But at this time, I would like you to focus even more on taking action, on staying in motion.

In doing so, we draw closer to the real world.

We become ready to receive what the relationship between ourselves and the world is trying to tell us.

Editor’s Note

1. Soul (Energy of Volition with Wisdom)

The soul is, in a word, the center and essence of what makes us human. It is the energy source of light and darkness. I have referred to this soul as “the energy of volition with wisdom.” This energy is the core that continues to live on even after the physical body dies to experience human life repeatedly.

(Quoted from pages 23–24 of Reclaim Your Life by Keiko Takahashi)

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