Compass of the Times 232

Taking Action

Keiko Takahashi

Season of Light and Shadow

Summer is the season when the radiance of life is the strongest in the year. From now on, the temperature will rise, and the sunlight will become stronger day by day. How will our daily life be shaped by the stark contrast of light and shadow?

The Study of the Soul¹views life as four seasons. It teaches us that each season has its own unique theme.

The summer of life is the time of middle age that connects adolescence and old age. In our GLA community, it refers to the Frontier College generation² and the Heart Nursing School generation³.

In this time of life, people take on a central role in productive activity in modern society. Above all, they are called upon to create new realities.

For us, the season of summer is a time when life becomes more radiant and its pace quickens. In the summer season, when the contours of life are more pronounced, we are expected to step up our activities to a higher gear. And the fundamental way of life of this generation is to take action.

Without Taking Action, Nothing Will Begin

Our life begins when we, souls whose home is the World of Real Existence, are born into the World of Phenomena with a physical body. By acquiring a physical body in the dimension of matter, we gain the ability to transform our inner energy into reality.

We become able to do things, such as engaging with others, creating things, expanding our connections with others, and bringing forth new realities. We can do so only in this World of Phenomena.

Crystallizing the wishes, purposes, blueprints⁴, and visions that reside within us into outer reality is an essential theme in life. And the key to closing in on that theme is to take action.

No matter what wishes or dreams we may have, we must take concrete action if we truly want to realize them.

No matter how grand the visions we have and the possibilities we discover that have never existed before, if we do not take concrete action in the actual world, nothing will begin and will remain in the inner dimension.

We human beings are capable of thinking. We can envision our future of hope or recreate our past. We can do anything in our imagination without end.

We can think about the past, the present, and the future without any restrictions, as long as we keep our imagination alive.

But none of the above exist in the actual world.

If you want to create a new reality or change the actual world, you must take action to add new energy.

In order to leave the footprints of our thoughts, visions, and plans in the actual world, we must take concrete actions, engage with others, and transform our inner energy into outer energy.

Take Action Once More

First and foremost, our actions make the new reality a phenomenon. By taking action, our inner energy will naturally flow out into the world of its own accord.

Action is a blow, an infusion of energy. It can have an impact on the reality in front of us, crack an unmovable situation, or change reality by activating the new In-En-Kaho⁵.

Of course, it is not always possible to change situations by taking action.

No matter how much we put our heart and soul into our efforts, there will be times when we do not have the results we wish for. There may be times when we work with renewed vigor, but it does not work out. There may even be times when we continue to fail.

And yet, at such times, there is something I would like you to recall in your mind.

It is that we can try once again and that we can do so as many times as we wish. We can take action again, even now, and create a new In-En-Kaho.

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)

2. Frontier College Generation

The Frontier College Generation refers to middle-aged men who fight on the front lines of society and bring forth their inner potential.

3. Heart Nursing School Generation

The Heart Nursing School Generation refers to middle-aged women. The term was created with the hope that it would bring forth the power to watch over, heal, and nurture families.

4 . Blueprint

Originally, a blueprint is referred to as plans showing how to build something, such as a building or a machine. From there, it has come to refer to diagrams or plans for just about anything or for diagrams of the future that ought to be. It is the reality that we seek to realize and aspire to achieve. In the Study of the Soul, the term is also imbued with the meanings of the Idea (ideal form) hidden in all things and the promise made with the Great Existence, God. (Excerpted from page 105 of The Golden Path by Keiko Takahashi)

5 . In-En-Kaho

In-En-Kaho is the law of cause and effect. All phenomena are seen as the manifestation of the result (Kaho) produced by combining together cause (In), which is the source, and conditions (En). In other words, we grasp the flow of the energy that controls all of creation and destruction in this world by using the three poles. There is not a single phenomenon in this world that can be separated from the law of In-En-Kaho. All matter in the universe and every possible reality are the result (Kaho) that is created by the cause (In) and the conditions (En). (Excerpts and summary from pp.125-126 of The Soul Doctrine as a Way of Life by Keiko Takahashi)

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