Prayer for Love and Mercy

 What does "filial piety" look like from a parent's perspective? As a parent myself, I understand this: we do not seek repayment from our children. A parent's love for their child is "unconditional love." Therefore, a child's happiness is the greatest act of filial piety. Now, what does "filial piety" look like from God's perspective? God does not seek repayment from us. God's love for us is "unconditional love." Therefore, the happiness of all living beings is the greatest act of filial piety toward God. God does not seek to be loved Himself. Rather, He asks that we love the people and the lives that He loves. To love people is to love God; to love life is to love God. If we do not love people, we have not loved God; if we do not love life, we have not loved God. That is likely why the teaching goes so far as to say, "Love your enemies." Yet, since that is impossible to do all at once, perhaps that is why "love...

 I believe that one of the essential elements of finding joy in work is "bringing happiness to others"— in other words, altruism. It recently occurred to me that comedians are the people who experience this most viscerally. Making people laugh is an incredibly difficult feat, isn't it? If your timing is off by even a fraction, you "bomb." It is something I could never do myself. When it *does* work, people laugh—and when people are laughing, they are unconditionally happy. They momentarily forget any unpleasantness or hardships they’ve been through. That sense of happiness felt by the audience reflects directly back onto the person who made them laugh, filling the performer with a profound sense of bliss. I found myself thinking that this feeling is likely the driving force behind their choice to work as comedians. That is why I want to offer my unconditional support to comedians, *rakugo* storytellers, and everyone else whose work involves making us laugh. Guid...

 Confucianism places great emphasis on "filial piety"—that is, the virtue of honoring and caring for one's parents. I had never quite grasped why filial piety was considered so important until I read the works of Nakae Tōju, a Confucian scholar from the Edo period (17th century) in Japan. We are, after all, our parents' children—an obvious fact, perhaps, but a profound one. Since we owe our very existence to them, it is only natural to devote ourselves to them in return; otherwise, we would be guilty of ingratitude. That certainly makes sense. And if you trace that lineage of parenthood back far enough, you eventually arrive at the progenitor of the universe itself—God, in other words. Confucianism, however, doesn't seem to use the word "God," referring to it instead as *Taikyo* (the Great Void). In any case, since we all originated from that source, we are truly all siblings—children of that ultimate parent, whether you call it God, *Taikyo*, or Buddha....

 I’ve been thinking about altruistic behavior, but the train of thought was veering off in so many different directions that I risked losing my way back; so, I’d like to wrap things up here. I previously wrote that being conscious of altruism helps one live a better life; when it comes to working as a member of society, there are two specific reasons for this. The first is that being conscious of altruism doubles the joy of work. The primary purpose of working is, of course, "to put food on the table." There is no time for high-minded platitudes. You need money for that, and earning that money is the first source of joy. However, if you look at society today (and perhaps it was always this way), the joy of work often stops right there. It’s all about whether the pay is good or how much you can earn. Yet, the very nature of work involves doing something that benefits others. When you meet someone’s needs, they say "thank you" and provide compensation. That joy of hea...

 While reflecting on the relationships between humans and crops like rice, or between humans and livestock, I realized something regarding the food chain pyramid I discussed in a previous post (about population issues) , so I’d like to add a few thoughts here. Since humans sit at the very top of the food chain pyramid, one might assume that an explosive rise in the human population would require a proportional increase in the animals and plants supporting them—and since that hasn't happened, population decline seemed inevitable. However, alongside human population growth, the plants (rice, wheat, corn, etc.) and animals (cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc.) that serve as our food have indeed increased thanks to agriculture and livestock farming. Viewed in this light, perhaps the ecosystem pyramid—while heavily distorted with humans at the center—is actually managing to function after a fashion. What do you think? That said, beyond just food production, human population growth clea...

 Last time we considered the relationship between humans and rice, but I wondered if the same could be said for the relationship between humans and animals (livestock), so today I'd like to think about that. Humans cultivate rice for food, but from the rice's perspective, it could be said that it is thriving by being cultivated by humans. It has been overwhelmingly successful in increasing its numbers compared to wild plants by using humans. Humans are practically slaves to rice, aren't they? At least, that's what the rice might think. Now, what about cows? In exchange for supplying milk to humans, cows have been protected from carnivores by humans, and while other wild mammals have been steadily declining in number, cows have been able to increase their numbers. They have increased overwhelmingly. Humans think they have domesticated cows, but in reality, they are being used. Are humans servants of cows? In fact, in India, cows are considered sacred. Are chickens also s...