Prayer for Love and Mercy

 I haven't really talked about my faith. I think I said that I started my faith from Buddhism, but now I say God right after I say Buddha, and I say love right after I say mercy, so I'm having trouble with myself. First, if I trace the path I've taken so far, Buddhism → Christianity → Islam → Ramakrishna  By the time I got to Ramakrishna, the distinction between religions no longer made sense to me, so I don't really know what religion I ended up with. Maybe it's Hinduism because he's an Indian saint. However, the path I've taken does not represent the path of religious conversion. If I had to make a word for it, I'd say "increasing my faith." I didn't abandon my previous religion when I went to the next religion. As I said before, when true religions meet, they resonate with each other and deepen each other. So the path above is not actually an arrow (→), but Buddhism + Christianity + Islam + Ramakrishna (Hinduism?) . It's a journey of...

 What has religion given me? In one word, "hope." What can religion give people? In one word, "hope." This is all I've received, but with this I can live, and without this I can't live.

 Even though this is a blog about prayer, I've gotten bogged down in the topic of money, and I can't seem to get out of it, but I'd like to wrap it up soon. The society I hope for is one where everyone is guaranteed food, clothing, and shelter, and where work-life balance is properly maintained, without inequality. A society without inequality is one where there are differences in "individuality," but there are no differences that create jealousy, such as "superiority," "higher or lower," or "winner or loser." No matter how materially satisfied we are, if we cannot escape from the habit of fabricating relative standards between people and determining superiority and inferiority, winners and losers will continue to be reproduced forever, and not everyone will be able to be happy. Only a relatively small number of winners will enjoy a sense of happiness, while the majority of losers will be plagued by feelings of inferiority and become ...

 I mentioned that there is a safety net called welfare assistance to address concerns about what to do if you are in financial difficulty in a world where you can no longer borrow money, but a more advanced idea is called  "basic income."  This is a system in which society provides basic expenses necessary for life. It seems that no country has implemented this yet, but discussions are underway in European countries where social welfare is advanced. As we have seen before, the uptake rate of welfare assistance is high in Northern and Western European countries. The idea of ​​guaranteeing food, clothing, and shelter to all citizens is shared by the entire population. It is understandable that the idea of ​​"basic income" came from such countries.  For those who believe in the Buddha who "knows what is enough"  For those who make "few desires and contentment" their motto,  "basic income" is like paradise.  Is heaven approaching? Paradise ...

 Now, as we have seen, debt is a scam and a trap set by money-hungry guys, but there is another scam that should be prohibited. That is gambling. And one of them is "LOTTERY". Gambling refers to the act of betting money and relying on luck to get a high return. That's why "lottery" is also a legitimate form of gambling. And far from a high return, it is rigged to always result in a loss. In short, humans are completely caught by money-hungry guys' schemes. Let's take a look at what kind of scheme it is. Let's have that person appear again. To the "seemingly kind" guy. He says, "Would you give me $1?" Why should I give him $1 for free? Of course you refuse. Next he says, "I'll give you $1, so can you give me $2?" But then I'll lose $1. Of course I'm not gonna do it. You refuse. But he still won't back down. This time he says, "If you give me $2, I'll give you $1million. But the probability is 1 in...

The reason why I hate debt and say I want to ban it is because I want to free humanity from the control of money and restore sovereignty to the human side, but where does the energy that motivates me come from? It seems to come from Buddha. I think it comes from the teachings of Buddhism. And Buddha is mercy, so if you follow the guidance of mercy, you will never be able to forgive debt itself. This is because one of the fundamental teachings of Buddha is  "Know what is enough. " And there is nothing that is more "not knowing what is enough" than debt. "Oh, I want this. I want that. But I don't have the money. I guess I can just borrow." What a shallow thought! There is no way that someone who doesn't have money now will have money later. Moreover, later on, their debt will increase. Debt does not solve anything. Far from solving the problem, it makes the situation worse. And even the things that you have acquired through debt will be taken as coll...

The most common reason for debt seems to be "to cover living expenses," but today's newspaper headline was: "Half of Internet Casinos are in debt." I want to ban debt like gambling and drugs. I want to make debt illegal. I've been praying for a world where people can't get into debt, but it seems gambling and debt go hand in hand. You lose at gambling, then you get in debt to try to get it back, then you gamble and lose it again. It's an infinite loop of negativity. It's like an antlion pit. If you can't get into debt, the damage can be minimized. Isn't that great? The rest of the newspaper headline says "Fear of addiction," but I can't say anything about that. Because I was also "addicted to online games." I can understand very well the feelings of people who can't quit. However, I liked the games, but I didn't think about "betting money," so maybe that saved me. It didn't take my money, but ...

 Now, next I would like to think about "creating a debt-free world." If you can't borrow money, you may be worried about what to do if you get into financial difficulties. For that reason, we need a safety net. In Japan, the welfare system is an example of this, but it is difficult to use in reality, and in recent years, due to pressure from the national and local governments to cut costs, it seems that they are often turning away welfare applicants at the counter, giving various reasons such as "border tactics." In any case, it seems that Japan has a lower rate of receiving welfare than Europe and other countries. Below is an analysis using AI. "The coverage rate of welfare (the percentage of people who are eligible to receive welfare and are actually receiving it) varies greatly from country to country. Below are the coverage rates and utilization rates (the percentage of people receiving welfare to the total population) for each country. Country Coverage...

 I want to live in a world where food, clothing and shelter are guaranteed, there is no debt, work-life balance is properly maintained, and there is no jealousy due to fabricated differences between people. There should be differences in "individuality" between people, but when this becomes "superiority" or "hierarchical relationships," the suffering of jealousy is born. If it goes further and becomes "winners" and "losers," or even further, "rulers" and "ruled," the suffering knows no bounds. Even so, if food, clothing and shelter are provided and work-life balance is properly maintained, it may be possible to find peace of mind by saying, "Let those who want to be bossy be bossy," and "Let those who want to be extravagant be extravagant." So the first priority to consider is, of course, "ensuring food, clothing and shelter." However, as we saw before, the world as a whole actually has ...

 Apart from work-life balance, I had forgotten another important factor that hinders human happiness. That is, "competition for promotion." I realized this too during the one and a half years I spent at the bank. A young senior employee lamented that he was not yet an "assistant" even though his peers had already become deputies, and an agent lamented, "Why am I still an agent?", and a deputy manager who was about to retire complained to me at a drinking party, "I ended up as a deputy manager. But he got to the branch manager level. That's what I regret." And the branch manager, who was a senior at university, looked at the list of employees' titles and complained, "Oh, I don't want to see this! It makes me sick!". Once you join an organization, you cannot escape the competition for promotion. And there is always someone higher up. There is no salvation other than being the best. It's kind of the same as the fabrication ...

 I managed to get a job at a bank, but I quit after a year and a half. The reason is not because I turned to religion, but because I realized  "I couldn't be happy there. " The eyes of all the superiors at the branch are dead. There's no sparkle in their eyes. And the one thing they say casually is,  "I want to live a life like a human being."  The female employees are better. They're general employees, but they're not too bad. Where does that difference come from? It's because  "they can leave work almost on time. " The male employees work overtime until late into the night. That's what makes them feel exhausted. And they're exhausted by life. In the end, it's a problem of  "work-life balance."  If your work-life balance is broken, you won't be happy no matter how big a company you work for. Everyone judges their happiness or unhappiness in life just by the title of a first-class company or a large company, bu...

 I got a job at the bank and had many meetings with the "Money-Honey" I admired, but our honeymoon didn't last long. "Money-Honey" must be angry at me for betraying her and running to God, to Buddha. "I let you touch me so much." I'm sorry, we're not going to work out. I want to be free from you. I don't want to be tied down by you. Goodbye. I'm going now. It's a sad moment of separation for the two of us. And so I quit the bank after a year and a half. I did "touch" her. Money. More money in one day than an average person could touch in their entire life. Every day, every day. That's why I don't want to touch it anymore. Money. So "How do you want to pay?" "PayPay."(Online payment app) But I wonder if "Money-Honey" is really angry at me. Maybe she actually cares. Because the balance in my savings account keeps growing. Perhaps you still have feelings for me? It's time to stop mess...

 I was at the enemy's headquarters. A place where there is a lot of money. A place where money gathers. A bank. "Traitor!" Indeed. "Are you a spy?" Maybe. Maybe a "double agent." "Why did you join the bank?" Of course, "Because I love money!" When I was in the accounting department, "Mr. X, please give me 200 million by 3 o'clock." "Got it!" I seal 100 10,000 yen($100) bills in a small band, then seal 10 of them in a large band to make 10 million. 10 of those make 100 million, and 20 of those make 200 million. It takes about 30 minutes to make it. I put it in a bag. One person can manage 100 million yen ($1million) , but 200 million yen ($2million) would be difficult unless there are two people. It's money. Money. My beloved money. It's the money I dreamed of and longed for. There's lots of it. There's no end to it. Whether you look to the right, to the left, forward, backward, down, or up, th...

 If you borrow money, interest will accrue and it will grow exponentially, so you will soon lose control and be ruined. We have seen the scary power of exponential growth, but is there no way to beat money? Is this already a losing battle? Wait a minute. Why not just not borrow money? Or rather, what would happen if you deposited money? The current interest rate for fixed deposits in US dollars is... 4.1% (Sumitomo Mitsui SBI). 1.041 to the 100th power is... 1.041 to the 100th power is about 55.60. (by ChatGPT) "55.6 times! I did it! I'm rich." You'll be dead in 100 years? Right. That's pointless. Well, if it's 30 years, 1.041 to the 30th power is about 3.34. (by ChatGPT) "3.34 times? That's pretty good. I'm not poor anymore." Did you just win? To money? Our enemy, that almost invincible "money"? Debts grow exponentially, but so do savings, so if we can use the secret of our enemy's strength, the "interest" system, to ...

Oh, yesterday was scary. I actually typed it on my calculator and I was shaking with fear. I almost screamed. 13,780 times in 100 years! Interest is a scary thing. If you hear 10% interest per year, you'll think, "That's not a big deal!" At first, they approach you in a cute kitten-like appearance to lure you into letting your guard down, but before you know it, they've grown increasingly arrogant and out of control, until they engulf you, your family, your relatives, and your friends. As guarantors.  (Ah, "guarantors"! Who came up with this devilish system? How many good people have been dragged into other people's debts and ruined because of it!)　It will swallow up the country, then the world, then the earth, and finally the entire universe.　 It was quick after it doubled. It doubled in 8 years, so in 100 years 8:2=100:25 Hmm, 25 times. No. It was actually 13,780 times! Don't underestimate geometric progressions. Geometric growth has a multipli...

 "You shall not earn interest." This is a famous teaching in the Quran, and it is a powerful blow that nullifies the self-replicating function of money. As I wrote before, "Money is already LIFE because it has the ability to self-replicate." and the basis of that self-replicating function of money is "interest." Humans created "money" to replace barter, making trade and the accumulation of wealth easier. Furthermore, by granting "interest" to money, they gave money itself the ability to self-replicate. They breathed the "life" into money. Money then began to have the will to "increase on its own," and as a means to dominate, it used humans. Once you give money interest, it grows exponentially, just like living things grow exponentially. (Just by looking at the way it grows, you can see that money has "life".) For example, when a cell divides, it doubles. When it divides again, it doubles again. It's 2 t...

 Well, I felt stupid writing this yesterday. It's so stupid to think that humans have been believing that worthless things have value for over 2000 years, maybe even thousands of years, and have been chasing after a mirage, falling for the tricks of "Mr.MONEY". Of course, people want to become monks once or twice, saying they've escaped this world of suffering. That's how everyone really becomes a monk in the early Buddhist scriptures, everyone. I've forgotten what happened after that. Anyway, to recapitulate "exchange value" once again: our worshipped "God Money" has forcibly created differences in order to dissatisfy humans. He creates a difference forcibly to prevent humans from being satisfied. In fact, we have enough of food, clothing, and shelter, quantitatively speaking. So if everyone says something like  "I only know contentment"  like some Zen monk, and tries to live happily by relying on God's blessings, it would be...

Looking at it this way, humanity as a whole currently has the production capacity to meet the demand for "food, clothing, and shelter." In fact, there is an overproduction and oversupply. Where there seems to be a shortage, there is an excess, and the problem is not quantity but distribution. As science and technology develop, production capacity increases, so this situation is likely to have existed for a long time. So, If we were satisfied and said  "I'm full," that is, if we "knew enough," the cycle of profit and investment that capitalism aims for would stop. If humans were satisfied, money would not increase. This is very inconvenient for our ruler, "His Majesty Money." He must stimulates our desire at all costs. That's why  "exchange value" was invented. It is a way of "fabricating" value to things that have no actual use value, in contrast to the use value that is given to things that are actually used, such as ...

 Even so, this wonderful "Money-girl" that has us hooked seems to be a speed freak. It just won't stop, and no one can stop her. The eternal cycle of profit and investment that is capitalism What is the purpose of our "economic activities"? "To eat" Right. So, if we can produce enough food to feed humanity, why not stop economic activities? We are already producing enough food to feed all of humanity, aren't we? "There are still many hungry people, aren't there?" That's true. But "Even more people are obese and losing their health" In other words, on the one hand there is a food shortage in the world, and on the other hand there is a food surplus. In reality, there is enough food. It's all about distribution, isn't it? And even if you have a lot of money, it's pointless to have more food than you need. No one can eat more than one portion, and even if you have extra, it just goes bad. You may want to eat more...