Etiquette and humility (yielding to others) are part of an old Japanese esthetic that we can be proud of.
I am quite along in years, but I acquired a driver’s license in 1944 and am still an active driver. But I see that driving in the traffic of today’s roads is an endless source of stress. It causes friction between people and often ends in trouble. This trouble sometimes results in murder.
Having driven for 58 years, the history of changes in the cars and road conditions in Japan can also be said to be my history.
With all of the tense drivers traveling our congested roads today, and their stress levels so high that they may burst into anger at any unexpected moment, we must make concerted efforts to make our intentions clearly known. If I find myself in a situation where I must cut in front of somebody, I repeatedly bow my head and make every effort to let them know how sincerely sorry I am.
When I enter the highway, in addition to using my right lane-change indicator, I open the window and signal with my right hand to other cars that I would appreciate it if they would let me in. By making the effort to keep from angering people by letting your will known with greetings and bows or salutes, travel will progress much more smoothly and their will be less accidents. These are fundamental manners of the road, and I would like to see drivers respect this kind of driving etiquette.
Once, in a time more ancient than ancient history itself, there was a kingdom in Sudan, near Egypt.
The opening to a fairy tale? I’m sure you are wondering what it is I intend to say by telling you a fairy tale. But if I were to relate the story as fact, I would have all of the self-appointed and recognized historians and archeologists up in arms declaring that they will discover the actual truth behind the story, and asking me such questions as, “What era did the story take place?” “Approximately where would you locate it on a map?” “What other countries were located near that kingdom?” Thus fearing the uproar I would have caused over the tedious search for details, I have decided to tell this story as a fairytale.
The ruler of the kingdom was named Clario. Oddly, while the thrones of other kingdoms were placed high, Clario’s throne was placed in the lowest position. And while other kings dominated over their subjects, Clario conducted his government in the service of the people. Because of this, Clario never deemed it right to wear a crown.
What’s more, the kingdom was surrounded by three other countries, but no one ever felt threatened by Clario’s country, so they didn’t bother stationing troops to guard against it.
The reason for this is because Clario’s country never invaded other countries. And just as Switzerland does today, it always took a neutral stance with regard to other countries.
Countries who shared borders with it felt safe only about that border and they didn’t patrol it. In return, Clario’s country received the trust and respect of others. And that’s not all. This kingdom was always quick to help neighboring countries when they were beset by disaster, and they kindly received defectors without ever treating them in a way that would be morally incorrect.
The reason for this is that he was a psychic just like the later Abraham (Abra, meaning, “the Father in Heaven,” in other words, Something Great; and Ham, meaning someone who has psychic powers). He knew that it was the work of the glorious Something Great that created the cosmos and all living creatures. And he knows the existence of this grand consciousness that created people as his own children. And Clario thus knows that kings and rulers should not govern or dominate, but serve.
Psychics like him know that all living things in nature rely on one another and coexist. For example, a single flower receives help from butterflies and bees to spread its seed, and it borrows the power of the wind to spread across the land.
Japan became the first country in the world, twice over, to receive the baptism of an atomic bomb. In the same way as Switzerland, Japan should become eternally neutral, stand in to mediate between warring countries steeped in confusion and conflict, and establish diplomatic relations with all countries, just as Clario did. If America is to be the police force of the world, Japan should have become the fair and impartial arbitrator.
Approximately twenty years ago, something happened when I was absorbed in Zen meditation at the villa of a friend, Mr. Kanda, at Ayame Beach on Lake Biwa. His villa stood along the shore of the lake, and there was an approximately 10 meter square garden that went down to the shoreline. I was in that garden, facing the lake, and practicing Zen when Alien and my inner “word” addressed me and murmured something.
I attempted to communicate with this inner “word.” I screamed, “Am I then an invader from outer space?! The outcome of a galactic war and belonging to those who have occupied the Earth?!
To which the inner voice burst into laughter and pityingly said, “That is what humans, who at the end of the universe inhabit the Earth, known as Dobahsha, would think in their low level of consciousness. See that their history is a never ending story of the strife of war; for they spill their blood and kill one another.”
The voice continued and said to me, “In order for these beings of a higher consciousness to invade the Earth, they enter the womb of human women as an embryo. The humans notice nothing amiss, and they do not resist. They accept them with joy as their own children, and they embrace them with love and affection. Those who undertake this in the most lawful of methods are proof that it is the deed of beings who comprehend a superior and everlasting love.”
So it is that they say there are two ways to return human society, so perilously speeding toward certain destruction, to an environment that is friendly and peaceful and contains no inconsistencies.
I want you all to first use your mental faculties to their fullest extent to reflect long and hard on this problem so that you may yourselves realize the perfection and greatness of the words that were spoken to me, and I have therefore decided to withhold from revealing any further the word within me until the next opportunity I have to expound more upon it in this homepage.
But to show you just how wonderful this word within is, I will touch upon the subject of nutrition and the length of the human lifespan.