Reproduced from'http://www.shorinjikempo.or.jp/wsko/kaiso/index.html'. Compiled by R. Codling.

Kaiso's Philosophy
"The person, the person, the person.
Everything depends on the quality of the person." So Doshin.

Our founder, So Doshin, saw that "given that everything is conducted by people, then
there is no other way to achieving real peace than to make as many individuals as
possible with strong senses of charity, courage, and justice," and so he created Shorinji
Kempo. The purpose in this was not to make strong people or people with great
technique, but to work through the practice of Shorinji Kempo and through people's work
to acquire healthy bodies, indomitable courage, and well-rounded character in order to
make individuals capable of leading happy lives. At the same time the purpose is to
nourish in them the courage and enthusiasm that will allow them to act aggressively to
achieve a peacefully and prosperously ideal society, and to raise people well endowed
with good judgment and a sense of justice who will serve as true leaders.
While Kaiso was still alive, he made use of a broad spectrum of opportunities to explain
to kenshi how human beings should live based on his personal experiences.

The self is the first thing, but not everything

My Father was a kendo instructor at the end of the Meiji period. While I was still a brat
kid I was put under instruction without ever being asked wither I wanted to or not.
"Imagine I'm your father's worst enemy and come at me." "If you don't like it, come and
get me." With phrases like that I had my lessons pounded into me. I also did judo. I did a
lot of things, but in all of them anyone besides oneself was an enemy. Japanese who
receive no other education could never be expected to consider the happiness of others.
"Half for one's own happiness and half for the happiness of others," the greatest guideline
of Shorinji Kempo; this philosophy was not born in Japan. It is not a product of Japanese
education. It is my own saying.

A great authority on religion who was a university professor once said to me, "Sensei,
you're a good man and a great man, but there is one thing about you that bothers me."
"What bothers you?" I asked. "The phrase 'Half for one's own happiness.' Don't you think
that putting oneself forward is a strange thing for a religious man, and a strange thing for
an educated?" he replied. "Ignoring oneself and doing everything for the good of the
world, the good of others'. That kind of saying sounds better. Teaching self concern is to
totally out of line," he added.
I don't agree. People who do not treat themselves as important are strange, one's self
comes first. But oneself is not everything. There are others. One should give half of one's
consideration to others. If people would hope and seek for the happiness of others, wars
would not merely cease at ones, but there would never even be a thought of one arising.
Not to mention that disputes between husbands and wives and between friends and
colleagues would cease.
The martial arts are not the way to create this. One cannot learn it merely by training the
body. This is the lesson that, when I went to the Shaolin Temple in China, I was not so
much taught as I was inspired to understand by the mural on the temple wall when I
looked at it. (Lecture at Kagami Biraki Ceremony in 1980)

Become a person upon whom others rely

Shorinji Kempo's symbol, the manji, is a shape to represent the harmony of heaven and
earth, yin and yang, and vertical connections and horizontal connections. As our symbol
stands for these things, our relations with others are not merely vertical. There are those
above, oneself in the middle, and those below. With horizontal relations too, having
oneself in the middle and others on both sides is good. As those relations spread outward,
connections go out infinitely in both directions.
People try to set their sights only up or only down and thus end up rejecting all manner of
things. While great grandson try to live their own lives, great grandfathers try to make
them do just as they are told, but it's not possible. Even one's own child never really does
as they're told. Gathering together the children of others and after only one half to three
years of teaching Shorinji Kempo expecting them to do as you say - that is asking a bit
much.
Even I have never asked such a thing from all of you. You happened to find yourselves in

agreement with my policies and have come along with me, which is fine, but if I were to
order you when to turn left, and when to turn right, that would not be good. Shorinji
Kempo leaders need to have the same way of thinking. What is wanted is not people who
will do as they are told, rather raising people who will listen to others is what we seek.
It's a matter of becoming a person who people want to listen to. (October 1969, from howa at
a leader's study session)

The construction of the dojo is proceeding smoothly toward completion. You know, just
to make something like this, you need to know how to deal with people, and that means
knowing where to find the tsubo (pressure point) to help you have the job done. Just a
little while ago they were putting in the foundation posts, but the building is on a
mountain. So is things aren't done just right, the posts get out of place and break.
Unsupervised crews will just go on to the next post and leave the broken one as is. But
the construction boss on site practices Shorinji Kempo. So he said, "You're going to build
a dojo, aren't you? I'll take care of it." And when a post broke we got a second one put
down beside it. I never asked him to do that for me, but even without my asking he
wanted to help out. Those irrational personal feelings like wanting to do something for
someone helps you out; those feelings carry a lot of weight.
I can tell you all with pride that although we have put a lot into the work here, we have
never forced things. Everyone gave of themselves, and as we were all enjoying the work
we managed to build something. What do you think of building something like this
around yourselves? If you do you'll find that your life can really change. At the very least,
don't you think you should try to become a person for whom your family, your parents,
brothers and sisters will think, "I'd really like to do something for him" Wouldn't you like
to be a person who they trust? (October 1969, from howa at Hombu Busen)

Human beings cannot exist alone

In human society, everything accomplished is done by people, planned by people, and
oversees by people. What this means is that the outcome of human events depends on the
way the people who do the work out the feelings and beliefs of their hearts. Striving to
change the hearts of people is the great distinguishing characteristics of the Kongo Zen
movement. Ask yourself if this doesn't ring true. The presence of one good son, for
example, can change a whole family for the better. But if, instead, a sullen criminal is
part of the family, all the members suffer for it. Real instances of this probably happen
around all of you every day. They are examples of just how important a single good

person can be. (Lecture in 1966)

As for ourselves, perhaps the first thing each of us should try to do is to become that
excellent person, and to spread that good influence to the people around us. This is the
teaching of Kongo Zen. By retraining the body and mind, people become capable of
respecting people. This simple, clear seeking of mutual good fortune and happiness is a
movement, and the movement is accomplished through habitual training of the body and
mind. It is expressed by action in our everyday activities. And these actions become the
roots from which such a world can grow. (Lecture in 1966)
In China, I was taught the meaning of the world "people." The character for people is
made of two things each holding up the other. It is because they hold up each other that
they mean "people." People cannot exist alone. Each held up by the other, growing
through that support; such is the true nature of human beings.
Love. In Buddhism the word is compassion but whichever word you use, it is the heart of
human life. I do not believe that true happiness can be found in the struggle of doing in
others or being done in by them.
The most important thing which people must do is not to kill each other. To make the
world a better place, we must join together and use our wisdom; to increase the number
of people who see their own happiness but also seek the happiness of others is the only
way to such a world. This I have discovered from experience. "Shorinji Kempo is not a
mere sport or martial art."
This is an important point. The reason why is that in sports, ultimately winning is
essential. And winning means doing in the other side. The opponent can even be a team
mate, older or younger, but in the end getting passed up is losing and so all of one's
thoughts turn to bringing down the opponent. That's why even a country with great sport
is not good enough. And a country where the martial arts and things like methods of
battle techniques flourish is not what we seek. The reason why is that the human heart
cannot be overcome by force alone. It is impossible to bring the heart into line only
through force. Furthermore we live in a different age. It is the end of the 20th century. In
this day and age I don't think we need martial arts or sports anymore. (Lecture in August
1969)

Make a Friendship You'd Help and You'd Be Helped.

I have no intention of encouraging fights, but you need to have enough courage to get in a
fight. You need the power to act. If, moreover, you ignore the sufferings of others, then
you are in real trouble.
In relations among people the most important thing is to know people who will render
help when you need it and people who you would help when they need it. I'm sure you
will agree that it's important to want to help. To say, "help me!" when you have a
problem and then ignore your friend's problem when the time comes, that's not
friendship. For one person cannot make a friendship. People who will cover for others
when there's a problem; Japan's problem is that we have too many people who can't do
that. (At the Instructors Seminar, October 1969)

Words Alone are Not Enough

The other day in the paper there was a story about a child who drowned. The child who
was playing with him ran out into the street and raising his hands begged for help. It was
out of the question for the drivers to knock him off the road so thy stopped for him, but
not a single person would help and save his friend. Stories like this fill the papers every
day! On the train going to work someone will be acting up, but everyone pretends not to
see.
"It's not my problem." "If I get involved, there'll be trouble." With this kind of thinking,
there's not even a chance that the world will improve. Just by saying, "Oh, that poor
child," or, "How can they do such a bad thing?" nothing is solved. Words alone are not
enough, but perhaps trying to do something is what's needed. (At the Instructors Seminar,
October 1969)

It's Not About Loss and Profit.

When I see each of you in your dogi, you all look splendid. When I have you do your
techniques, you're quite skilled. However, the most vital part of your training, group
cohesion, is missing. Making excuses and covering up with the words "selfdevelopment," or, "doing my own things by myself," there is a strange group growing up
among you who ignore the sufferings of others I think this is a problem.

To make the world perhaps even just a little bit better, even at some sacrifice to myself I
started the Kongo Zen movement to raise people with the ability to act effectively who
would take up the struggle for the same goal. You should all read the first page of the
Shorinji Kempo Kyohan once more. From what motivations the Kongo Zen movement
was begun, and to what purpose we pursue it are all written down there? Through my
experiences in war, I discovered a way to approach life as a human being. To this way of
living I have dedicated my life. It's not about loss and profit. (At the Instructors Seminar,
October 1969)

Beliefs Without Actions are Meaningless

We are not training in Shorinji Kempo in order to become martial arts instructors. It is
essential that we be aware that we are seeking to make a more pleasing world through
awareness of ourselves as fellow human begins and through our mutual assistance.
Buddhism is originally a teaching of human mutual esteem. To respect another requires
that one first respect oneself. The characters with which "person" can be written in
Buddhist philosophy mean "spirit" and "stopping." To put it into religious terms, that
means that, if anything, people are spirits who contain in themselves a portion of the
Dharma --- and I believe it is only when one awakens to this fact that one is capable of
respecting oneself. The great change in my outlook on life came because I truly
understood the meaning of this.
Each one of us is a splendid person holding a portion of the Dharma. That means that if
we put in our effort, we can become capable of doing anything. We can go to the moon,
and we can dive to the bottom of the ocean. We can make ourselves happy, and we can
make others happy. To understand this is to discover yourself. If you understand this,
now go and bring your understanding to life; become a person who works for others, for
society, and for the whole world. (At Instructors Seminar, October 1969)
Though many say, "I strive to conquer myself," just what is it that they are doing? A
single example would be fine, but are you making the effort to hold out against any
specific one of your desires? What we are practicing here is to act upon what we think the unity of mind and body, the oneness of action and ideas.
Giving ourselves for the task of building the best possible world is not based only upon
thoughts but on turning them to action. Why not try acting on your thoughts? Beliefs

without action are meaningless. Good things, we do. Bad things, we stop doing. Lately
I've heard people saying that Shorinji Kempo has ideals but doesn't do anything. If your
own house or school or company is in trouble, its no good just to keep quiet and watch
how things turn out. If revolution can be called giving yourself for a cause, preventing
problems is also giving yourself for a cause. Before you concern yourself with whether
it's to your advantage or not, why not try doing something about the problem.
The person who is trusted by others is the person who can commit himself. Anyone who
has to think of the costs and benefits is not worth trusting. When you act and go beyond
the realm of costs and benefits, you will find the strength of others. Rather than worrying
about unfairness and your own displeasure, why not think about how to overcome the
problems? (At Instructors Seminar, October 1969)

Not Doing It is the Same as Not Thinking It

It's all right to get in a fight once in a while. If a boy doesn't have enough spirit to get into
a little fisticuffs, he won't do very well. People may be trying to look good when they
say; "I don't fight," but really, it just reveals their flaws.
When I was a boy, I was always getting into fights. Once, I got into a fight, and I had two
opponents. As I was throwing one boy, I was suddenly whacked on the head by the other
with his geta (wooden shoe) and I blacked out. People thought I had lost; but I hadn't lost.
I just happened to have blacked out. So when I got up, I said, "fine" and, taking up a
piece of kindling, I went off to lay in wait for each one of them and beat them. Then each
one of them cried out, "Help!" So, I was the one who won.
Now, I'm not encouraging you all to go out and get into fights. There's no need for you to
win over someone, but it's no good for you to lose. Even if you lose once, don't think that
you have lost. At the last you have only yourself to depend on. You see, just because you
lost once, it's no good if you just slink away from something.
One can talk about all kinds of theories. "People who get into fights are fools." "Violence
is wrong." Theoretically, that's the way it is; but some people don't understand you when
you tell them the theory. If your little brothers or sisters are bullied to tears by some other
kid, tell the other kid, "Stop it!" and putting your brother or sister behind you, tell him,
"If you want to hit someone, try hitting me." Try it sometime! When you think you are in
the right, stand up for it even if you have to risk yourself physically. I think that's the kind

of people we want to become.

Even when you think something from the heart, not doing it is the same as not thinking it.
For example, when you all get up in the morning and see your father and mother, do you
tell them, "good morning, father," and "good morning, mother"? I'm not talking about
trying to get on their good sides. It's just something that everyone should do. The reality
is that the number of people who can't do the things that they should is increasing; so
recently Japan has fallen into a bad state.
Japanese today are probably the worst in that way. When it comes to just dropping trash
while walking along, Japanese do it more than any other people. If you think something
is a bad thing, don't do it! It's not a matter of being afraid of what people will say, but of
acting so that people won't have any reason to criticize you. Being able to act that way is
the quality most lacking in Japan today.
We have an abundance of thins and clothes. We have plenty of food. However, when it
comes to the most important thing, the spirit I spoke of before, we don't have enough of
it. Even if you have a thought in your hear, if you can't put it into action it's the same as
never having the thought. If you know what to do and you still don't, that is even worse.
Are you with me? I think this is a thought that we all want to put into action. (from a 1979
sermon)

Why We Could Fill the Budokan Hall

I know you were all surprised (at the turnout) today. Actually, one of the martial arts
styles recently held a world tournament here. However, they only half filled the building,
and most of them went home partway through the event. When others are acting that
way, why is it that so many people gather together for Shorinji Kempo? Not only have
we filled the building, but we've filled the area outside the entrance with people waiting
for a chance to get in. Still none of us are going home; why? The staff here say they've
never seen the like of it.
The reason why is that we didn't come here to see who is stronger or weaker, right? Right
from the start, we are different. To say, "We seek a way," may sound exaggerated or
overdone, but the reason you are all staying to the end is that when you do Shorinji
Kempo you're seeking for something. Having joined, you began to understand things, and

with Kancho (the Head Priest) coming, you though it would be a good chance to see him
and hear him talk once before going home.
In most cases, events cannot be held unless money is contributed from outside. This
applies to more than just martial arts organizations. Nevertheless, this 30th Anniversary
Taikai was made possible based solely on your contributions and assistance. It's a
wonderful achievement, isn't it? As a religion believing in self-sufficiency, this has been
a perfect demonstration of the true value of our creed.
Moreover, this is the first time in the history of the Budokan Hall that this many people
have gathered here... Of course, the times the Beatles and the like have come here are
special cases. At other events, they have never filled the hall up to the third and fourth
floors. With only our own efforts, we have made an impressive accomplishment. Once
more, I would like to take this opportunity to truly rejoice with you all that we did it
without outside assistance from anyone.
We can really be confident now, can't we? You can all be confident in your local
communities, in your branches, and in your schools. This is proof that when all put in
their efforts together and each helps the other, then something will come of our efforts.
Those with money give money, and those without money strive to give something even
unto their own labor. Shorinji Kempo is succeeding at keeping alive the good side of the
Chinese secret societies and Japan's traditional han, kumi, and neighborhood group
systems. This is not restricted merely to good times; when something goes wrong we
should all stand up for one another and each should help out the other. I hope you all will
grow into this spirit of self-reliance and this ability to achieve things, and take it into your
homes and your workplaces and your schools, and there join together to strive for
something in order to make Japan a better country.
I entreat all of you to take this as a turning point from which to be always helping one
another in the way you lead your lives. We want to build, with our own hands, lives of
peace and abundance, and so that we might not go to war again, I think Shorinji Kempo
must be more and more active. (1977, from the Shorinji Kempo 30th Anniversary Taikai
sermon)

The Meaning of Our Training

I know I've said this again and again, but in the age of nuclear explosions, automatic
rifles, and napalm bombs such as America has been using in Vietnam in this age
overflowing with weapons of mass destruction -- the idea of someone brandishing his
fists and saying, "Come on, take me if you can!" is ridiculous!
Even if someone trained his body so that he could beat a person or kill an animal with his
bare hands, no one would think that made him a great man.
Still, I hear things like: "My leg rises 5 centimeters higher than that guy's leg," "I can
break ten roof tiles with my fist," or "tanomou, osu" and I just want to say, "Don't make
me laugh." Although we act as if we understand the error, it is not only others but some
of us as well who just don't get it.
It is my own opinion that when you're talking about a contest, here has to be a finish to it.
Even after you've knocked someone over once or twice, that doesn't mean the struggle is
over. If you've devoted three years to training your body as a weapon, and then you find
that you want to kill someone for some purpose, the best method is just to do it with a
quick shot from a gun. That is why weapons developed. Nevertheless, there are still
plenty of people who, mistaking the meaning of Shorinji Kempo's training, persist in
acting like fools. (April 1968, from a sermon at the college training camps)
Shorinji Kempo is different from Japan's traditional martial ways and it ought to be
valuable in its unique way of cultivating the spirit. Of course, the spirit can be cultivated
through zazen or mountain climbing, and it is possible to give the name of cultivation to
chanting while dumping water over one's head. All martial ways say that they cultivate
the spirit. There is, of course, a certain amount that can be accomplished through
attention to sheer guts or a fighting spirit. But when it comes to what society needs, to the
more fundamental and vital things, what kind of spiritual training is it that we're talking
about?
When we call someone a person of character, we mean something more than just a
scholar, a brave man, or someone who can endure any hardship, suffering, or poverty.
Training oneself to endurance is one strong point, but that alone is too passive and would
not be active. A person of character knows how to move others and knows how to present
his own thoughts. In short, the person who, as we say, acts "half for yourself, and half for
others --" the person who can do this may be said to have succeeded at self-cultivation.

Look at the wall paining from the Shaolin Temple in China. Pairs are enjoying
themselves, throwing and kicking with happy faces, each enjoying their various
techniques. Our way of living in which no one is trying to beat another is summed up in
that scene. (April 1968, from a sermon at the college training camps)

Return to the Beginning

There are 100 million people in Japan. There are dozens of martial arts schools classified
as budo, and hundreds of religions. Amidst all these, you have chosen Shorinji Kempo
and have found something to live for. Perhaps what made you continue doing it down to
today was the workings of fate, the people you've met, and something that worked its
way into your heart. The most important thing is the heart to heart communication, the
coming together of our hearts as one. We have to share the same goals.
We want to make Japan better. For that to happen fellow Japanese have to help each other
more. Right after the end of the war, when young Japanese had neither confidence nor
hopes for themselves, I preached the equality of all human beings as portions of the
dharma, encouraging people to realize this and take pride in it. That was my heart's desire
when I began Shorinji Kempo. We've had our share of problems till now; Some
instructors seem to think, "If I do Shorinji Kempo, I'll get some students. Money will
come in. Everyone will make me look good as a teacher. That's why I'll do Shorinji
Kempo." This kind of fake leader has begun to come up in Shorinji Kempo too.
That is why last year I raised up my voice and said to you all: return to the beginning!
I am returning us to the form we had when I began Shorinji Kempo.
If you are wondering what that time was like, it was a time when fellow Japanese had lost
their self-confidence and they were bullying, stealing from, and disparaging one another.
I wanted to break them free of this condition and make it possible for fellow Japanese to
get along with each other as friends. If I had taught in the normal Japanese budo pattern,
where teacher and fellow students are enemies and one recognizes no one but oneself, it
would have done no good. Realizing that something different was required, I decided to
teach the physical art which had been handed down as a discipline (gyo) in China's
Shoalin Temple.
Despite my having taught consistently in this way, people come up who use their students

and feed off of them. As Shorinji Kempo grows, cancerous growths have arisen within it
as well. That is why I changed policy last year - so that troublesome branches will be
straightened out and branch masters might be cut away. My stance is to treat them like
enemies and destroy their positions.
Shorinji Kempo which I began as just myself here in the town of Tadotsu, has spread till
now the organization extends from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and to 12 countries overseas.
Even if I tried to stop it, it would be impossible. It's growing all on its own. It does not
fellow, however, that I should just leave it to itself. I manage it, leadership, and place
certain kinds of restrictions on it. The time has come for me to do all these things and
even to be prepared to give occasional assistance. That is why I have issued this change
of direction. (1973 All Japan Instructors Seminar)

Basics for Teaching Children

One of Shorinji Kempo's greatest points of pride is our success at educating country
youth. Of course it is a good thing when someone important joins. However, before we
reached that point, first we had our youth members. It is essential for us to realize that
this is the starting point from which today's Shorinji Kempo was born.
For the basics of instruction in the youth branches, the first thing I want to say to you is
this: forget your background; forget the university you graduated from. Take yourself
back to what you were like at one, always inexperienced. Your instructional approach of
youth groups will change depending on how aware you are of what you were like as a 3rd
Kyu Kenshi and what you were like as a child.
Don't think of yourself as someone important, but go back to what you were as a child,
and join in together with them. My success is based entirely on doing just that. At the
lowest level, students are just enjoying themselves doing the same things over and over in
play together with you, and one day they notice that they've reached a new level... If you
just get rid of the thought that you're some important adult, or that you're a teacher, I
believe that you can do it. It's a simple thing that's also difficult, but I want you all to bear
down and stick with it.
In the posture of our leaders, we are beginning to see people who have forgotten the
starting point of Shorinji Kempo, and who are starting to think that doing Shorinji Kempo
is their job. When people look at it that way, it's no longer educating youth or anything
like that. This is a fundamental mistake. Especially, like all of you, when you are teaching

children. They are pure; so they will be looking to what their teacher does.
I won't order you to act against your won interests, but if you can at least think that you
are doing it as a hobby, I would be grateful. Hobbies cost money, and they can be a lot of
trouble. Yet they are fun. The question is whether you are willing to do it on those terms.
Because their bodies are small, of course there are things that they can't do - it's fine if
they can't. Still, they can understand things. When they get bigger, then that will be
useful. Whether they understand or not, you explain it to them through words, and have
them learn it through their bodies. If you repeat it every day, it will get through to them. I
know this from experience. When you think that you can't do much with them because
they're kids, or that you're better because you're an adult, then you're putting them down
because they're kids. I think that is a big mistake.
Children understand things in their own way, and maybe try take things in an even purer
way. Trying to make children understand things when you don't even try to understand
them is the wrong way to do things. The problem is on the side of the adult who doesn't
try to understand children. (From the 1978 Youth Training Seminar sermon)

Real Instructors Ought to Teach Their Students by Themselves

The universal desire to become stronger, or at least to not be made a fool of by others, is
not part of your reason but of your instinctive feelings. Shorinji Kempo is the highest
form of self defense, and contains within it something not found in other martial arts. It is
set up so that anyone who tries it can do it. All of you who are listening now were first
attracted to this quality, and then you kept on going.
The basic curriculum is the way that we meet that desire to become stronger. If you
practice in accordance with the Curriculum, you should be able to achieve at least
Shodan. Once you are a Shodan, the path to making 2nd Dan is already opened up before
you. It's the same as school, where you can't go to college without first graduating from
high school. One day you look up and it has been three years, or ten years. hasn't that
been your experience?
To instruct people so that their desires are fulfilled, and to have them discover for
themselves what real strength is through a process of discipline - that will get your
students enthusiastic. This kind of education can only be taught through your direct,

hands-on involvement.
Leaving it up to your [senior] students is not good enough. After you return home from
this seminar, you who are in charge of your own training halls ought to train your new
people at least to the stage of 3rd Kyu.
It is in that kind of environment that real affection - perhaps it is better called love between students and instructors will put down roots for growth. The bond is the result of
face to face interaction, actually taking them by the hand and teaching them. Perhaps
your lack of that sort of interaction has made a barrier between you and your students.
They may even have come to hate and disparage you.
The excellence within Shorinji Kempo is entirely a product of the way in which we build
up our own trust in others and get our partners to feel that same trust in us. We train at a
level slightly above the student's; for a 3rd Kyu partner, we give them opposition at 2nd
or 1st Kyu skill level. This is what I have been doing all along. I have been called a
genius. I don't have any need to kick around with all these country kinds. Isn't it precisely
because I have done so, however, that Shorinji Kempo has continued its existence for
these last 30 years?
Traditionally, teachers of martial art in Japan set themselves up on high, emphasizing
how strong they are, how important they are, and what a difference there is between
themselves and their students. If their students catch up to them, their positions would be
endangered; and that is why they set themselves up as if they were in an unreachable
position.
there are fools who will have problems arise with their students and then complain in a
corner that they were betrayed, but before they start complaining, I think they ought to
examine just what their part was in the problem. (August 1979, All Japan Instructors Seminar)

Knowing someone can be the turning point of your life

Today is a regular training camp; so there are probably some of you here at the best of
your seniors, who came because you just couldn't get out of it. Despite any such
circumstances, however, you have paid a good sum of money to come all the way down
here to Shikoku. Such being the facts, think of it as part of your personal fate to be here.
Or perhaps mere chance or something you had no interest in can become the start of an

unexpected new encounter... Maybe it would be good for you to think about things this
way, once in a while. No matter what else the circumstances, you are using your precious
money and time to come here for us. Given that, even if it's just for a few days, we all
want to square off with each other in earnest.
Two or three days ago, one of my students came to call on me. He came to tell me that
after having arranged meetings with dozens of women, he had finally found a marriage
partner. I smiled and said, "That's quite an accomplishment," but his face was serious.
He quoted, "When you meet someone and start to spend time with them, if there isn't
some kind of vital element that just clicks, then that most vital part of the relationship
cannot last between you," then said, "I was struck by those words of yours, and so I have
your influence to thank for this marriage." No matter how much he was influenced by
me, his having dozens of potential marriage partners was a surprise. Nonetheless, the
chances that bind people together are truly a matter of deep mystery.
As I said before, there are times when the acquaintance of only a few hours can be a
relationship that will change your entire life. On the other hand, from the time we are first
aware of our surrounding, daily we meet many people, teachers, friends, and colleagues,
without anything ever growing out of it. you may be thinking, "yes, I have known people
like that," but find that you can't remember their names or even their faces. In the end, it
is as if you passed them by without ever stopping to meet. Really, that kind of
acquaintance is far more frequent, isn't it? But today, here, it can be the former rather
than the latter. I would like this to be one of your "acquaintances with value."
Perhaps this is a bit exaggerated, but existence as a human means never knowing when
you are going to die. Moreover, when beings mutually unsure of when they will die
gather together on a certain day, at a certain place, in pursuit of something, then shouldn't
we try to make it significant? Precisely because we live our lives without knowing when
we will die, we should hold today and tomorrow as precious and strive as hard as we can
for that something that we know we love. So not just for the purposes of today, but also
so that you may live your lives thusly, I hope you will try to feel the significance of that
meeting of human being with human being. I have often told you to live half for yourself
and half for others. The reason is that in making my way through the harsh realities of my
days, I believed that as long as I was alive, I ought to live to the full, without regret. And
that thought is one of the ways I found to live thusly. (March 1972)

Decide why you are going and where you are going
It's true for both apples and tangerines, but one always spoils first. After that, they start to
rot beginning with those next to the first one. It's like an infection, or like cancer. What
you all have to do, is to not be that first rotten apple or tangerine! And the reason is not
because doing so will make you money, or give you prestige; that kind of thinking is
already rotten from the core. This path I am commending to you is one that I have taken
and experienced. Returned home after the war with nothing, I worked and built a dojo,
then bought the equipment for it. I didn't have tens of students come to me from the
beginning. I began with one or two; the first several years were an investment. To put it
in an extreme way, you take a loss from teaching. Yet it's not a loss. I found pleasure in
doing it. That's why I could do it with all may heart. If I had thought to slack off because
there were only a few people, that would have created something different from what was
actually created.
I have been using the phrase, "return to the origin," and you should all be completely
clear by now about the motivation I had for starting Shorinji Kempo. Rebuilding
yourself, you rebuild society. You also become happy, but it is fulfilled by our wanting
others to be happy. To do so, someone has to open a path: Shorinji Kempo started as an
attempt to make people who would open the path, or in a word, leaders. I have no desire
to assemble a bunch of small fry. I've said this from the beginning. So it's the same for all
of you. If you think this is something just for your benefit, or for your profit, you're dead
wrong.
Things are better for me, but I want to make them better for others. For that purpose, I
need a large vehicle. Having five on board is better than one, and I expect that having a
hundred is better than five. To steer such a large craft, then a lot of other conditions have
to be met. You can't jump to that point right from the start, so you just make sure you
guide people and put in the effort required to go forward. Having an answer to some
theoretical question of whether you can or can't doesn't matter! I have come this far
thinking in this way.
When someone walks 10,000 steps, he can walk in circles or walk toward Tokyo. Why
am I going, and where? These must be decided clearly at the outset. At this point all of
you have a good idea of your direction right? Yet, when you come along someplace
where the road is under repair or it's broken down, you scoot off to the side. Do you see
what I'm saying? The initial goal was clear, but there is a danger of it changing along the
way. Ultimately we need to maintain our beginners' hearts. We need to reflect over and

over again on why we have done things. (February 1975 Branch Establishment Seminar)

Half for one's own happiness, and half for the happiness of others
"As Japanese, we resolve to love our native country of Japan" (the original version of the
Shinjo (creed) was written specifically for Japan) rolls off the tongue easily when saying
the creed, but above all else, the starting point you should take for really thinking about
loving your native country is one of how you should be as a human being. I think the day
will arrive when all of you will come to understand this, but when it comes to the thing
that is the most important in the world, that thing is individual people, isn't it? To bring it
close to home, it's about whether or not your family and friends can live in happiness,
right? Some of you will boldly say, no it's ideas, or country, society, or a spirit of earnest
loyalty to one's company. But for me, the things for the purpose of "a single human
being" come first, and putting first ideology, systems of thought, and other things that do
not treat human beings as valuable is out of the question; I think they are mistaken.
When you think about the existence of human beings, the starting point is one's own self,
and it is only when you value yourself that it all begins. In other words, when you come
to treat yourself as valuable, for the first time you become able to respect other people. "I
don't want to go through suffering, but who cares if it happens to someone else." A
person who can only feel things on this level does not simply have a problem with others,
but he will end his own life without having been able to treat himself well. Am I wrong?
It is partly because my father died when I was small and I struggle together with my
mother in taking care of my two little sisters, but I grew up with a deep feeling of
wanting to help my sisters and mother eat even if I couldn't eat anything. This is a love
that wants to give. I was only a child, so I couldn't earn any money, and the most I could
do was help my mother. In the end the three of them died before long, so I actually wasn't
able to do anything for them. Yet, that desire to be considerate, to protect, and in even the
smallest way to make some happy... isn't this a feeling or thought that naturally arises and
goes out from the hearts of people in every area and every country? Thus, even as you
regard yourself so do you regard others, and especially so when the others are weaker
than yourself. Yet, even if it is only half way, you can be considerate of others, and
throughout I always valued this feeling that had budded in my youth. Moreover, it was
precisely because I always valued it that it became the foundation of my later thinking
that "half for one's own happiness, and half for the happiness of others," and "when I
support the life in others, I too am brought to life." (August 1974, lecture at a university

students' camp)

Shorinji Kempo is not about selling techniques piece by piece

Indonesia, America, France, and Singapore; for the past several years Shorinji Kempo
has been making a high tempo expansion overseas. What this means is that in countries
with different languages, religions, and customs of living people - people with different
histories from ours and who live in different cultural spheres - have begun to take interest
in Shorinji Kempo. The result of this, if I may paint the picture large, is that we are
gradually changing from a single Japanese organization into the world's Shorinji Kempo,
and our role is progressing as we shed our old skin.
So, at this vital time, how are we Japanese doing? How well have we understood Shorinji
Kempo's campaign, the way we ought to be according to the Creed? At best we could
probably teach the techniques, isn't that the level, the condition in which we find
ourselves...?
The greatest reason that Shorinji Kempo has grown so large certainly lies in the
magnetism exerted by our unique system of techniques. Yet if ever a gun was turned on
you, would you stand up to it with bare fists? One burst and that would be the end of it.
When I say this I think some people get offended, abut aside from certain limited
situations unarmed combat skills are really useless. In actual society, they are basically
worthless.
Some gather a little from this school and a little from that, then set up a new school and
make themselves founders of a school. Selling certificates, they are concerned about
making money. Again, using the term "perfect execution," they wallow in their own
satisfaction in their narrow little worlds. It's impolite to say so, but that kind of person is
common among people who call themselves martial artists. From the outset, however, I
have always stood against seeking a reputation through selling techniques piece by piece.
Moreover, when I reached the conclusion through my own experiences that things were
going terribly, I didn't just consider it but I put my thoughts into action and started
Shorinji Kempo.
Some fools are conceited enough to think that Japanese are better than other peoples,
more exalted. This thinking says that even if it means death it is good to exhaust one's
loyalty in the upward direction alone, toward country and emperor. This system and
education would not permit people to think of themselves living as individual human
beings. Groups could only coalesce vertically, human relations could never grow

horizontally and form groups. I want to change these old patterns of Japan, of being a
Japanese, even if it only makes a small change. This is not only for Japanese; I also want
to make a society in which the citizens of many countries can live together in friendship.
To that end, I have made our very selves the object of human reconstruction. This is
essential. (October 1973, lecture at all Japan leadership special seminar)

If fighting is your goal, go somewhere else

If your purpose in coming to Shorinji Kempo is simply from a desire to learn weaponless
combat, then you shouldn't be here anyway. It's the desire to gain an autonomous way of
living, no matter what it takes - people who think that way are welcome.
If everyone cared only about their own little happiness or benefit, the world certainly
won't get any better, neither will it improve. And if you simply will the destruction of any
way of thinking or of living that differs, if you say, "suppress the statements of anyone in
the way," then the world can only get worse. It's neither of these extremes, but rather
being able to think of the benefit of others at the same time as I think for myself, being
able to think not simply of Japan but also of other countries - that is the kind of human
being you want to be.
To that end, moreover, shouldn't we each change our individual values. No mater how
slow the speed, it goes on steadily. Though it might seem impossible, we have only to
keep going. I have no intention of changing this way of thinking, and I wish to maintain
my autonomy for this purpose. Moreover, I wish for all of you to gain this same
autonomy. (1973, lecture at University camp)

In Shorinji Kempo, our natural way of greeting each other when people meet begins from
the gassho rei. Then you grab me, and I grab you, and we each throw each other in turn.
Amidst all this I want to grow in skill, but I also heartily wish for you to get better too,
and so we each build up our progress.
Moreover, it is through such practice that we can maintain awareness of the relation
between self and other, awareness that while the self exists the other outside of oneself
who is different in every way from the self exists also. This awareness of the reality of
human society seems so thoroughly familiar and yet one forgets it so quickly. What is
more, amidst the awareness of the existence and relationship of self and other, one
changes oneself to go beyond oneself and become capable of thinking at least half for the

feelings and happiness of others. That is the way we should be, and if the encounter with
Shorinji Kempo should be a chance for such a self reform then it is a good thing.
Thus the kind of scenes where one person suddenly knocks down a partner and says,
"Pretty impressive, huh? Do you give? Well then, you follow me!" have no place in our
organization. "I want to brag about my physical power. I want to learn a way of always
winning fights." If that alone is your goal, then Shorinji Kempo is not for you, and I
recommend that you find another martial art. (1973, lecture at leadership seminar)

If you act with all your energy, your life will change
This year I reached 69 years of age. My heart has been working both day and night,
without stopping, for 70 years. This is a splendid thing.
It's already been ten years since this, but once while I was in the air in a plane over
Siberia, I had a heart attack and my pulse stopped completely. I was dead. It so happened
that there was a good doctor on board with us, and he gave me first aid, and thus he
breathed life back into me. But I've experienced that particular half dead condition many
times. Well, if I die then my life ends there, but obviously I am living, so I have today,
and I can stand in front of you all.
The thing I wish to say here is that even when you are doing the same thing, depending
on the way you do it you get completely different effects. One day is one day. The way
that you live that one day is the most important concern. For me, looking at a life that
somehow passes by and a life with a sense of something that makes it worth struggling
for with your all -- everything turns out differently between the two. You all know what I
mean in a vague and verbal way, perhaps. But in the daily actions of your life, when it
comes to whether or not you live by that thought in your everyday actions, it seems to me
that perhaps you don't. I am 69 now, and yesterday, I felt that anew. In words, I have
known it for a long time now, but yesterday all anew, in a passion, I remembered the
value of being alive.
I have been 35 years since we lost the war, and so this year it will be 33 years since I
came home to Japan and started Shorinji Kempo. 33 years ago, I gave all my thinking to
living in earnest. After losing in war I came home to burned out fields with nothing left
standing, alone, and I started Shorinji Kempo. Today, 33 years later, multitudes of people
have joined in and felt the value of living, taken pride, and found hope. This is a splendid

thing.
Yet, the root of all this began with my beliefs and my actions, all from a single person 33
years ago. The greatest reason that this has succeeded to the pint where it now circles the
world, is that I really felt life's joy and pride in it, that I gave my life to it, and that I made
serious and earnest efforts for it.
In comparison to me, you all are extremely young. Even if you start today, even at your
age, I imagine you could each make out about as well as me. For the rest of your lives, try
taking things on the way I have! You should be able to. This - this is the difference
between casually doing something and really giving it your all. (1980 from a sermon at the
Newly Established Branch Masters Study Session)

Meaningless without Action

When I was young, I was told this by a Chinese person: "Why do you treat your life so
shabbily? You are alive because you are needed, and when your work is over, you die.
That is the reality of the universe. That being so, why not stop despising yourself, and try
to live your life more vigorously?" This became the starting point for my awareness of
my own existence, and my life changed. Some people are able to make their lives proceed
just as they plan. What is the difference between those who can do this and those who
can't? Essentially, it's a question of whether or not one can plan one's life and put that into
action. Was it chance that made you decide to come to Hombu? Some of you probably
came because a senior told you to, but making the decision and then acting on it was done
by yourself, no? If that's so, then your life should also be subject to change, shouldn't it?
That which can think and act is the self; the awareness of respect for oneself begins form
there. I am alive. Think this way: while I am alive, I am a necessary existence. In
deciding what to do, you should start from there. If you do so, then you will be capable of
self confidence.
I am not just saying this. I am speaking with a reserve of self confidence, and that's
convincing. You can do the same - follow my example. If you just think it to yourself,
that's no good. If you don't express it in action, it's meaningless. When what is expressed
becomes an internal presence, that is when you finally have strength. (April 1968 from a
university training camp sermon)

Just thinking something without acting, that is not worthy of respect. It's no more than
empty wishes. One shouldn't be infatuated with oneself, but actions taken with
confidence are important. I'm an activist. When I say, "I'll do it!" I stop everything and
it's "You and you, let's go now." The thinking and the doing get going virtually with the
same rapidity.
This is what I request from everyone. Many people think, "just a minute" when it's time
to do something. However, I don't. When I think it I do it, and I do it as hard as I can
without worrying about tomorrow.
One more thing, don't let an opportunity get way. Basically what I'm saying is be
decisive. I have never gotten caught up in thinking, "Should I do this or that?" I decide
for myself whether it looks possible or not. Then I do all that I can, and afterwards I don't
worry about it. As long as I take responsibility for what I've said and done, there's no
problem. This is what I request both from myself and from others.
Take a look at me.
My face looks like I don't have a care in the world. My beard is gradually getting whiter.
My daughter is still young, and so I would like to live longer for her. Still, I could die
today. The atom bomb could drop tomorrow, and everything might be gone. If human
beings vanished from the face of the planet, there would be no Shorinji Kempo. But, after
all, I still work my hardest. That is my way of thinking. (August 1967 from and instructors
seminar sermon)

Try to think ten years ahead

The beginning of the first chapter in the Kyohan reads, "People who can look ahead 100
years into the future are looked on as crazy. People who get stuck in the present get left
behind. Those who see ten years into the hence and act on it become successes." These
words were stated by Ichizo Kobayashi, the founder of the Hankyu Railroad. Twenty
years ago, immediately after the end of the war, I returned to Japan at a time when no one
knew what would become of the Japanese people. So when I saw the conditions in Japan
I thought that this would never do, that if I did not somehow give some spine to the
young Japan could end up in a terrible mess. So for the sake of educating the young, I
rounded up some young people, despite getting laughed at, and just kept on saying things
like what I'm saying here. The high school students of those days have already become

respectable adults. That which created the basis of your gathering here today is the
children of those days who were good enough to make my words their own, right? Whey
not try thinking ten years ahead? Though it may be impossible now, why not hold the
hope that you can do it in ten years. Then, why not do it? Myself, at your age I think I
was a little worse than you all are now. I was an utterly desperate lone wolf, and there
was nothing anyone could do about it. The person is now doing and saying all kinds of
things like thin. So in your cases, you should achieve even better results, if you simply do
it with all your heart. (From a sermon in 1966)

Don't Give Up Until You Die

Apathetic People are on the increase. When some difficulty rises, they just give in. It's the
same whether they lose in love or their company collapses. Just a single misstep and it's,
"I can't take it anymore." Putting it nicely, they are naive. Putting it harshly, they don't
really have any guts. They are lacking in my spirit of wanting to trying to do something
to the very last. Until you're dead, you haven't lost. You can't give up until you're dead.
"Don't think that you make yourself live. Think that you are caused to live." When I was
told this it opened my eyes. No one is ever born because they wanted to be born, and
even when you want to die itf s quite difficult to be capable of dying. There are even
some people like me who tried to commit suicide but didn't die. I think, after all, that the
idea that one can simply live at will or die at will is mistaken. That is why I spent my
youth volunteering for dangerous jobs ? I was waiting for Heaven to kill me ? but the
bullets kept dodging me, and I was saved. That is how I gained truly complete confidence
that it was not my own life. The matter of living is not related to one's own thinking. Try
thinking that way and change your life. Think that something will come of your life.
Don't give in to the world. (From a September 1969 sermon at Busen)

You can be happy if you think positively

In the very beginning, Shorinji Kempo started from a five and a half mat room, and I
came to pour all my assets and efforts into that. I worked as hard as I could, and
eventually I came to spend everything I had on Shorinji Kempo. Now, the real estate
alone would probably make a vast amount. However, not one of those assets is my
personal property. A minimal savings for living is essential, but I don't think you need

any more than that. It is all the property of Shorinji Kempo. "Use it while you're alive." I
think that's the main thing. I discovered this way of life immediately after defeat in the
war, and because I have always given everything I have, multitudes of people have given
me their assistance. Moreover, legions of young people are growing up who have visited
me out of admiration and respect. There is nothing in life to march such a splendid
pleasure as this. There are some people who say that money is better, but no matter how
much money or how many things one has, one can't really use them. When it comes to
the clothes one always wears, it's one or two sets. Or for shoes, they say that there is
always just one pair that really fits, and so in the end even with many pairs there is really
just one pair. Until just recently, I didn't have a car either. The reason was that when I
needed one I took a taxi, and I had just decided to think as if I had stored cares all over
the country. Essentially, with a conversion of the heart, of one's way of thinking, one can
become incredibly profit. So I think that the younger the age at which one is able to reach
such a position and change one's life, the better. You all, as well, once you have gained a
fundamental stability in life, next you might consider finding some sort of a reason to
live. Moreover, if it is not simply for your own purposes, and if instead you have a sense
for others as well, then anything you do will succeed, and that is how I have survived.
Shorinji Kempo is not simply the teaching of techniques, but rather its real existence is in
teaching that way of living. (August 1970 from a university training camp sermon)

Relationship built through your action

All of you gathered together here today are already quite aware of where you stand, and
furthermore you are all people in positions from which you should be taking action
responsibly. There must be a great number of people who are watching you, partly out of
attraction and partly out of respect. So when you think of your position, what should you
do? I have said to you before, "Always take the lead, always stand at the head and take
command," and, "Become the train's engine!" That means being more passionate than
anyone else, continuing to run and carrying everyone. Am I wrong? Trying asserting your
position year in and out with demands like, "Isn't there some good way for me to make
out? I want to take it easy, so I just want to ask you a favor." Just try it no one will stick
with you! Or try always making excuses for yourself, saying "my student said so," or "so
and so told me to," and always putting the blame on others; someday you'll be exposed,
and when you look back, you won't be able to gain their trust anymore. I donf t want
you to take any of these ways, and that's why I'm standing here now upbraiding you,
warning you, sounding the alarm. Some call me a great leader or a great teacher, but no
matter how great the leader or the teacher, in time they turn rotten or lose their brilliance.

But it's hard for their subordinates to say anything. Now I am here and I stand alone
speaking and acting bluntly, but if I disappear, what's going to happen? If you can't even
criticize each other frankly, then you have no chance of taking care of someone who has
gone rotten. I think it would end up with everyone taking care not to upset anyone, and
everyone overtly trading in turf, interests, and reputation. Without daily personal
relations based on the ability to speak frankly to each other, to check oneself and to
transform each other, there is no way for real relationship of trust to develop. Moreover,
it is even header and more trying to maintain trust than it is to build it in the first place.
Mao, the former leader of China's revolution used to say, "Among friends, there are both
true friends and false friends. True and false friends can be distinguished clearly through
times of action." As you know, I have come to the same conclusion through my own
experiences. However before we casually set about calling people false and true, consider
what I have often said without a meeting of minds, without the communication of
intention to build a living organization of shared hearts, people cannot take action in
accord. It is said that only after this problem is solved can such action be achieved, abut
the reality is that it is through action that trust is born and organizations grow. Take faith
in this, and take a shot at doing and continuing our real activities. Perhaps the numbers
might be inferior, but we would certainly be able to make true friends and an organization
in which all could take pride. (From a sermon at the July 1976 summer university training camp)

Make friends who would help you out in a jam

I began Shorinji Kempo with a deep desire to make shared happiness and an ideal world
right in my own backyard. What should be difficult about this idea of trying to build in
one's own neighborhood a society of fellow human beings, friends, and neighbors who
can benefit each other. While mastering the techniques I learned in China may be tough,
having students learn how to think for shared happiness while teaching them techniques
that only get more interesting the more you do them - this is what Shorinji Kempo has
done and what it is working to keep doing. Going it alone is no good. Don't you think you
should help out and offer each other friendship? Make some good friends; why not?
Making statements like these, Shorinji Kempo has expanded. From the beginning, I used
to say that there was no point in joining Shorinji Kempo alone, so bring along a friend
who matters to you. I demanded that they come in pairs or, I used to tell them, I wouldn't
let them join. I meant someone who they'd want to rush off and help if the kid were in
trouble, and someone who'd feel the same way about them. How about you today, is there
anyone around you that close to you? Raise your hands. Well, not too many. Life without
friends who would come running when you're in trouble, whether you asked or not, and

without friends for whom you would rush off to help, a life like that is awfully lonely.
(March 1977, from a sermon at college branch training camp)

I learned this the hard way in the war. Japan lost and lost again, and even after the war was over
Japan's soldiers didn't try to build horizontal ties. Infantry was infantry, artillery was artillery,
and they were all split apart and avoided efforts to build any cohesion. The reason why was that
the feudalistic habits of vertical divisions had existed for so long that everyone was trained to see
their neighbors as a kind of enemy when they were from a different outfit. I have seen enough of
this amidst the extremities of war and amidst the processes of ordinary life to make me sick. The
mere ability to jump back together when there's a fight or when you're all being insulted, or
coming together only to stand up outsiders is not good enough. There are now about 400 college
Shorinji Kempo branches, but just as a minimum, what do you think about getting together about
once a month with fellow college kenshi from your area and holding joint practices? That way
you would get to know each other's faces, become friends, and if something came up you could
either enjoy it together or help each other out. That is the kind of change I want from you! No
matter how much physical strength one may have oneself, it is meaningless alone. You are old
enough; it's time you got this through your head! (March 1977, from a sermon at college branch
training camp)

An ability that only exists in human beings

There is a saying by an ancient Chinese thinker, Mencius: "The noble who will not act
lasciviously, the poor man who will not be moved, the warrior who will not submit; these
are great men of substance." What this means is that regardless of how much money or
social standing you have, it is only the person who does not let his thoughts or his spirits
grow corrupt, who despite all poverty and mean circumstances of life does not change his
aspirations, who does not submit despite all threats of authority and violence- only this
kind of person is a real man. In short, live your lives without selling your humanity or
your aspirations for money and social status, for good appearances or for desire. The
saying means that a being that possesses the power of will to choose such a way of living,
that is a human being. This itself is the courageous way to live and to be.
Well then, what is wisdom? It's not simply intelligence, education, or knowledge, no. It's
the spiritual ability to discern the truth, a perceptual ability to grasp truth; it bills down to
not sparing real efforts "to serve not only oneself but others too." Now that is wisdom - it
is the destination which wisdom should reach. That's what I want to tell you. The
character for benevolence or charity (jin) is written with the elements for two people.
That means two people each equally treating the other in friendly fashion, but this can't

happen without the mutual presence of hearts seeking to serve others. That is, based
solely on our way to living and way of thinking, there are seeds of possibility that can
nourish virtues of earnestness and true-heartedness that are separate from selfish desire
and egocentrism, and these same seeds are what makes us human. Of course, even among
other animals, there are examples such as the dog who would not leave the graveside of
his dead master, or animals who go to lengths to help their companions. There are
instructive acts such as when parents act for the benefit of their children. Yet, when it
comes to acting wholeheartedly to help others, hen you do have the ability to exercise this
thing that we call benevolence, even if you have to do so by trial and error. That just
doesn't seem to exist outside of human beings.
If I may speak presumptuously, aside from the animals known as human beings, there is
no being which can do what we commonly refer to as incredible accomplishments
(kamiwaza, literally "divine works). It was about five or six years ago that mankind first
traveled to the moon about 400,000 kilometers away and then came back, and you know,
the people who did that were neither gods nor buddha. This is the kind of approach I
mean. And if you can make this approach your own, then you can get away from the
spiritual intimidation and pressure of ideas like fate or karma that treat people's fates and
abilities as things determined from birth, and you will no longer be fooled or manipulated
by dubious religions. You will take up the courage that is yours as a person and the
wisdom that is yours as a person and become able to face up to things. (1974 sermon at a
seiho training session)

'Guko Moves the Mountain.' You know, I like that idea.

There is a phrase that embodies the spirit of stinting no effort and piling labor on labor to
get things accomplished: "Guko moves the mountain." You know, I like that idea. Guko
was an old man who lived long, long ago someplace in China. In front of this old man's
house was a high mountain, and it was terribly inconvenient to come and go from the
house. At last he got fed up with it, and together with his son and grandson, he
commenced to dig out the mountain. Of course, there were people who laughed at them
as fools for trying to take on a mountain. But this didn't phase Grandfather Guko at all,
and he answered them, saying, "Even when I die, I have a child. The child begets my
grandchild, and that child begets a child. Child follows child and grandchild follows
grandchild without end. If we all put our time into it and cut down the mountain, well, the
mountain doesn't get any higher, so there's nothing to stop us from flattening it out."

What do you think? Full of lessons, wouldn't you say? It means that even when you can't
accomplish something right away, if you change the way you think, the way you see, the
way you go about things, then the impossible can become the possible. That's right.
Moreover, the story of Guko also contains a spirit of concern for his ancestors and people
in the future, a desire to do something for those people, a desire to consider them. I often
say to you all, "If you do not know the joy of giving, then your so-called life will hold no
charm," and it's true, really. That means the idea of existing completely on your own be it
under capitalism or socialism is not possible. Understand this well. And, if I could add
anything, it would be that if you do live in the spirit of Guko, then even your smile, while
its still just a smile, it will become a thing of splendor. Japanese people have a grimace of
a smile that's like the Mona Lisa's somehow all hollowed out, that has some ineffable
quality, some power to radiate obsequiousness, and it's said that we're a people not too
well liked throughout the world. However, if you pass your days with a refreshed heart,
then someday a fine smile with no trace of the faked grimace will come to you, naturally.
You know, I couldn't do it right off the bat either. I won't say I've become a handsome
man, but to become someone people would like and trust, I had to put a great deal of
conscious intention and effort into making the man who can smile now with this fine
expression making myself Doshin So. [laughter] Don't get caught up in murky fears of
the future; vanquish your clinging to the past. Don't you think you might try using your
head and your heart to value the present and live simply?

Because You Only Live Once

No matter how much people pray or plea, when they die they die, and when they can't do
something they just can't. People always live within limits, including the limit that
everybody ends up dying, no matter who they are; that's reality. However, precisely for
that reason, great meaning arises out of the way of living and being that each person
chooses within the single life they get. So it follows that if you have a way of thinking
about something, then it will be worth something to give it a try. Also, once you realize
this, you can take the whole spectrum of sorrow and joy as resources for your maturation.
There are people who say, "I will discover this being called myself, believe in myself,
and develop myself, "I will discover this being called myself, believe in myself, and
develop myself into someone worthy of trust." Why do I call to you, saying I want to
build up the numbers of people such as this? Take your participation in today's program
as an opportunity, and ask yourself, "Why am I in Shorinji Kempo?" This is a good
moment for that. What do you say? Ask yourselves the question once more in earnest.

If you don't, then the meaning of taking this vacation and paying train fare and coming all
the way to Shikoku will be lost. There are all kinds of ways for university students to
enjoy themselves, but you've gone to the trouble to carving out time and coming to meet
me. Isn't that because you're seeking something that you couldn't figure out yourselves?
Something's missing. Somehow you're uneasy. Somehow the world's out of kilter.
Whether or not you're fully aware of this desire, this dissatisfaction, this doubt, it's
always there gnawing at the corners of your heart, isn't it?
Cutting to the conclusion here, not being able to understand that missing something in all
its details, not being able to resolve your doubts, not even knowing what tomorrow will
be - that's what it is to be human. I hate to say this because it sounds a little like a Zen
monk talking, but that's what makes living interesting. Let me give you an example in
easier terms. Say you knew right from the beginning that you would marry someone on
such and such a day and separate on a specific day in the third year of your marriage. For
me, I wouldn't even want to fall in love.
What I'm trying to say is, you don't know how it's going to turn out, so just try going
ahead with it, right? And then, if you try and it doesn't work, it's also important to have
the spirit to try again, and again, and again. Let me give you another ordinary, everyday
example: you think you're in love and so you join together, but somehow you were
wrong. It doesn't go well. I experienced this myself? But if that's what happens, rather
than gutting it out and snarling at each other, separating instead can lead both of you to
happiness. If you give up on this because it seems too much trouble, it can become a
much nastier conflict. When you decide, "this is what I should do," then just try it.
Suppose you fail and lose everything you had? Like I've been saying, you're still not
dead, so you should realize that you still have plenty of chances to hold firm for what
might come next. So if you grasp the fundamentals of living that way, you won't have to
brood over the trivial details right in front of you or be paralyzed over vague uncertainties
about the future. (March 1975 University Training Camp sermon)