Heaven or God ?

I just found those photos in the net and I do know not more than any fact of what the photo was telling us. —– may be the photo was genuine = straight record of the aftermath, showing the remaining gate of the Shinto Shrine.

A person who found the photos must be utterly amazed hence just up loaded to the net.   As I have no information of original source, I have no idea whether the photo was taken by the professional journalist or just a passerby, let alone any fact whether the subject was intentionally picked up (such as the survey of all the Shinto Shrine — and the one / only one Torii kept standing — or one of many) or just a coincidence.

—– yet still, seeing one more photo, they convinced me that there IS something.  Think, you were a person who encountered it on the spot.  Even if you didn’t bend your knee there, you must felt a chill on your back and felt, something like Heaven or somebody like the God is there and showing their providence.  (But don’t blame, why send a tsunami or ask why save only a Torii, not the city.   😀  )

This is THE basis of the Japanese Shinto.  We don’t need a fishy sweet words telling the Next life.  We are seeing and keep feeling it IS there.  Unlike an intentionally created, invented idea of so-called God, the supernatural power, or Heaven IS a part of our native sentiment or so-called spirituality.   (That’s why only few % of Japanese is christian. = To the Japanese, Disney like personified God is a joke that’s why no Christian, still almost all of them believe the Rule of a cause and the consequence / the punishment return by the Heaven = that’s their spiritual Ethos.)  So, we don’t steal, nor riot because we know the heaven IS watching us, or living with us.  We don’t need to be told and learn “The idea of Morality” = we have it.  Idea was an invention in the brain.  Japanese Ethos is a part of how we were born.  (Well, ideally —– we have Yakuza too. (But you know, Yakuza’s own rule is as tight as in the army)   And, if you know them, they ARE also nice people.   Ha ha ha   😀 )

___/\___

.

Be in Emotion — or in Detachment

Gosh, it’s exactly a year from the Earth Quake

and the Tsunami in Japan.

After I caught a first short news, it took another

5 hours to know what has happened there in the Japanese

News site. The rest was, I don’t think I need to repeat here.

[]

Having one year anniversary, one of the literally left over

of the iconic land scape of the Tsunami = a Bus body left

stranded on the 10m roof top of the local town hall has

been removed. ( The photo left from the Jiji news.com site )

[]

There has been two opposing opinions among the local

people.  One was, as a historical, iconic monument,

the Bus should be preserved as it is.

But, the other opinion, as it recalls horrible memories = Don’t want to see it any longer, hence

it should be removed, was over whelming.

[]

Everybody has Emotion. It is the basic judgmental response to the stimulus, instantly created in

the old part of the brain, limbic system.   As limbic system also controls the physiological

reaction, an Emotion triggers the seclusion of the Hormone, Neuro Transmitter etc.

Unlike Nerve Signal which is an instantaneous electrical pulse, those chemical Hormone remain the body

system, so that, unlike a momentary come and go Thinking process, Emotion affects a person’s mental

condition and the physiology pretty long time, some time long enough to make a person fallen ill.

[]

This is the reason why and how the Buddhism invented the way to curve the Emotion by its

practice to enable a person to detach from it.

[]

While detached from the Emotion of the disaster —– to see the Bus stranded high-up on the top of the building,

must be really an amazing, unusual experience. —– Hence came to a thought to make it as a historical

monument, could be a good idea = can be only such a monument in the world.

Though, to the vast majority of the local people who have had literally run for the life or lost their family member,

close friend, the memories of the disaster were still too real.   And its memory re-creates the same Emotion,

hence the seclusion of the same Hormone = same reaction of the body, heart beat, blood pressure increase and

even having nightmare, and so on.

[]

In order to keep the compassion to the deceased and the fellow victims, it should be better to keep the memory

afresh, is the one opinion.   Though, to live one’s life in full potential, to keep the memories and to

be imprisoned by the same emotion has to be distinguished.

Time is the best cure for a sad memory —– the old say.

The Buddhism practice is to accelerate this aging process, and make a person to see its memory in a perspective,

in another word, in distance = detached = in Zen Buddhist’s term  Mushin ( Mind of No-Mind ).

By detached eyes, a person can see the situation and the possibility or the alternative, in much

liberated perspectives.   Hence able to make much better judgement in the life.

After all what local people needed was not a reminescence of the disaster, but the mind to look forward to

rebuilt the town and their life.   When a mountain of tasks on front, the emotion is nothing but the obstacle.

[]

How to learn one’s mind detached,  hence able to have turmoil-free calm mind-set is

what I’m talking about in this whole blog.

___/\___

PS : Further reading, how Buddhist’s practice works to achieve  Detachment > >>   http://bit.ly/yG6rph

(This post could be the most crucial post among the others in my blog )

—

SINSAI . INFO — A Website to Help Others

—

Only four hours after the Japanese Disaster, an information website called SINSAI.INFO started.

The site is giving the extracted information of what people tweeted or the report to tell what is the

situation there or needs of help in the Geological, Graphical framework.

On the beginning it was started by a small group of the IT engineers lead by Haruyuki Seki, though soon

many more volunteers joined through internet while communicating each other by the Skype Chat and

became a formidable volunteer work force.

And the persons who did similar work for Christ Church Earthquake Relief project, using

[Ushahidi Feed] open-source program which organizing and displays the information on the map

has joined, and the top expert of the web design, top expert to organize the information as the geomedia and

top expert for interfacing to other system by designing applications hence able to provide the information

through mobile-phone or to use with Android etc has all joined together.

It became a working group, almost a dream team, no commercial project can ever dreamt of, or

no commercial project can afford to employ them.

—

What was the key, How and Why, the activity like this started ?

Everybody wanted to do something to help, the sense of duty told them “Have to do something”

It was a spontaneous fundamental urge of the human psyche to help others, unconscious sense of duty,

when someone faced the situation which needs the help.

The situation  itself has driven the people —– not one’s intention or will, neither ideology.

This was a situation where the Dharma worked. And the people who is connected to the Dharma

spontaneously reacted. —– Since it was the Dharma, it was not an individual mind or intention.

This is the Selflessness of the Dharma.   And as the people having and following the Dharma,

every person worked selfless —– or it must be said, in their default state as a part of the Dharma.

—

( I doubt, if it was a commercial project, they would not have worked together in such selfless

manner.   In a commercial project, there are certain work convention exist, which limits what

the one should do —– what you ought to do must be compatible to what you were paid, and

within a reasonable working schedule —– it became a subject of relative assessment.

It mean, The Person is seeing the Work in distance / as an object = It is not in ICHIJO ( Oneness )

In contrast, free voluntary work has no limit —– free mean, no price =  priceless mean it can be

infinitum hence the quality has to be absolute and there wouldn’t be any limit of working time.

This is the condition of WHAT the MUSHIN meant and WHAT the MINDFULLNESS appeared.

The crucial point here is, they did this spontaneously / nobody asked them BUT they did

almost automatically —– How and Why ? —– Dharma inside of them, has DRIVEN them )

On top of it, the program system they have based on, Ushahidi ( Meaning “Testimony” in Swahili ) is

an open-source program. There is no monopoly or copyright control. Open-source is selfless.

And this program was best suited to organize the information in geological order.

—

The drive to start a voluntary work to set-up and run SINSAI. INFO Website was purely came from

its situation.   Dynamics was there in the Dharma and the Dharma has no self.

The situation, a phenomena of the Earth, cracked open.

As the drifting earth’s Tectonics plate collide and the stress increased, it had to be adjusted = then

the plates has moved causing big earthquake and its movement caused the huge movement of the

sea water as well, created huge Tsunami.

The movement of the plates followed the Dharma, in its Earth level action to regain the balance.

It was simply unfortunate to the human-being happened to be there.

—

Then, seeing the situation, the Dharma in Human level responded, since some of the people

were born to be good in their IT skill, for them to react in the aspect and the possibility in IT field was

their second nature.  They found the way to help the victims in their natural capabilities.

So that, their solution was the Information website [ SINSAI . INFO Ushahidi Feed ].

Since its starting point was the fundamental compassion, therefore Ego, Greed etc has no place

and the task and the requirement is Just Do the Best.

There was no place to accommodate useless thought.

In fact, they had barely enough time to set-up and made it functioning.

They frantically worked some time all through the night.

Yet still, their action has been following the Selfless Dharma, it was the right action, destined to succeed.

( Otherwise why the Dharma made them to start in the first place . And of cause,

the Dharma is the Universal force, it covers the Buddhists, and non Buddhists all alike).

This is really the Dharma at work.

___/\___

—

DISASTER in Japan

 

–

–

–

–

——————————————————– Here Everything was lost

—————————————————–anything remains is the HOPE

————————————————–and the WILL to Re-build the LIFE.

–

–

–

–

Seeing the Earth Quake and the Tsunami report from Japan is nothing but a heart-braking to me.

To see a photo of a flatten muddy field which caption says, There used be a town, its empty span of

nothingness shocked and made me wordless. Emptiness of almost perfectly flushed-out field.

—

It seemed, the western reporter, photographer prefer to pick up dramatically or even funnily

piled-up devastation. An orgy of destruction. ——— but to Japanese, as I am, it is not funny at all

nor the object to be amazed.

—

Another cultural differences appeared in the western media is, all the report found it is even strange,

the reporters unanimously says ” how Japanese can keep emotion in check and stays calm ?”

The emotion is the default feeling of the human-being, hence it is more or less the same to any

culture. Though, emotional expression is not instinctive, in other words, it is cultural.

Whether it is emotional or not, expression is a way of the communication, therefore even

an emotional expression is dependent on the situation.

—– there was an interesting psychological study and the video images of the small children.

When a small child stumbled and fallen, having a pain the child started to cry. —– You will think it is

a natural emotional reaction.

Though when the same child stumbled and fallen on the empty street where nobody else is in sight

( except a hidden video camera ), child didn’t cry, and stand up by herself.

This is the true nature of the human-being. —– communication is to appeal to others.

Having emotion is one thing. To express is other.

If there is no other person to help, no need to express. —– even small child knows this

and behave accordingly.

AAAAA

In the western culture, where the Ethos and the psyche was shaped in the cast of Judia-Christian religion.

In there, the God is a humanized image or notion. And the relation of the believer to

the God is one-by-one base. You have to stand before the God in person. Hence you have to talk or express

to him — otherwise you can’t to be heard.

Therefore, unless you express and assert your Self, you are not exist. And under this understanding

even a word expressed by a person may not necessary enough. Hence, a written contract became essential.

So that, express and express and make a claim is the basis of the psyche.

And as the relation to the God is one-by-one, when something happened, shout “ Why me “

AAAAA

In comparison, the Eastern God or the place of the mighty power is the Heaven,

or Buddhist’s  explanation is the Dharma. The rules of the Universe.

Regardless, whether you face it or not, believe or express yourself or not, you are under the Dharma.

As all the occurrences and the existences are in this Dharma or under this Dharma, hence even a huge

natural disaster may produced by this same Dharma, hence you can’t argue with it.

Nor there is no use to complain or express your emotion. —–  Shout and cry is no use. The matter is

just think what you can react to the situation. What you have to do the next.

And in the case of huge natural disaster, as the same fate has come to everybody, and as everybody

was created by the same Dharma, everybody has the same feeling and facing the same situation,

one crying wouldn’t make situation any better.

Thanks to Japan has very little foreign element in their psyche, everybody is sharing the same psyche

—– even to the people who was not affected by the disaster, they share the same pain,

hence the help started almost instantly. And no looting at all.

—

In the Buddhist’s explanation, this is the moment when the Dharma prevailed.

As everybody having the Dharma in them, when they sees the situation far beyond the human

comprehension, lost the word, hence lost any thinking, therefore the mind became

blank = blank open space = Mushin —> The Dharma, hence its nature of Charity and compassion prevailed.

And the Dharma is inside,  whether the police is there or not, no looting occure.  Since Dharma knows it.

—-

I only hope the people who had this disaster to recover and able to re-build their life.

( And in this given opportunity, Japanese can root out their rotten government and rotten policy in their

nuclear generating system )

___/\___

—

East and West ( 2 )

To the people in the East,  the huge scale natural disaster is a part of the  Nature.

Even worse, they are coming every year like Hurricane, Typhoon, Earthquake, Land-slide etc.

So that, there is no possibility to conceive a God whose client is the human fork.

—– As far as the eyes can see,  was  their world.  And see the flood of Yellow River as far as the eyes can see,

must be the act of  Supreme Power above there. ———There is no possibility to imagine

any personally accountable,  human shaped  God.  (Who speaks same language !)

If the God created this world,  what is he doing with this devastation,  not once, not twice, but every year !

What is the purpose of this for ?   What a waste.  Isn’t he got a brain ?

—– (Eastern emvilonment is not very good to the Western God )

——————–

Biblical  Grate Flood which story was originated from a legend of a flood happened after the end

of last Ice Age and the rise of sea level,  (So that, such legend / myth exist all over the world.

The Biblical story is the word to word copy of the Gilgamesh Myth of Mesopotamia ) and the earthquake

which was the back ground of the story, demise of Sodom and Gomorrah, such disaster  were not

repeated again and again so, they could be construed as one-off punishment of the angry  God.

So that this God can be imagined as the one who is working together with human —– a friendly type,

speak same language,  hence he could answer your call.

Because of such convenient design, there is the free choice of   ” If this God wouldn’t give me a divorce,

I’ll go to another”  was possible.  ( Free choice is a Western Idea,  which is the basis of so-called

Democracy too,  and that is why a kind of Democracy in the west doesn’t necessary work in the East.)

(A dubious Leader who happen to be elected by a number game, can not to be respected in the Eastern

psyche, though in reality, a politician who managed to fool the people with false Charisma is in power.

Yet still, originally, the Ruler in East was expected to be able to communicate with Heaven,  that is why

the Emperor  was called as the Son of Heaven  in China and in Japan.)

——————-

Therefore,  the Eastern Belief System goes to the abstractic Order of Universe, the Rules of

the Dharma  or the Heaven ( note, Heaven  is not an idea of Paradise.  The Sky and the invisible Power

above there ) and  not a humanized God figure.  (Though, Pure Land Buddhists got different view )

In the same time, by observing the intricacy and the cohesion in the Nature gave the insight,  that is

the Order is perfect, beyond the human comprehension, ” If the power and the wisdom is such superior,

there is no competition,  we have to just accept and follow”.  This the God in the East.   ( The Hindu

idea of the Deity  and  its depiction, might be the Greek influence which came to India after

the Alexander the Grate. —— this must be an interesting field to study)

——- This Eastern God may not even be the religion, but the awareness, where we stand.

Because,even  a non-believer couldn’t escape from this Order.  When ship sunk under a Hurricane even

a Christian sunk too.  It is the Karma affecting everybody, who took that ship, on that Day.