Profound Wisdom & Moderation

Teachings by Meishu-sama

PROFOUND WISDOM FROM DEEP FAITH

There are many different kinds of wisdom; some are profound while others are quite shallow.  Divinely inspired wisdom ranks the highest, followed by wisdom of conscience and intellect. There are others, as well. Try to deepen your faith so that you can gain the highest kinds of wisdom which can be achieved by those who recognize the existence of God and are unfailingly righteous and faithful in their ways. People whose behavior is guided by higher wisdom will never fail. They will ultimately find genuine happiness.

In contrast to good, positive wisdom, there are bad kinds, also.  Criminally minded people cultivate all matters of craftiness and devious intelligence.  Many, perhaps most, of the great heroes and successful merchants in history were “blessed” with abundant self-serving malicious wisdom.

Comparing the good and evil kinds of wisdom, you will find the former to be far more profound, and the latter quite shallow. No matter how clever a wicked scheme, there is always at least one fatal flaw in an otherwise ingeniously devised plan, which causes it to breakdown and end in disastrous failure.

The logical conclusion is that you need profound wisdom if you wish to achieve lasting, instead of temporary prosperity. That wisdom derives from faithfulness; the more faithful you are, the more profound wisdom you will achieve. Hence, it is only people of sincere faith who eventually achieve pure and divinely inspired wisdom.

By this logic, it should not be difficult to understand why we are so beset with social ills today. Even our leaders in their respective fields, like many other people, are shallow and short-sighted in their thinking. Politicians, for example, get so preoccupied with immediate issues, so busy tackling problems as they arise, that all they can do is devise stopgap measures without finding lasting solutions. In that sense, the politicians approach to problems is similar to that of doctors who are primarily concerned with treating symptoms.

All problems, whether political, economic, social or medical, occur because there are certain causes that gave rise to them in the first place. Nothing takes place accidentally without a definite reason. Moreover, people of limited wisdom cannot foresee future problems, hence they are incapable of formulating policies that are truly effective. A master in chess can read five or ten moves ahead, while an amateur player can see only a couple of moves ahead. In order to accomplish anything of value, lasting and good, whether you may be a policymaker or someone else, you need to cultivate good wisdom, and to that end, you must keep trying to deepen your faith, thereby becoming a person of integrity.

Light of Wisdom, May 25th, 1949.

MODERATION

I once had the opportunity to see a framed calligraphy written by Tesshu Yamaoka, an eminent statesman of the Meiji era of Japan, which impressed me deeply.  The character for HODO, connoting "moderation," was boldly inscribed at the beginning.  This was followed by a sentence written in smaller characters which read, "Everything in life depends on this one word." 

This calligraphy imprinted itself upon my mind so strongly that even to this day I have not forgotten it.  During the last twenty or thirty years, I have been immensely benefited on many occasions by recalling it to mind.

There have been numerous good maxims since ancient times, but it seems there are few which are more impressive than this one.  It is only a single word, but what amazing power it contains!  When we look at different things in the world with moderation as a standard, it serves us well.  Man is inclined to go to extremes, such as not doing enough on the one hand, doing too much on the other; thinking in ways that lean too far to the right or to the left; being haughty when rich, and despairing when poor.  The cause of failure in many cases seems to be this lack of balance.

Confucius taught in his Analects that one should keep to the middle path, which is simply another way of stressing the importance of moderation.  We have often heard such old sayings as, "Practice moderation," or "Maintain moderation."  In other words, do not go to extremes.

To explain this from a spiritual viewpoint, as I have said many times, our fellowship teaches the importance of Izunome, or balance, which is the meeting point of the vertical and the horizontal, Shojo and Daijo.

When summarized, this actually means moderation.  Therefore, one of the most important things for us to keep in mind at all times is moderation.  If we only live by that standard, everything will go well, I assure you.  Nothing in our existence here is more important.

August 8, 1951