If you think long and hard, most likely it will come down to one point: that it is because you are trying to protect yourself. Examine and check whether a desire to defend yourself might be directing your thoughts. All living creatures have the ability to protect themselves. So, while self-protection is a natural instinct, there is an unfortunate element to it—the effect of making a person unhappy.

Ninety per cent of your suffering is caused by your instinct for self-protection. One portion of that 90 per cent is self-justification. Most likely you are trying to justify yourself by thinking: I am right.

But I am feeling hurt because of the things someone said or did. Or perhaps because of social / business conditions, family problems—they are the reason I suffer.

People seek reasons to justify their suffering and in doing so, they look outwards for the cause of their problems. You think that the reason that you are unhappy now is because of other people: the accumulation of words, deeds, and emotions of other people that you have met throughout your life. This line of thinking is actually one of the causes of your unhappiness.

Another cause of your suffering is the desire to lash out and attack others. This is more common in people who are strong-headed or competitive by nature. Such people don’t just stop at seeing themselves as victims, but hold others responsible for it. They actively despise, hate, and get angry at others.

They seek revenge and tenaciously berate others for their wrongdoings. What’s more? They pray, pull strings, and spread rumours for the destruction of their enemies. Such people are not bad; they are just ordinary.

So, I encourage you to check, through self-reflection, whether your thoughts are being directed by defensiveness. You may discover that even you have these feelings—it is these feelings that are causing you pain and suffering.

Suffering comes from your feelings of self-protection. As long as you run away from suffering, you will never be able to escape it. Stop lashing out at others or beating yourself up. Accept that everything that is happening to you at any given moment is meant to be.

Understand that it isn’t your or anyone else’s mistake or coincidence that has landed you in this situation. The problems that you are facing were meant to occur. You need to learn to see your problems this way.

Whether it is sickness, a failed entrance exam, a child born with disability, or marital problems, there is a reason for it. There is meaning. There is a lesson to be learned. Discover what the lesson is instead of using that experience to blame yourself or others.

In the professional world, people often use analytical thinking to explain, analyse, and resolve a problem. This approach to problem resolution, used regularly in the workplace, is necessary for solving the plethora of problems that occur there.

But in life, it is important to consider that these problems are happening for a reason, which is why you must avoid coming to a quick conclusion.

Instead, strive to have a mind that can quietly accept that you are finally facing one of the problems inside your life’s workbook of problems and that it is happening to you at this very moment.

Realise that there is no such thing as coincidence in this world. Not all problems can be resolved in a professional, business-like manner. Accept this and your path will surely open up.

Acceptance is a form of study. Sickness, for instance, can teach you many things. You can learn that the balance between your body and mind is out of sync or that you are overconfident about your strength. Sickness teaches you to re-evaluate your relationship with your family. Perhaps you hated your mother or father, and when they got sick, you awoke to your true feelings for them.

Sickness helps you understand others, and allows you to see your job from a different perspective. Without a doubt there is something in that problem that is essential for the progression of your spirit in this life.

We all want our lives to sail to success without any stormy seas. But there is not a single person whose life is planned that way. So, while there are many pitfalls on the path ahead of you, you will only find out about them when you arrive at them. If you knew in advance that there was a hole in the road, it would be easy to get around it, wouldn’t it? But you would not learn anything.

Stumbling blocks are for tripping over. And trip is exactly what you will do. But when you stumble and fall, consider that you did not fall coincidentally. That stumbling block was put in your path from the start. It was put there because it was necessary for you to trip on it. So, trip, fall on your behind, look up at the starry sky, and think. Your life will be sprinkled with many episodes like this.

If you do not pass through these stages, you will never know yourself, in the true sense, and you will never know others. You will never understand how others feel. Without going through these experiences, you will think that you understand much of the world, but in reality, you will be in the dark.

So spend a night in that hole in the road, trapped and lonely. Gaze at the starry night sky. Then, you will come to see just how much others have given you and how much they have supported you. You will realise just how much you have overlooked the help of others and that you have taken credit for things that you had no right to. These are discoveries that you will make when you are in the depths of abandonment.

When you find yourself wrapped in the arms of this great emotion, you will become one with the power of the universe. You will be in unity with that power. Embrace the belief that your problems are not there to make you suffer. They have been prepared to lead you to enlightenment.

You stand at the threshold of the path to salvation when you understand that your problems happen out of necessity. When you stop thinking that your problems are the fault of others, the environment, the government, your company or your family and humbly accept them as your own, then you will be one with the universe.

Entrust everything to God. You will find new buoyancy as you embrace acceptance. A great energy to live will well up inside you. Then a miracle will occur. You will realise that the world really isn’t the hell that you thought it was.

You will understand that the suffering you have endured as you have struggled on your own isn’t suffering at all and that you are not writhing in the depths of hell. If you can do this, you will, before you know, be swept with the current towards salvation.

As long as you are depending on the power coming from your ego, your own strength, and trying to protect yourself, the miracle will never happen. The miracle will happen when you become one with the mind of the universe and entrust your very self to it.

Also, try and take time to meditate. Calm your mind. Clear it of stray thoughts and stop trying to use judgment. Your efforts to judge and separate good from bad, the positive from the negative, right from left is what is causing your mind to race. When meditating, accept everything. Think to yourself that the will of the universe has been made to manifest to you. As time passes, the meaning will become clear.

So starting today, even if it is only for 15 minutes, meditate. Stop trying to resolve everything by your own devices and accept things the way they are. Embrace that which happens to you as it happens.

The post Change your perspective appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Even when transmitting a wish for peace, the underlying sentiment is frequently, “We are sad and suffering from the affects of the atomic bomb. Hiroshima is humanity’s symbol of the destruction of war.”

Sorrow that is strongly mixed with resentment, the feeling of wanting to hurt others, or disconsolation does not help.

Make the effort

It is true that a terrible thing happened in Hiroshima and many people have suffered, but I would like them to strongly hold on to the thought ‘live positively’. Simply by being positive, you can exorcise spiritual disturbances. However, it is no good to just pretend.

Pretending to laugh or putting on a cheerful front while your mind is clouded with hatred is no good. The important thing is to focus your mind on changing people and changing the world by changing yourself. In order to do that, you must first make an effort to want to do this.

Go outside-in

Start from the outside by creating a cheerful expression from your eyes and mouth, but then you should go on to imprint this in your mind. Making the effort to do so is important. If you think repeatedly, “I’m going to become a positive person. I’m going to change my mind so it’s positive,” then the effects will gradually enter your subconscious and will deeply permeate in you.

Stop blaming the past

Hatred, sorrow, unhappiness, accusations against others, and thoughts that blame the environment can accumulate and fill your mind. Especially, in the case of Hiroshima, you can blame the atomic bomb for being the cause of all things. Whether you are talking about business or other things, if you say that things are not going right for you because the atomic bomb was dropped, then you may have found a reason for it, but it is one that nothing can be done about.

The historical fact that the atomic bomb was dropped and over a hundred thousand people died, will not change. Nothing will come from blaming something that will not change. What you have to do is to make a try at something that you can change—your way of thinking.

Change your thoughts

Change the direction of your mind. Change the thoughts in your mind. You should be able to do that. You are capable of changing your mind according to your own will. In your mind, you are at liberty to hate people or love them. No one can reach into your mind and flip a switch so that you will love the people you hate, or hate the people you love. What goes on in your mind depends entirely upon you.

Don’t blame the situations

Other people do have an effect on you. The environment does affect you as do events in the past. It would be a lie to say that there are no outside influences such as problems with money, work, or your boss. As long as there are many people living together, there will be outside influences.

However, you must not give in to this. Certainly there are times when the environment or outside influences are to blame, but do not let it beat you. Even if it did, you must not use it as an excuse.

People in Hiroshima, for instance, can make the atomic bomb an excuse for everything if they take it to the extreme. One after another, they can probably come up with other excuses as well. However, it is also possible to think, “That’s exactly why I have to try hard.” You should think, “I am not going to let anything bring me down.”

Choose good friends

When you have a positive mind, you will gradually come to feel that you have nothing in common with people who are the opposite of you. Perhaps you may have experienced this before. For example, if you have a dark and gloomy personality and detest other people, it is irritating to see someone who is cheery and smiling. You would not become friends with that person because you are not on the same wavelength.

Either that person will run away from you or you will pull back from him. Just as two individuals can be friends if they are both cheery, it is possible for gloomy people to form friendships with other gloomy people. There is common ground and friendship found in slandering others.

You can also be comrades in misfortune, or have a friendship of mutual consolation. A friendship based on comforting each other for their misfortunes ends if one breaks away. The other will try to cling on and drag you down, but the friendship flounders if you make your escape. This is why we do not want to have a negative relationship if we can help it.

If possible, friendship between cheerful people is the best. Of course, gloomy people will befriend you too, but you should have the power to change their gloominess to cheerfulness with your own positivity. Become someone who can generate your own positivity.

Strengthen your mind

The power of thought is immense. Your mind can grow stronger just as the body can grow stronger through training.

However, if you try to get your body into shape quickly by running all day, pretty soon your muscles will start aching and you will end up having to apply cold compresses all over yourself. Like the body, the power of thought does not become strong overnight.

You have to train the ‘muscles’ of your mind little by little, just as you would gradually adapt your body to exercise.

You would wear yourself out if you tried to do it in a day or two. For example, if someone in a very gloomy state of mind were to force himself to be cheery all of a sudden, people will think he has lost his mind. He would feel even gloomier than before when people ask him what was wrong with him.

If you focus on training your mind and work at it, after a few years, you really will become stronger and your endurance will increase. You will be unfazed by situations that previously would have saddened or discouraged you and made you think you would never be able to get over them. You will be able to say in the face of such circumstances, “Hey, this is nothing. This doesn’t bother me one bit.” I wish all of you to be strong and to be able to think in this way.

Try your best to be positive

The root cause of all problems lies in the human mind. This is why I want you to not let yourself be beaten by things that make you negative. There is only one way to beat such things, and that is to be positive. It is to radiate light yourself.

This is the type of person is well liked. To people who stand in darkness and plead, “Please, give me light” they would think, “How ridiculous! Stay in darkness then.” But if they see someone trying hard to find a way to create their own light, tenaciously striking a match to create a spark, they would want to shine light on them.

Asking other people to make you happy usually won’t get you what you want, but people will gladly help to brighten your day if you are doing your best to make yourself a positive person.

Resolve to live cheerfully

Every cause for unhappiness, every reason for misfortune, and every excuse exists in this city of Hiroshima. However, it is meaningless to go on about them.

I have only one point to make—simply resolve in your heart to live positively. Then train your mind every day and, little by little, make it stronger, so that you can become a person who can ‘generate’ your own energy.

If you do that, you will be able to change your life and furthermore, change your environment as well. The power of the mind is like light in that it can be strengthened 10-fold, a 100-fold. however much you like.

Become a generator of light

Most people live self-centred lives when they are young. I too worried about myself when I was in my youth. People in sorrow or in suffering are in darkness because they only think about themselves. You stop thinking about yourself when you think of doing something to make people happy or to do something for the sake of others. When that happens, gradually you become able to light up your surroundings.

Today, my own thoughts have strengthened to the point of desiring to shed light on the entire world. I am working to ‘generate’ that much power. I wish all of you to do your best to ‘generate’ your own power. The more ‘generators’ there are, the better.

The post Be bright, not bitter appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

This ‘creative power’—the power to create from scratch—is the most important skill in this world today.

Creative power defined

‘Creative power’ generally refers to the ability to make something and it has a meaning that is similar to the word ‘imagination’.

Those who live creative lives can add 10-fold, or even a 100-fold, to the value of their lives. In terms of money, for example, it is impossible to become wealthy without creativity, so being creative is the way to become rich.

Creativity can save marriages

Creativity plays a role in more than just the invention of machines. It affects every aspect of life. Take, for instance, marital problems. Arguments sometimes lead to divorce, but nine out of ten of those marriages could be saved if people exercised a little creativity.

From time-to-time, couples have conflicting opinions about a matter neither person is willing to compromise on. At times like these, they should try to be creative and come up with creative solutions or new ideas, just as they would do if they had come up against an impasse at work. Then the couple would be able to prevent their marriage from falling apart.

Furthermore, you should put your imagination to work, think more about the feelings of your spouse and others involved, and figure out a plan of action.

Just as you strive to be creative at work, people should invest time in thinking about how to create a loving family. They will come up with many creative solutions, which will result in reducing the number of divorces.

The problem is not with the other

Each and every one of us is responsible for coming up with solutions to the problems that are dealt to us. However, many people do not make sufficient effort to solve their problems. In relationships, for example, people tend to push their own opinions on others and, after coming into conflict with another, quickly conclude that they are incompatible. However, the real problem is not with the other person, but with you for not making enough effort.

Making relationships ‘work’

A while ago, Harvard University conducted a study to investigate the reasons people get fired. The results showed that over 30 per cent of those surveyed were fired because of poor performance and more than 60 per cent were fired because of interpersonal problems. When unable to get along with those whom they work with, people are forced to leave their jobs.

It is evident, then, that inventiveness and discoveries are vital in harmonising your relationships with others. Since people who have relationship problems at work probably have similar problems at home, you should start using your creativity to sort out your relationships.

Think about what you can do to work well with people you come into conflict with and what you can do to work well within your company, as a part of the organisation. As you continue thinking about this and coming up with solutions, you will overcome your problems and work well within the scope of your company.

Some say that creativity cannot be practised within the confines of an organisation or a company; this is not true. Creativity is more than just shaping clay into a work of art. There are innumerable opportunities to exercise your creativity, both in the workplace and at home.

The courage to live creatively

Creative work gives birth to great value and is a highly respected job. However, when it comes to creativity, there is what is called a ‘necessary condition.’

The condition is that a great deal of courage is needed to live creatively. Creative people are a peculiar lot; they tend to be different from the rest. As a result, they are often given the cold shoulder and ridiculed. However, once their ideas start producing results, the ridicule stops. Before this happens though, often their creativity is cut down before it blooms. So, courage is a prerequisite for creativity.

I offer you these lines so that you will remember the importance of courage. Creative people must be courageous. It takes courage to live a creative life. It takes courage to voice an unorthodox idea, put it into action, and see it through to fruition. For you must endure criticism, have courage, and fight your way through.

It is my sincere hope that each and every one of you will do work of great value for this world through free thinking and creative action.

The post Create eureka moments! appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Circumstances have limited influence

Particularly, those living in the provinces are placed in a difficult environment. There are regions where towns are dying because farming and fishing are suffering from the effects of the weather and tourism is not picking up, and such regions are not uncommon. Given such circumstances, it’s easy to blame the environment for not being able to succeed. Indeed, even seen objectively, there are cases in which the environment does have a significant influence.

It is also frequently the case that people’s lives make a turn for the better when improvements are made in government, the economy, business conditions, relations between countries, and other social conditions.

The real power is in you

However, as a religious leader, I would like to tell you all that the first step for each individual must be to start by doing what you can do. Religion teaches people how each individual should live by using the power of the soul, the power of the mind, a power that you are born with. I believe it is essential that this is taught first of all.

Despite circumstances being objectively difficult, people do rise above it when their hearts are set ablaze. It all depends on your attitude. Your life changes when you change the way you think. This may sound easy to you in words but it is actually quite hard to embrace.

You can

With that, I urge you: Do not let your environment control you. People who are completely controlled by their environment and say, “The reason why I suffer is because of my environment,” may be honest but I’m afraid they are also weak. It is not an easy thing to do but, to them I would like to say, do not be controlled by your environment. Instead, become someone who controls your environment.

To control your environment in a tangible way is not easily done, of course. For example, raising the temperature of the polar region by ten degrees is not impossible, but still very difficult. To change the way you think in such situations, however, is possible. By changing the way you think, you can tackle the challenges head on.

I tell you to, “Not let yourself be controlled by the environment, but master it.” Physically conquering the environment in a materialistic sense itself is near impossible. Changing the temperature or making the wind stop would be difficult. To achieve something big like starting an industry anew also would require the power of many people other than yourself.

There is something that you can do though—that is to strengthen the power of your soul, and nothing else is more important than that.

You are spirit

How then, is the power of the soul made stronger? In order to achieve this, you must first know that a human being’s central power is ‘thought.’ What you imagine when you hear the word ‘soul’ may be a transparent human form, like a ghost. The soul can certainly appear at times to be shaped like the human body but this is not its true form.

The soul is really a mass of energy, and it is ‘will.’ A human being’s true form is ‘thought,’ it is ‘will,’ and it is the mind that thinks, “I want to do it in this way.” This is what the essential part of the human being is. This is what the real part of you, yourself, is. It is said in Japan that when you die you fly off as a hitodama, which is often depicted as being round, like a ball.

The soul is ‘a mass of thought,’ so it does not have a shape. The main part of the entity that is you is actually not what you imagine it to be, but is ‘thought’ – it is ‘will.’ You are the mind itself that thinks, “This is who I am.” This is what you must know.

Finding how you really are

Consequently, by asking yourself, “What am I thinking throughout the day?” you will be able to see what kind of person you are. Answering the question, “What did I think today?” at the end of the day will allow you to have a very accurate idea of what sort of person you are. Use this question and you will also be able to test yourself to see if you can become an angel or Bodhisattva in heaven. “What thoughts did you think today? Think back from this morning. Were your thoughts those of an angel’s? What were your thoughts?” Answer these questions, and you can judge for yourself.

Passion makes everything possible

For human beings, in the end, what is inside matters. There are many ‘appearances’: academic achievement, career background, financial power, physical strength or looks, but these are not all there is to life. You can give a better impression of yourself or fool someone temporarily. But what is important in the end, is what is inside.

If you can summon strong passion within your heart, then nothing is impossible. To be controlled by your environment signifies that you cannot transcend the third dimension. That is why, rise above it and become spiritual. Your soul is the principal part of you. It is your thoughts, and there is nothing that cannot be done with the power of thought.

Your mental strength matters

An important power in changing your environment is ‘mental strength’, a human being’s last resource. You can’t do anything if you are depleted of vigour, mental energy or will. Human beings need mental strength and it is something you must generate for yourself.

Physical strength is also a resource that we have. You can increase your physical strength, even to twice of what it is now, regardless of your age if you walk a lot and train yourself well. However, there are limitations to how much you can strengthen yourself physically. Mental strength, on the other hand, can be increased five-fold, 10-fold, even a 100-fold. That is why, in the end, your last resource is your inner strength.

I sincerely hope that you will not be defeated by the difficult environment of this world and aim to live a spiritual life.

The post Realise your true nature appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.