This page brings together the Monthly Words shared throughout 2020.
Originally written in Japanese and carefully rendered into English.
Tadashisa wa
Ningen kara
Naritata nai
Tadashisa wa
Atae rareru mono
- Ikeda Yūtai -
When we engage in discussions or debates, we invariably hold a "position."
For instance, Person A has their stance, and Person B has theirs. This situation is like standing on opposite banks of a wide river. Because we each embrace our own sense of "what is right," we can never truly meet halfway, no matter how hard we try.
This seems obvious when we think about it, yet we often fail to realize it, leading to conflicts between friends, within families, in communities, and among nations. In truth, domestic quarrels and international conflicts stem from the same root cause: "The folly of gripping one's own righteousness and using it as a weapon to strike others."
Where, then, can true correctness be found?
It can only be found when we are illuminated by the "Eye" that reveals our own mutual "biases."
As humans, both Person A and Person B undoubtedly feel a sense of justice in their hearts. However, that very sense of justice is inevitably biased, rooted in self-centered thinking. The working of Truth is that which exposes this bias and awakens us to it.
At first glance, the phrase "Namu Amida Butsu - 南無阿弥陀仏 - " may seem frail or unreliable to solve such problems. However, this is the very voice of Truth calling out to us: "Realize your own biased sense of justice!"