Written in the foreword:
This article is excerpted from Mr. Kazuo Inamori’s speech on July 17, 2001, about "Why do people live (Part 1: What is life?)".
At the beginning of this month, by chance, I heard Mr. Inamori’s clear definition and analysis of life in this manuscript on the audio platform, the vertical axis of fate and the horizontal axis of the law of karma. The axis, the two-phase interaction, dominates our lives.
Further advise the world on the importance of planting more seeds of good deeds while alive.
Since I only heard it two or three times, I need to practice many valuable experiences and practical methods in my future life.
The Buddhist words in the article are full of Zen, and the wisdom of life, work, life, and even management runs through the entire article. Read more and you will benefit.
Unfortunately, due to various causes and conditions, the torrent of social karma is turning. Although these are precious words of wisdom, under this wave of people pursuing fame and wealth, many people We turn a blind eye to, hear and understand these most authentic and precious concepts.
With the kindness of Mother Buddha, I decided to spend one night roughly sorting out Mr. Inamori’s speech quotations here for more people to refer to and reveal the true face of this difficult problem in life. , live a better life.
Excerpt from the text:
At present, the economic situation is depressed. Having said that, if you are careful to ask, how is your company doing? Some people will answer that our company is okay. Some people admit that it really doesn't work.
However, manufacturers of ice cream or soft drinks say that this year’s hot summer has resulted in much better performance than before. It's really quite different.
Although the general environment is getting worse, the actual situation of each company is different.
From this, we can’t help but think of our lives. Whenever I ask, where will a person go in this life? We must first realize that every individual has its innate destiny.
Specifically, how do you spend your life and destiny? Everyone is predestined. Moreover, destiny not only controls individual life, but everything in the world has its destiny.
The fate of the earth, the fate of Japan, from a large Japanese elementary school to a city like Nagoya, all have their own destiny. Therefore, the fate of an individual must be wrapped up in the torrent of fate.
Through the ups and downs, looking at Japan, the political arena has done nothing and the economy has insufficient stamina, but this cannot be used to conclude that all walks of life are hopeless.
Even if the world is in decline and the economy is in recession, there are still some areas that are in the ascendant.
In the vast torrent of destiny like the earth, the destiny of Japan, the destiny of various regions, and even the destiny of every individual fluctuates with the waves.
Then, after multiple destinies are superimposed, they will eventually be reflected on each individual, presenting a completely different situation.
Therefore, in the same depressed environment, the fate of individuals is different.
I thought that their current situations were almost the same, but this was not the case because their experiences were very different.
In the torrent of destiny, an individual's destiny is like a small boat, precarious in the wind and rain, and naturally rises and falls. Several torrents, one ebbing and the other ebbing, rising and falling, this is the so-called destiny.
People who receive modern education usually do not believe in the theory of fate and believe that everything does not happen by chance. For example, contracting a disease, encountering a traffic accident, company bankruptcy, smooth operation, etc., all of these are due to chance. Chance after chance constitutes life.
Destiny is determined by fate, which seems to be nonsense. People often laugh at it and regard it as a trick to deceive people, which cannot be believed to be true.
Call everything that cannot be proven by modern science as superstition. However, fate is an important issue that cannot be avoided in human history.
As I just emphasized to you, birth, old age, illness and death, joys and sorrows, where do all the situations in life come from, it is really puzzling.
Since ancient times, once people admit their fate, they will add distress. What will my future be like? So as to tirelessly explore the answer.
For this reason, China gave birth to the "Book of Changes", which is a serious science.
Shaking the fortune sticks in the hanging bucket to tell fortunes has been practiced in China for thousands of years and is called Yi Xue. There is also astrology or astrology in Europe, which is also a very advanced knowledge.
Throughout history, human beings have searched for the art of predicting the future and trying to speculate on destiny in the vast sea of ??classics.
On the road of life, why do we contract diseases and encounter difficulties, and why do we have to work hard with our employees? Human beings have been struggling to answer these questions since ancient times.
People always think that their situation may be caused by fate, so everyone naturally hopes to be able to speculate on fate and predict the future.
That is why Yi Xue divination and European astrology are so prosperous. Generation after generation, they go all out to study these knowledge.
Although the theory of fate is not scientific and cannot be supported by modern scholarship and science, I believe that the existence of fate is an indisputable fact and should be recognized. , denying its existence, completely unintentional.
In my opinion, believing in fate will help us better understand life and thus clarify the way to survive.
I am from a science and engineering university. I especially like mathematics, physics and chemistry, and I don’t recognize illogical knowledge. All my work is carried out through chemical analysis and technical research and development.
Speaking of which, I am also a person who puts logic and science first.
Living to this day, whenever I talk about life, I always think that denying fate is futile; not only is it useless, it may even be harmful. In my opinion, it is necessary to acknowledge the existence of fate.
I hope that when you think about life, you will first agree and understand that everyone has his own destiny. Within the grand destiny, there is the idea of ??individual destiny.
Destiny runs through the vertical axis of life, and a person's life flows down the vertical axis of destiny. At the same time, there is also a horizontal axis in life, which is like the interweaving of warp and weft. This horizontal axis is the law of karma and retribution.
The so-called law of karma means that good causes will lead to good results, and bad causes will lead to bad results. Good causes produce good consequences, and evil causes produce evil consequences.
The law of karma is the horizontal axis of life. Cause refers to what you think and do when you are in the world. I call it mind.
Karma arises from thoughts. We often think that it’s okay to think about it, but in fact, every thought about this trivial matter will cause causes, not to mention resentment and grievances.
In a flash of thought, the cause has been formed, and the cause will bear fruit.
Sakyamuni Buddha said: Karma and retribution, cause will not be static, if there is a cause, there will be a result, if you think about it, the cause will be the cause, and if there is a cause, there will be results. .
In a nutshell, if you have good thoughts and do good deeds, you will get good results; if you have evil thoughts and do bad things, you will get bad rewards. This is the law of karma and retribution.
1
In the law of karma, the effect corresponding to the cause does not necessarily appear immediately, so it is often difficult for us to Accept this law.
Why is someone still suffering when he has done countless good deeds? Another person is of first-class character and has been doing good deeds all year round, but why is he unfortunately suffering from illness?
Others are evil-minded and do many evil things, but to outsiders, they seem to have everything they want and have a harmonious family. This kind of situation is not uncommon.
Therefore, although monks always talk about the law of karma, we lay people often don’t take it seriously.
The reason is that the results that comply with the law of karma do not always appear immediately and require a certain amount of time. Why this is so is unknown. In short, there will be a lag.
According to my experience, it is indeed possible for the results of karma to appear immediately, but in most cases it is difficult to do so.
However, if we extend the time span and look at 20 or 30 years of life, there will be no exceptions.
Therefore, maybe there will be no results in three to five years, but looking at my life, from a time span of 20 or 30 years, I will keep good thoughts and do good deeds. Good deeds will have good consequences; if you have evil thoughts and do evil things, you will get bad retributions. This is also obvious.
However, if it extends to a time span of 30 years, the evil people will not always be prosperous, and the good people will not always be bumpy, and the good people will eventually be happy.
Throughout the past 30 years, everything has gone smoothly, but even so, there are still exceptions. I didn't understand the reason at first and was deeply distressed. But at that time, I learned the following thing.
It is said that in the early 20th century, a practicing doctor in London, England, often invited a dozen friends to his home on weekends to hold spiritual meetings hosted by him.
During the séances, an Indian ghost who called himself Silverpatch often appeared. Later, a publishing house compiled the ghost's remarks into a book. Published the book Sylphpatch's Spiritual Words.
There is a section in the book that mentions the law of karma, the cycle of karma. The so-called saying that good is rewarded with good and evil is rewarded with evil often does not make sense, so some people are skeptical or even scornful of it.
However, my ability to see into people’s affairs is absolutely perfect. Evil must be rewarded with evil, and if you do good with good intentions and do good deeds, you will get good results. This law will definitely be fulfilled without any regrets.
Although there is only such a small section in Sylphpatch's Collection of Spiritual Words, the moment I read it, I was in awe.
I couldn’t understand it before. If there is a Creator in the universe and there are gods in heaven and earth to guide the world, then why not let everything completely comply with the laws.
It takes thirty years in the human world to finally realize karma, and there are even exceptions. Could God be biased? However, after reading Sylphpatch's Collection of Spiritual Words, I suddenly became enlightened.
Although good deeds are rewarded, everyone has their own destiny. The fate of the earth is wrapped up in the torrent of the fate of the country and the region, and the fate of individuals is also caught in it, drifting with the tide.
If a person's destiny is regarded as the vertical axis of his life, then the law of karma is the horizontal axis. These two laws govern the entire life of each of us. Among them, the power of the law of karma is slightly stronger than fate. Therefore, although it is said that destiny is determined by God, it will not remain unchanged.
The power of the law of karma is enough to change destiny. A person will not live his life unchanged according to the established trajectory.
If you do good things and do good things, you will get good results. Therefore, although some people have bad luck, they are spared from total failure just because they do good things.
On the contrary, if you originally had a good fortune and were prosperous, but you have evil thoughts and do evil things, it is tantamount to trapping yourself in a cocoon.
The law of fate and the law of karma echo each other, thus rewriting a person's life trajectory.
Therefore, doing good may not necessarily result in good rewards immediately. The truth is not as simple as 1+1=2.
The reason is to be specific again. Although the fate is unfavorable, doing good deeds prevents oneself from plummeting, or in other words, allows oneself to avoid danger.
In this way, although the results of the law of karma have been revealed, it will cause people to misunderstand that they have obviously done good things, but there is no improvement.
2
The ancient Chinese book "Yin Zhi Lu" records the story of a character like Yuan Liaofan. The book It proves that the power of the law of karma can change destiny.
When Yuan Liaofan was a child, he met a white-haired old man with immortal demeanor. When the old man saw the young man, he said to his mother, "This mother hopes that her child will Study medicine”?
The mother replied, "That's true. My husband died young. He was a doctor. Our family has been practicing medicine for generations, and our ancestors were also doctors, so we hope that our children can inherit the mantle. Our mother and son The two depend on each other for life, and it is the family's long-cherished wish for their children to study medicine."
However, after looking at the young man’s appearance, the old man said, “This is wrong. This boy cannot become a doctor. He is destined to be in the officialdom. At a certain age, he passed the county examination, then passed the government examination, and finally went to Beijing to take the examination, was named on the gold medal list, received an official position, and was made a county magistrate at a young age. He was childless after marriage and died at the age of fifty-three."
Young Liaofan and his mother found it incredible after hearing what the white-haired old man said. However, young Liaofan’s growth process after that was indeed not beyond the old man’s predictions. Where did you stand in the exam in a certain year, what happened to you in a certain year, and everything in Liaofan's life was mentioned by the old man.
Soon after, Liao Fan became the county magistrate and went to a Zen temple in the countryside to visit eminent monks.
Liao Fan sat in meditation opposite the eminent monk. Although he had achieved success at a young age and meditated into samadhi, his mind was clear and he had no delusions.
The eminent monk was greatly amazed, but asked why, why do you have such profound meditation skills at such a young age? Where did you practice? I have never practiced formally.
Why didn’t I have a single delusional thought during three days of sitting meditation? I have no delusions.
Why is this? When I was a child, I met an old man who wandered around, and I was told by him to predict my fate. To this day, my fate has not been as predicted by the old man. My life has been predetermined, so why should I act rashly?
My fame and wealth have come to an end, I will not have any children even if I get married, and I die at the age of 53. I have no fear, no worries, no worries, I am indifferent and have nothing to ask for, I just resign myself to my fate. .
After hearing this, the eminent monk said angrily, I thought you were a hero, but I didn’t know you were just an ordinary person. So the eminent monk explained the law of karma to Fan.
You were speechless just now. Although people have their destiny, it is by no means a foregone conclusion in life. Destiny is not the same as fate, and it may not be irreversible.
With karma and retribution, destiny can be changed. From now on, if you seek a better life, start from this moment on, accumulate virtue and do good deeds. In this case, your destiny will be different.
Liao Fan became an official at a young age, but he was upright by nature and kept the words of the eminent monk in his heart.
After returning home, he told his wife, who was also a gentle person, and said, "It's really amazing, but it's probably not easy for one person to accumulate virtue and do good deeds. It's not as easy for two people to do good deeds." Stick to each other and do good together.
When they have evil thoughts and want to do evil things, they warn each other, record their merits and demerits, draw circles for good things, and draw crosses for bad things, and supervise each other. "
With the help of his wife, Liao Fan persisted in doing good, and his destiny could be changed. He was fine at the age of 53, and had a son. He lived a successful life until he died in his seventies.
Since there are not many books about karma and rewriting of destiny, I believe you will wake up after reading it.
The law of karma will have a powerful influence that can change your destiny.
Therefore, when you accumulate virtue and do good, the good results will not appear immediately, but will lag behind. The reason is that our life is intertwined by the two laws of personal destiny and karma. of.
Therefore, the law of karma does not necessarily lead to obvious results.
According to my life experience, although everyone has his or her own destiny, the law of karma will exert an influence on destiny and thus rewrite the trajectory of life.
However, some people are confused. Although it is said that good will be rewarded with good and evil will be punished with evil, sometimes this is not always the case.
The reasons are: first, the results of karma will be delayed; second, they are intertwined with fate, and the results will not be obvious.
In front of you, I categorically affirm the existence of fate, but in fact, I have never done divination myself.
When I was young, I also asked for lottery tickets at the shrine several times, but I didn’t like them. They were all good lottery tickets, and I didn’t like them at all.
So I believe in destiny. The reason is that although I believe that everyone has his own destiny, I don’t want to know it in advance. I would rather know nothing.
Doing your best in life is enough. Not only is it useless to know too much about useless things, it may even deviate from common sense, deviate from the right track, and mess up your life. It’s better to know nothing and do your best.
When I was young, a friend of mine believed deeply in divination and was very religious.
Ask the fortune teller about everything from life to career and even health. When moving, check the direction and orientation for reference. Houses are also often changed according to Chinese Feng Shui.
This person often consults a fortune teller, not only about his own affairs, but also writes my name to the other person at the end of each time to find out for me, haha, ask. How is this person doing?
Then he called me to tell me the result of the consultation. Once, the fortune teller asked me carefully about my birth date and calculated that it was a murder in the sky and a sinful fate.
Oh, that's really unusual. That person must be Mr. Inamori of Kyocera. Now he is very prosperous, young and promising, and has become the president. This person is now at the worst time of his fortune. It doesn't make sense.
Go and ask around when you helped someone or did any good deeds.
If that were not the case, based on the person’s birth date and horoscope, his luck would be particularly bad this year, especially in terms of health, and he might even die. Logically, he would not be able to live such a good life. is what happened. It is said that these are the exact words of the fortune teller.
At that time, I had not yet understood the principles that I am telling you now. I was surprised and thought that such a thing could happen.
This also shows that even if your destiny has reached rock bottom, you can still calm the situation and maintain the status quo by accumulating virtue and doing good.
In this way, if fate and the law of cause and effect add up to each other, the effect will be enhanced; if they conflict with each other, the effect will be offset; on the other hand, doing evil will make fate collapse.
Therefore, according to the law of cause and effect, sometimes good will be rewarded with good and evil will be rewarded with evil.
All in all, fate and the law of karma interact with each other, and the outcome is inconclusive. It is from this that our lives are formed now.
Our lives are governed by the two laws of destiny and karma. Nothing else.
3
Two laws have created all living beings. So, how do we deal with various phenomena in life based on the two laws?
For example, under the economic downturn, some people are doing well, some are retreating, some are seriously ill, and some are on pins and needles. There are many kinds of them.
How to deal with it? If the way of dealing with it changes, life will be completely different. Let’s talk about how to deal with it.
A person's innate destiny, what he thinks in his life, the results of every action, and the law of karma, these two constitute our life.
Day after day, we encounter life. Sometimes it is stormy and bitter, and sometimes it is triumphant. It can be said that life is bittersweet.
When practicing Buddhism, the very beginning is what Buddha Sakyamuni said: observing all living beings, suffering and joy follow each other without mercy, and all actions are impermanent.
All things will not last forever. You are so active today, but you might fall ill tomorrow. Businesses are doing well today and going downhill tomorrow.
The phenomena in the world and the various phenomena happening before our eyes will not last forever and remain unchanged. That is to say, all actions are impermanent.
All actions refer to all phenomena. Impermanence, the inability to maintain a fixed state of affairs. Life is full of ups and downs.
Buddha said that all living beings are subject to suffering, life is asceticism, and a person's life is unspeakably miserable.
Sakyamuni Buddha practiced cultivation in order to save all sentient beings and escape from the sea of ??suffering. He did not seek his own salvation, and everyone around him suffered.
All actions are impermanent and all living beings suffer. In order to save the suffering sentient beings, Sakyamuni chose the path of becoming a monk.
All the appearances that happen before our eyes are not constant for a long time, but have ups and downs.
I often think everything is going smoothly, but unexpectedly things take a turn for the worse. Regardless of physical health, business situation, or friendship, there is never any stability.
The reason why something happens, as mentioned above, must stem from two laws.
When a certain phenomenon occurs, how you deal with it every day is crucial, and the answer is self-evident.
No matter the situation is good or bad, no matter what the fate is, treat each other with a grateful heart. But this is easier said than done.
For example, it makes sense to say thank you for suffering, but it is really difficult for people who have suffered disaster to be grateful. If your cultivation is not deep enough, it is impossible to do it.
However, regardless of whether you practice Buddhism or not, I hope you can be sensible and have a sense of gratitude. If you let it go, it will be extremely difficult to achieve and you will regret it for the rest of your life.
No matter what, when we encounter suffering, we must face everything with gratitude.
Good health and other aspects. Once suffering or disaster occurs, we can't help but think about why I am so unlucky. However, we must be rational, suppress distracting thoughts, be grateful, and treat each other calmly.
Here today, I hope that you will store your gratitude in your consciousness rationally. This is a prerequisite.
Some people would think that when you encounter good things, you will naturally feel grateful. Actually, not necessarily.
People tend to take it for granted when God fulfills their wishes, and may even be dissatisfied with it, let alone when disaster strikes, how can one be grateful.
No matter good or bad, being grateful and sincerely expressing gratitude is a prerequisite. And when there are troubles or misfortunes, it is a prerequisite not to lament, not be depressed, not resentful, not complaining, but to forge ahead and move forward courageously.
Gratitude is the most positive and enterprising thought. Its premise is that you must not be depressed, complain, resent, or be jealous, and be able to endure hardship.
When you succeed, you should be grateful. I am favored by God. Although it is a good thing, I really deserve it. If you still have such a grateful heart, you will definitely not take credit and be arrogant, but always act with humility.
When you are satisfied, you will not be pretentious. When you are successful in your career, you will not be arrogant. Be grateful for everything.
Even when you are in bad luck or encounter a disaster, you should also maintain a grateful heart. Since heaven has made things difficult for me, I believe that if I endure the hardships and go through hardships, I will eventually gain something.
Don’t complain, don’t be resentful, don’t be jealous, be patient and work hard to persevere, ignite brilliant hope. The courage to fight and perseverance are prerequisites.
4
Mr. Matsushita Konosuke's family fell into decline when he was young. He dropped out of school to become an apprentice. It can be said that his fate was rough and he suffered a lot. Although he suffered a lot, he never felt sorry for himself.
Follow the master wholeheartedly, and work diligently and hard-working to gain the approval of the master.
Mr. Matsushita Konosuke is loved by guests because of his diligence and intelligence. When a customer asked him to run errands to buy cigarettes, he would happily run to the cigarette shop on the corner.
Only young people who are simple and cheerful, perseverant, unafraid of adversities and work tenaciously can start from scratch and create Panasonic's great achievements.
There are so many young people in similar situations.
Some children are not very old, but they are very thoughtful. Jealousy about the good food, well-clothes and ability of peers of their peers to go to school will cause children to become mentally unbalanced and even harbor grudges.
When I was young, I always complained about everything but others. Such people cannot become big people.
On the other hand, Mr. Matsushita Konosuke, although in adversity, is at ease.
Although I don’t know if he is grateful for his fate. But it can be seen that he has no jealousy or resentment at all.
Just like Mr. Konosuke Matsushita, only by being honest, willing to endure, and diligent in struggle can you achieve success.
As far as I am concerned, the reason why I am where I am today depends on my coping mentality at critical moments.
Despite the current adversity, this may be the perfect adversity God has given us to achieve great things. If we can overcome adversity, we will be relieved of all the hardships.
Therefore, how to deal with it is related to the future destiny. On the contrary, if you are not careful during your career, you will be extremely happy and miserable.
No matter the situation is good or bad, the mentality with which you deal with it is the top priority. However, only those with advanced cultivation can be calm and comfortable in everything.
Those who follow the enlightened Buddha Shakyamuni should always be grateful. It is difficult for us ordinary people to achieve this, and we may even do the opposite. Therefore, we can only respond rationally.
Outstanding practitioners, even if they are silent, can naturally handle things with a grateful heart. They are enlightened practitioners, which is very difficult for us laypeople.
Therefore, we must keep our gratitude in our hearts and engraved in our minds. Conscious supervision and introspection.
Regardless of whether it is a backbone enterprise, a small or medium-sized enterprise, or a small-scale operation, there are often operators who become complacent after a small amount of success, or even indulge in pleasure and ruin the enterprise from then on. .
No matter how big or small, the way you deal with various encounters in life completely determines your future destiny.
As the saying goes, get up from where you fell. Some operators rose to prominence by running small and medium-sized enterprises, but later became self-absorbed and forgot about everything, until they boasted about themselves and even indulged in sensuality, which single-handedly caused the company to go bankrupt.
However, some operators will step back from the cliff and reflect on their previous ridiculous ideas. Now the company is doing well and developing steadily.
Life is a mixture of good and bad, with ups and downs, so no matter the circumstances are good or bad, how to deal with the phenomena happening in front of you further determines the direction of life.
It may not be easy for you to understand these few words. In addition, I am afraid you have never heard such a clear conclusion.
Therefore, it may be forgotten and not used. Therefore, everyone must record it and use reason to spur themselves.
This year’s practitioners who have attained enlightenment know how to do it without having to listen to these principles. However, it is difficult for ordinary people like us to practice it.
Nowadays, even a five-year-old child can understand it. You are all the bosses of big companies. It is really disrespectful for me to nag you these useless words.
However, it is sad that some adults do not understand even such a simple thing.
It is not easy to reach this point in life, if you ruin your future. For those involved, it is simply not worth it. It is also a waste for society. And those of us who have nothing to do with each other are equally saddened by it.
The iron-clad truth is crystal clear, but no one has ever told it. It is precisely because there is no one to teach business operators seriously. Therefore, I can only lament that those heroes lived up to their past.
In fact, everyone is not ignorant of these principles. I have analyzed it layer by layer from the shallower to the deeper to you, and I think you all already understand it.
However, it is still limited to a general understanding, and it is inevitable to commit the crime knowingly.
You only live once, and everyone has the right and freedom to live a good life. However, if you misinterpret freedom, use the wrong thoughts, and misplace your mentality, no matter how big or small the mistake is, it will only happen once.
I am deeply worried about the endless occurrence of such incidents that end the life that should be cherished.
The above is the first part, what is life? Explain what life consists of and how to deal with the phenomena that occur in life? This concludes the first part.