Introduction.
50 Don't look at what others have done wrong. Do not look at what others have not done. Look only at what you have done and what you have not done.
Iwanami Shoten, Nakamura Gen's translation of Buddha's Words of Truth and Inspiration, p.17
Previously, in the article "Don't look at the faults of others. Only look at what you have done and what you have not done - listen to the words of the Buddha.In "The World of the Buddha," we considered why people cannot help but attack others based on the words of the Buddha.
Criticizing others for their mistakes and what is wrong with them makes them feel that they are right and good people.
I mentioned in my previous article that it is precisely because people cannot get the sense that they are good people, that is, "I am good," that they are compelled to treat others as evil and to attack them.
In this article, I will continue to use these words to examine a little further why people cannot be tolerant of others.
Is it really a good thing to praise "individuality, being oneself, and being as one is" - We have lost the standard of right and wrong - as one hypothesis for the psychological cause of blaming others.
We now say, "Individuality is important. Be yourself. It's okay to be just as you are.
Disney movie a few years ago.Anna and the Snow Queens message, "It's okay to be just as you are," exploded in popularity, didn't it? It seems to me that the response to that excitement was so strong that it could be called a social phenomenon.
However. I have these "Individuality is important. Be yourself. It's okay to be who you are." I feel uneasy about these messages.
Why is that?
When someone says, "It's okay to be just as you are," I think to myself, "Oh, really? I'm fine just the way I am! I wonder if it is possible to truly believe that "I am fine just the way I am!
It is true that you may feel that way after watching a movie. However, there are many things that happen in our daily lives. There are good things and bad things.
What if you were in a particularly difficult situation and you were feeling down, and someone said to you, "Just be yourself. Don't you sometimes feel like shouting, "I can't stand myself just as I am, that's why it's so hard! Don't you sometimes want to shout, "I can't stand being just as I am!
Individuality, or "being yourself," or "just being yourself," is something I can be happy with when I'm successful and doing well.
However, when I am not doing well, they weigh rather heavily on me.
The difficulty with "individuality," "being oneself," and "being oneself as one is" is that they are notHe said he had to decide for himself.This is where it is said.
In other words, "That you have to find your own "sense of what is good for you".It is.
In the past in Japan, one could get a "sense of one's goodness" by what one socially belonged to, such as belonging to a company, family, marriage, which temple, shrine, or church one belonged to, etc. In the past, one could get a "sense of one's goodness" by what one socially belonged to.
Just by belonging to it, or by belonging to it and doing certain activities with everyone else, they could get a sense that they were part of society, that they were good.
Also, it used to be a time when everyone saw the same things and everyone knew what they all had in common.
Whether it was Drifting or Kin-chan, professional baseball, professional wrestling, or singing shows, there was something that everyone knew and everyone could talk about. Music is no different. The sense of security of being the same as everyone else came from these sources as well.
However, today is the age of the individual.
Where once you could get a sense of "goodness" just by belonging, such a community is almost gone nowadays. It would be almost impossible to get that kind of feeling from a company, even if you work there.
Getting married and having a family is now not a "good-for-you" standard either.
Also, the sense of "the heavens are watching us" must have faded by now.
Now is not the time for communal or traditional practices.
This is the age of the free individual, free from them.
No longer do communities and traditions say "good" to us.
Now we have to say "good" to ourselves.
Until now, we have received a sense of "I am good" from God, Buddha, the community, the company, traditions, and other things that are bigger than just one's self. This has to be a difficult and messy process, but it is actually less mentally taxing.
Because "You don't have to figure out for yourself what's good and what's evil, and you're not responsible for it.From. We areI was able to follow it and feel good about myself.The first is the
But now those traditions have lost their power, and what we are told every day is thatIndividuality is important. Be who you are. It's okay to be who you are.The word is "the" word.
Now the word will even sound sacrosanct and inviolable.
These words may be taken as our "word of truth" that can never be mistaken any longer.
But it is not simply a matter of saying, "Individuality is important. Be who you are. It's okay to be who you are,Because of these words.It may be true that there will be a huge number of people who will suffer.
As I mentioned earlier, "It's hard for me because I can't stand to be that way!There will always be someone who will want to shout, "I'm not going to do it!
once upon a time"Where you belong, what you do, is the standard by which you are considered a good member of society."There was a time when the But now is the age of the individual. It is an era in which each person is free to live freely.
when it becomes soYou must decide for yourself what to do and what makes you feel good about yourself!The following is a list of the most common problems with the
One may consider achievement in one's work to be a good thing.
For others, status and honor may be the criteria for making them feel good about themselves.
People may imagine many other things, such as having wealth, being popular, having fashionable things, being smart, wearing luxury goods, and so on.
And when that is realized, you may feel "good about yourself". However, this is a standard that you have come up with on your own. It is a standard that you have come up with on your own, and it is often swayed by circumstances. If the situation gets worse, you will not be able to feel "good as it is" as before.
In the end, we say, "It's okay to be who you are," but we prefer to be "successful" and "doing well.This is a very sensitive and difficult part of the human heart. I think it is human nature for it to happen.
Individuality is important. Be yourself. It's okay to be who you are.
But how do you make it so? It is very difficult to answer this question. Without considering the difficulty, these words are propagated in large numbers. Especially for children, these words are printed like an incantation. I think this is dangerous.
To begin with, it should not be so easy to understand what individuality is, or what it means to be oneself, or what it means to be just as one is. From thousands of years ago to the present day, countless philosophers have pondered what it means to be oneself and what is right and wrong, but there is still no absolute answer to these questions.
Is it okay to just pop it to the child and tell them about it? If you do tell them, you have to follow up with them, just to make sure they are following through.I want to do what I like. If I can't do what I want, I am not myself. If I can't do what I want, I'm not myself." This can lead people to mistakenly believe that being able to do as they wish is happiness in life.
Or it may make you think that being "more awesome than others is what makes you unique. Yes, there may be some points like that.The world of comparison cannot be transcended by the standard of "being better than others." The day will come when someone else will beat you. What will happen to the child's sense of "I am good" if he loses? There is no end to the world of comparison.
The dangers to children are the same, but so are those to adults.
Now that we have lost the external standard of "good self," we must figure it out for ourselves. But it is too difficult and too much for us.
In the end, it is precisely because we cannot establish such a firm axis within ourselves that we attack others and try to feel that we are the right person, that we are the good person.
We may indeed have been freed from the weight of tradition and community. But the very freedom we have gained has now become a new weight. Tradition and community may have crippled people. But we should not overlook the role they have played. We have to bear the cost of having gained freedom by abandoning tradition and community.
."The weight, the difficulty of having to create your own standards of right and wrong."
In fact, this is exactly what Dostoevsky'sThe Brothers Karamazov.This is what is preached in the The famous "Grand Inquisitorial Chapter" goes straight to the heart of this issue. And from a larger perspectiveCrime and Punishment."can also be said to address this issue.
When you think about it, you can feel how Dostoevsky's works are still relevant today.
Let us read the words of the Buddha one last time.
50 Don't look at what others have done wrong. Do not look at what others have not done. Look only at what you have done and what you have not done.
Iwanami Shoten, Nakamura Gen's translation of Buddha's Words of Truth and Inspiration, p.17
Continuing from my previous article, I have expressed my thoughts on the intolerant times of blaming others for their negligence.
What I have just described is only my personal opinion. Naturally, there are many other factors and causes that are intertwined in our society.
However, this time I dared to speak on the theme of "Is it really a good thing to praise individuality, one's own personality, and just as one is?
Of course, I am not denying that "individuality, being oneself, and being as one is".
However, I would like to take this opportunity to consider the danger of these words.
It would be great if we could be ourselves as we are. But how to be that way is the most difficult part. I believe that there is a clue in the teachings of Buddhism that can help us break through this obstacle.
I can't talk about it here because it would be too long, but I hope to be able to talk about it again someday.
The above is "The Danger of Praising Yourself as You Are and As You Are - Is Happiness in Life "Being Able to Do What You Want"?" The above is "The Danger of Praise for Being Yourself and Being As You Are.
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