New Philosophy of Life
Written by Okada Jikan Mokichi, 1950
People of today seem to stick to limited principles and ideas. Some are excited to say, “I am a rightist,” others say “I am a leftist,” or “I am not either of them. I am a centrist.” As a result, there are many frictions to occur among them. Besides, some cause frictions on purpose. That is another story.
Our nation has aimed to establish a democracy since the war was finished. Democracy, of course, aims for the greatest happiness of the greatest number. If people stick to their own principles and ideas, conflicts arise among them. Far from the greatest happiness of the greatest number, this contrary results in the greatest misery of them.
When looking at the present world, what I described above is actually happening. You would see many such cases. This also applies to political parties. Politicians with different principles belong to the same political party. They create their own groups and always have a conflict among groups. They are always in danger of splitting or collapsing their own party if something happens. They immediately regard the other members with different ideas and principles as enemies. They also made a plan to defeat the newly formed cabinet. They even demand the cabinet, which was just formed a few months ago, to implement the policy that was flamed when it was opposition. If the cabinet doesn’t, they blame it for saying that the policy is like an empty bill. In this way, the Japanese cabinet changes very often. It is too busy to stay long in one place. This situation is very similar to that in France. As for the U.K., the performance of the Labour Party was unexpectedly poor in about the first year. If such a situation happens in Japan, the roaring voice of criticism must rise. However, it is not the case in the U.K. British people are tolerant enough to entrust Prime mister Attlee. They calm down very much, which makes us wonder.
You can see the same situation in American politics. American president’s term of office is four years. Therefore, they can take drastic policies. For example, Roosevelt won four times. He took drastic policies during his presidency. The policies he took went well and therefore, the U.S.A. won World War Ⅱ. He also tried to save Europe and East Asia after the war. That was spectacular.
Let us go back to the Japanese issue. It happens because Japanese people have not yet removed the mentality of the narrow-island country. Therefore, all Japanese should fully cultivate a spirit of tolerance. This is an urgent task.
Religion aims to create a society without conflict. If so, people have to change their narrow-minded thoughts. Otherwise, they exclude others with their own self-righteousness. In this sense, believers in Meshiya-kyo try not to be biased such as rightist, leftist or centrist but include all ideas and principles. We are proceeding with a great ideal, which should be called a universal thought to control everything. We name it a broad-minded principle.
Translated by N.H.