Starting from Kata

Even when you are trying to send only gratitude in front of god or ancestral spirits, deep down you know you have a wish and you feel bad about it. I am sure there are many people who feel the same. Many people are wondering, how can I get over this feeling of wanting to be saved by an outside source?

In the past articles, I have explained how your wishful thinking is going to give you negative effects. So now, those who have wishful thoughts feel guilty having it.

Could we really control ourselves from these thoughts? Could we really do it in a pure mind from the bottom of our heart? The answer is no, we can’t. It’s because we live in this World of Reality.

In this world, our action is valued than our thoughts. So even if you had a wishful thought in your mind, as long as you don’t say it out loud in front of god or ancestral spirits, it’s all right.

The problems about some people who are into spirituality is that they put so much importance in the unseen world and forget to be responsible in the daily matters. What should really be considered seriously is what you speak and what you do daily.

Spending a lot of time trying to go to other dimensions or future is a waste. You should forget about knowing the unseen and simply focus on your action in this visible world.

In Japan, we have a tradition of michi (道), a path of learning one thing. In a michi , there is a kata(型), a form. For example, in the path of tea, there are forms of sequence to learn. You wouldn’t truly understand the kokoro, the heart of tea right from the start and that’s all right. Even a master who has practiced tea for fifty years would still use the same kata. One’s heart might change and grow, but the kata remains always the same. The kata is “to live” and it is always there for you until you need another kata and that would be in another plane.

Humans need to work on a kata repeatedly until they understand the kokoro of it. This applies also in the gratitude sending to ancestral spirits. One day you will feel that it has become a true prayer from the bottom of your heart. Trust that day will definitely come.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live