(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) I used to think being selfish was bad, but there is actually a good kind of selfishness: wise selfishness. The Dalai Lama said that people should be wisely selfish. He explained, “I often joke that if you really want to be selfish, … Read more
(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) Akihiro Miwa, a famous Japanese singer and actor, talked about this law. The law means that the total amount of happiness and unhappiness in your life is the same. In other words, you will experience an equal amount of good things and … Read more
(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) Have you ever had slumps? Yes, I have. If you are in a slump, it’s good to try doing the opposite of what you usually do. We are creatures of habit, so we tend to repeat the same actions over and over. … Read more
(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) I might be wrong, but I made a comparison of Western and Eastern cultures.
(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) Some people believe that life has a purpose, and they live to accomplish that purpose. Hideko Suzuki, a Japanese Christian nun, wrote that the purpose of life must be “to make myself and others happy.” The Dalai Lama, a Buddhist monk, said … Read more
(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) Since childhood, we have been told to “do good things.” But what is “good”? Does the idea of good change over time? Is good different for different people? Is it different across cultures? Is there such a thing as a universal good? … Read more
(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) I have read some books about free will. According to some thinkers, free will is an illusion. Benjamin Libet, an American scientist, discovered that our brains become active before we consciously decide to take action. For example, when we drink a glass … Read more
(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) In 2016, I attended a lecture in Japan by Hiroshi Amano, a 2014 Nobel Prize laureate in Physics, together with my mother. His voice was so soft that I thought he sounded like a child in an adult’s body. He looked kind, … Read more
(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) My mother and I made small talk over dinner every Monday. Sometimes we talk about people forgotten by history. We imagine that there must have been people like Buddha or Christ who lived long ago but were never remembered. I said that … Read more
(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.) Buddha attained enlightenment — called satori in Japanese — after long and rigorous training. Many people have tried to explain what satori is. Koshu Itabashi, a Japanese Zen monk, wrote that satori is to live a normal life and be content with it. He … Read more