Fujiko Suda / Reflection

The best thing cannot be told

From <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060167181/qid=1064932412/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_2/102-3467409-9716149?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">The Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflection on the Art of Living</a>:

<i> My wonderful friend, Heinrich Zimmer, my final guru, often said, "The best things cannnot be told." That is to say, you can't talk about that which lies beyond the reach of words..
The second best are misunderstood, because they are your statements about that which cannot be told. They are misunderstood because the vocabulary of symbols that you have to use are thoughts to be references to historical events.
The third best is conversation, political life, economics, and all that. And that's what we are usually dealing with: the first three chakuras.</i>

And thus the action and thoughts are always true to reality, whereas words in conversations are tricky business, and words in prints, through technological dvices like internet, movies and televisions are even less reliable. It is so in dealing with the family, master, diciple, one's self.

Individually and in business around me, it seems so true.

Lord of the Rings

I needed to go back to Lord of the Rings, and I finally got the DVD, Fellowship of the Ring and watched it. It was such a pleasure! I must have read the triology over 30 times, and I was afraid it might be a disappointment like the animation movie that came out years ago. No the movie was not 100% true to the book, but minor parts that were altered made the story flow better as a movie. The movie enhanced the story by magnifying each person's struggle against the temptation for the kind of power that corrupts. Everyone was tested, weak and strong.

The story is so timely. It shows everyone, great or small, counts. It is up to each person's kind heart. The Middle Earth is saved by humans, dwarves, elves, hobbit, ents, animals (like horses, eagles). Gollum had his own part in saving the world.

King Arthur's legend is about nobilities and their power and their lives. Lord of the Rings is about the power serving the people.

Of course when I read this story when I was 17 years-old and going through back surgery which kept me in bed for 2 months and crippled for one year, I didn't think about these things. It was a wonderful world for my spirit to live in. I walked with Frodo, laughed with Tom Bombadil, marveled at Lothlorien, cried at the passing of King Theoden, fallen in love with Eowyn and Faramir.

And again, the story gives me what I need now. Just what I need! That is, not take myself too seriously, marvell at how I ended up where I am in life, laugh out loud.

Love Only Grows

September 16th is my oldest son, Shingo's memorial. He died 3 days after he was born 17 years ago. I think of how he could have been. No doubt a difficult child, yet delightful. Somehow, he's grown in my mind. Somehow, I feel his presence near me, although now a days only few times a year.

As I visited where his remains lay today, I've thought of how much I loved him. How much he has taught me over the past 17 years. He and his brothers taught me of unconditional love, of unconditional love's capacity. When I lost him, I thought, I could never love no one more. Then he and his brothers taught me that unconditional love is never divided into smaller pieces. It is doubled, tripled, each piece growing bigger everytime I love. And they taught me, unconditional love is not only for the children, family, but is for all the people around me. I've learned the meaning of the word, agape.

Today, I've come to realize that I am not showing my love in the way that will make neither my children nor myself happy. That I can let go and love more freely.

All these years, and he keeps teaching me. Thank you, Shingo.

True story inspires

Just finished reading Pat Riley's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425141756/qid=1063028295/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-7857885-3247328?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players</a>. I decided to read this book, because as I interacted with <a href="http://www.salesaid.jp/mt/">So-san</a> over the blog, I was intreagued with Pat Riley, the NBA's winningest coach ever. The book is fantastic! His story is about coaching, change, life of organic growth and decay, work, mastery. I think his book is closer to business situation more than other such books I have read, because it is story of sustainability in winning. In business, winning means staying profitable in healthy way. It seems that life cycle of winning team, innocent climb, disease of me, core covenant, thunderbolts, choke, breakthroughs, complacency, mastery, anteing up, core cracks, move on are the same between basketball or business.

What rare treat it is to be able to learn about the entire process in sequesnce, with emotional stories, along with facts of results! Whenever I read about real stories about success, which is always about serendipity and hard work, along with close calls where it was simply incredible that the whole thing did not fall apart, I feel exhilarated. At the same time, I become more weary of stories told by onlookers, by consultants who only takes part in a blip of the team or company's history. One simply can not predict what happens in the long run as result of efforts made in a short period of time.

I've thought of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0142001104/qid=1063029714/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-7857885-3247328?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">The Art of Possibilities</a> by successful conductor of the Boston Philharmonics, Benjamine Zander, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452267560/qid=1063030004/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/102-7857885-3247328">Mastery</a> by George Leonard, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807071331/qid=1063030088/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/102-7857885-3247328">Life Work </a>by Donald Hall. I've thought of numerous autobiographies that illustrated the road to mastery through work. Those Holywood movies. They are not realistic in the way that success is shown without overwhelming time and effort put into work, but they are realistic in the way that winning crucial battle comes at the eleventh hour like they do at Star Wars movies.