22/04/2026
“SEEK FIRST WITHIN ONESELF”
From the book "THE PATH" by Konosuke Matsush*ta
https://konosuke-matsush*ta.com/en/
“When trouble descends, all you can do is pray,” goes the saying, and human beings do have the tendency, when they are really perplexed, distressed, and at their wit’s end, of finally resorting to prayer. “Please, please, hear my prayer,” we plead to whatever our god or buddha, for deliverance from our plight or to get what we desperately need. The gods and buddhas have their work cut our for them.
Such may be human nature, but I can not help thinking that we tend to seek and to ask too much, to rely too much on others. The proper nature of prayer, I should think, is to straighten yourself before your deity – resolving to correct those things within yourself that may not be quite right by your own effort. Not to ask, not to seek, not to beg – the shape of true piety is to rectify yourself by your own power.
We would be well to cultivate the same attitude in our daily lives. Are we not asking too much of others? Are we not relying too much on others? We should strive as much as possible not to depend on others but to discipline ourselves and do the best we can. What applies to us as individuals also applies to organizations and to the state, the nation itself. Therein lies the true form of autonomy and independence for us as human beings and for our country as well.