What is the essence of things: Philosophy “Penetrate the essence of things”

This time, Inamori* spoke about the above motto in Kyocera philosophy.

What Inamori said is quoted with “”.

“ Earlier I spoke about ‘Adhering to perfectionism,’ ‘Devoting yourself seriously and diligently to your work,’ and ‘Accumulating small, mundane efforts.’ In fact, if you always do these three things, you will be able to penetrate the essence of things. . . .

When I speak at economic organizations, even though I have no background in economics, people respect what I say. This is not because I have authority, but because the words of someone who has penetrated the essence in certain area, sound convincing enough. As a result, the audience respects what I have done in my career. ”

Here, I would like to consider what Inamori means by “the essence of things.” I think the essence of things is the following:

Let me explain them one by one.

1. The theme of human beings (human’s mind)

“ Baigan Ishida, the Samurai officer in Edo period, also explained the business philosophy. ‘Never do business that goes against the truth of the universe and the true nature of human beings and humanity. Never do dishonest business, using despicable means that go against the truth and the laws of the universe. Those are fundamental principles in doing business.’  “

(Quoted from the Inamori Digital Library)

→ Scientist Kunihiko Takeda says that humans are driven by greed and become selfish because of a defect in the cerebral cortex of the human brain. Living things are inherently altruistic, and a mechanism is built into nature for individuals to exist for the survival of the group. However, humans cannot live like this. Our instincts of selfishness inevitably emerge.

How can we suppress these greed and selfishness? How do these desires work? Actively working on those questions through various experiences is very important for our work, human relationships, and our own fulfillment. By studying humans and their mind, we can learn how to capture people’s hearts, how we betray each other, and control others or get controlled by others.

2. The theme of the universe

” Originally, the universe began with a handful of elementary particles. They have always kept transforming themselves into much higher levels of objects and are forming our world. In other words, there is a flow in the universe that allows things to evolve and develop without stagnation even for a moment. I believe that this flow can be expressed as the WILL of the universe. This can be seen as a flow or WILL that is omnipresent in this universe that does not stop even for a moment, but rather guides everything in the universe in the direction of evolution and development.

So, even if you think, `I don’t think we have to make more progress ‘ or `My company doesn’t need to grow anymore’, the universe never leaves you in that negative mood. As if it said, `Any company must grow,’ the universe has been leading all living things in the direction of progress and development. ”

→ So-called Old media, the press and media, has been focusing on how the current situation and our society are worse than past societies, and moreover, it has become devastating. However, as Mr. Inamori has repeatedly said, the universe is constantly progressing and developing. In the same way, we too should follow the will of the universe, continue to progress and develop, and continue to make efforts that are second to none.

3. The theme of nature

“ Your company is in a recession, and even though you’ve worked hard, your sales are declining. Furthermore, the overall recession is getting worse. I’m sure you’re struggling to increase sales at all costs, but there are times when you face adversity. Never get panicked to simply focusing on sales recovery when you’re in a recession. Rather, you may have to consider how do you cut expenses and maintain profits when sales have decreased? “

(Quoted from the Inamori Digital Library)

→ There is always a natural economic cycle like this. He says that it’s important to take it as a given and make steady efforts. Scientist Takeda also says that nature can never be cheated. Even if humans try to conduct fraud with tricks as we have seen in the energy industry, their evil deeds at the end of the day, always come to light.

I think that the mind that is not trapped, not biased, and not obsessed, as described in the Heart Sutra, is actually the way nature should be. I would like to change my attitude and behavior so that I can go along with the will of nature.

* Mr. Kazuo Inamori, the founder of Kyocera, KDDI (one of the top tele communication companies in Japan) and the top of revitalization project of JAL. As a well-known Japanese entrepreneur, he has been sharing his experiences and management know-how with managements of small to middle companies in Japan.

Further queries or doubts, please email to ytomizuka@abrilsjp.com

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