“What Money Cannot Buy — A Journey Toward True Treasures”

In this issue, I would like to take up the theme shown in the title from the book Nihonjin yo, Hahagokoro ni Kaere (“Japanese People, Return to a Mother’s Heart”) by Master Masando Sasaki,* a great Aikido teacher and chief priest of the Yamakage Shinto tradition.

Words by Mr. Sasaki are quoted in “ ” below.

 

“Things Money Can Buy

Life is a journey—a journey in search of people.

A journey is a journey because there is a place to return to.

A refugee is a refugee because there is no place to return to.

No matter how far civilization advances, for each and every person in the world, the place to which one ultimately returns in reality is the home.

A home begins with a husband and wife, and life is born through the union of a couple.

Therefore, the family is the very origin of the ‘Creation of Heaven and Earth.’

Moreover, no one can choose the era into which they are born, whether times are favorable or adverse, whether they are male or female, whether they are rich or poor, or even who their parents are.

And just as a baby cannot survive without parents, it is also a fact that human beings cannot live without air, water, and food—and, furthermore, without money created by human society.

If you give money to a baby or an animal, they will not even look at it.

So why do people chase after money?

It is because, in human society, money is the god that forges connections between things and people.

As the saying goes, “Even the judgments of hell are decided by money”—with money, one can seemingly do anything.

Yet, when we look deeply into life, we realize that there are things money cannot buy.

Parents, the era into which one is born, and youth itself are all beyond the reach of money.

At such moments, one may suddenly stop and feel lost, asking, “What am I living for?”

At that time, it is a teacher who instructs, enlightens, and guides us.

Comfort lies in material things, but peace of mind lies in the heart.

Even wealthy people who live in comfort may suffer from the fear of death or from bitter conflicts among siblings over inheritance, and thus walk through dark lives.

Whether one is fortunate or unfortunate depends, in the end, on the state of the heart, regardless of money.”

From these words, I would like, in this issue, to reflect on the things that money cannot buy.

Each of you will have your own answer to this question, but I would like to offer a few hints to help you think about it.

 

 

 

I will now explain each of these points in more depth.

 

１To truly realize the importance of family

Master Sasaki’s Words

“I grew up in a poor home where, on bitterly cold winter days, snowstorms would blow in through the cracks, and by the time I woke up in the morning, snow would have piled up beside my pillow.

Even so, the home where my mother was present was something indescribably precious—utterly irreplaceable—and even to my child’s heart, it was an absolute place.”

(My comment)

→ Because families are often together around the clock, we tend to take that togetherness for granted.

Yet, if we imagine what our lives would be like without a partner, without parents, or without children, we may begin to truly realize the fulfillment that is already present in our lives.

 

２ To turn your awareness toward your own senses

Master Sasaki’s Words

“After being born into this world, there are times—not just once or twice, but many times—when we struggle and suffer deeply.

The poet Toshiko Takada also went through a period of anguish, questioning what life is meant for.

In the spring of her youthful nineteenth year, feeling utterly stuck in life, she resolved to take her own life.

Thinking she should not leave an undignified face behind, she stood before the mirror and began to apply makeup.

Suddenly, she noticed her hair. The bangs she had cut only recently had already grown long enough to cover her eyebrows.

At this very moment, she was about to end her life, yet her hair, unaware of this, continues to grow.

Looking closer, she saw that her nails, too—though recently trimmed—had grown back fully.

Gazing at them quietly, Takada came back to herself and began to ask:

What is the body? Is the body myself? What is the self? Is it the body, or the mind?

I intend to die, yet my body is trying to live.

Her heart, too, was beating ceaselessly.

‘Ah, how weak a human being I am,’ she realized—and she stepped back from death.

From that moment on, she became a poet of the heart.”

(My comment)

→ When our minds are crowded with thoughts, or when our hearts are too busy, it is said to be helpful to turn our awareness toward bodily sensations—what we physically feel.

The other day, during a break from work, I visited Mount Kurama in Kyoto.

There were few tourists, and as I walked along the mountain path, I found myself alone, surrounded by no one.

In all directions—360 degrees—there was only the sound of the wind, birdsong, and the overlapping rustle of leaves. I realized that I was standing in a space filled solely with the quiet of nature.

At the same time, I became aware that I was in a space without noise.

I felt a sense of relief, openness, and fulfillment wash over me.

I believe that bodily sensation is also an important filter through which we can enter into dialogue with our own hearts.

 

３ To look to the words of those who came before us—our teachers

Master Sasaki’s Words

“If money is the god that forms bonds between people and things, then the heart is the god that forms bonds between people and the universe.

It is better for both money and the heart to be abundant, and depending on how they are used, each can become either good or evil.

Just as one came to understand universal gravitation through the falling of an apple, what teaches us that we are, here and now, being kept alive by the divine is our teachers and our books.

Therefore, life is a journey in search of people. A journey has a place to return to.

In the deepest sense, the place to which we return in peace and assurance is the awakening of another self that resides calmly in the tanden—the center below the navel.”

(My comment)

→ It is said that “a fool learns from experience, while a wise person learns from history.” There is also the saying, “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

Human beings are an eternal theme of humanity. It seems to me that for as long as humankind has existed in this world, learning about what it means to be human has been accumulating just as long.

As the words say, “Seek, and you shall be given.” Unless we raise our own antennae and actively seek to learn, even the most precious words may simply pass by our ears without taking root.

I would like to cherish an attitude of seeking teachers and continuing to learn.

 

 

 

 

*Master Masando Sasaki

Born in 1929 in Nagai City, Yamagata Prefecture.

After overcoming many hardships in his youth, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics and the Advanced Course of the Faculty of Law at Chuo University.

After resigning from his post at the Defense Agency, he encountered Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, and devoted himself to martial arts and the cultivation of the human spirit, eventually becoming an Aikido instructor.

While seeking the true path of life, he practiced waterfall austerities, zazen, and trained in groups such as “Ichiku-kai” and “Itsui-kai.”

He later met his life mentor, Nakamura Tempu, and studied under him.

Through a fortunate connection, he became associated with Yamakage Motoo and was ordained as a priest of the Yamakage Shinto tradition, serving as the chief priest of Kamifukuoka Nishimiya Shrine.

In 1977, he was invited by the French Ministry of Culture to Paris as a Shinto instructor at the “Dojo for the Restoration of Human Nature,” and he visited France again in 1985.

Alongside teaching Aikido, he traveled throughout Japan delivering “Sasaki Dharma Talks,” expounding on the traditional Japanese cultural arts—such as martial arts, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement—and on the true path of being human.

 

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

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