自然に対する繊細な感受性.Shizen nitaisuru sensai na kanjusei. Sensitivity to the delicacy of nature.
Many years ago I saw a documentary called What the Bleep Do We Know that changed my life. One of the segments in the documentary really stuck with me over these 10 years. The segment was on the research being done by Dr. Masaru Emoto in the field of human consciousness and how our intentions can influence nature. In this segment, Dr. Emoto showed how the molecular structure of a water molecule could be influenced by how we interacted with the water. He wrote phrases like, "I love you" and "I hate you" on bottles of water and showed how those intentions affected the structure of the water molecules. It was incredible how pristine the molecule looked with the words, "I love you" printed on it and how distorted the water looked when he printed, "I hate you" on it. (Below is a video about Dr. Emoto's work).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33IiYb8htHk
That research made me really think about how not only my intentions but the things I wear affect my mood and body. Sensei must have knew this too. Whenever we would wear some outlandish outfit he would give us a hard time about it. Once a student wore a top adorned with the logo of a popular surf wear company called B.U.M and Sensei told him he couldn't wear that anymore unless he, "Wanted to be a bum." Quizzically we all scratched our heads but maybe Sensei knew something we all didn't. Here is a quote that is often and possibly erroneously attributed to the Dhammapada that may help to shine some light on what Sensei might have known and was possibly trying to teach us.
The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed; The deed develops into habit; And habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care, And let it spring from love Born out of concern for all beings. As the shadow follows the body, as we think, so we become.
We should all take care of how we interact with not only nature and others but ourselves as well. If Dr. Emoto's research is even 5% true then we have a tremendous amount of power and as Voltaire wrote, "With great power comes great responsibility."
This year the creators of What the Bleep Do We Know celebrates their 10th anniversary. If you haven't seen the movie, it is worth a look and the DVD has four or five more hours of information. http://www.whatthebleep.com/