Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Kenko's advice

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"A man who has determined to take the Great Step should leave unresolved all plans for disposing of urgent or worrisome business.

Some men think, 'I'll wait a bit longer, until I take care of his matter,' or 'I might as well dispose of that business first,' or 'People will surely laugh at me if I leave such and such as it stands.  I'll arrange things now so that there won't be any future criticism,' or 'I've managed to survive all these years.  I'll wait till that matter is cleared up.  It won't take long.  I mustn't be hasty.'  But if you think in such terms the day for taking the Great Step will never come, for you will keep discovering more and more unavoidable problems, and there will never be a time when you run out of unfinished business.

My observation of people leads me to conclude, generally speaking, that even people with some degree of intelligence are likely to go through life supposing they have ample time before them.  But would a man fleeing because a fire has broken out in his neighborhood say to the fire, 'Wait a moment, please!'?  To save his life, a man will run away, indifferent to shame, abandoning his possessions.  Is a man's life any more likely to wait for him?  Death attacks faster than fire or water, and is harder to escape.  When its hour comes, can you refuse to give up your aged parents, your little children, your duty to your master, your affections for others, because they are hard to abandon."

 -- Kenko --
from Essays in Idleness
Donald Keene, trans.

 

Kenko's advice is universal; don't stall around but take that Great Step, whatever it might be.  One should always act when the enthusiasm is high. The second paragraph contains Kenko's reasoning:  if the individual delays to resolve some issues or handle some problems, there's a good chance the person will never take the Great Step. If the individual waits to solve some problem, then a new one will arise which must also be solved and so on.  As Kenko writes, " But if you think in such terms the day for taking the Great Step will never come, for you will keep discovering more and more unavoidable problems, and there will never be a time when you run out of unfinished business."  Therefore, don't delay, do it now.

The third paragraph expresses a very common theme--one probably known, again universally, and expressed in most of the world's religions.  We don't know the time of our death--it may be the next minute, the next hour, the next day or week or year or decade.  So, again, don't wait, act now before it's too late.

Do you think it remarkable that advice given in the 14th century Japan by a Buddhist monk is so relevant today?






12 comments:

  1. Fred, Kenko's words depress me but they should instead motivate me; I guess the sour-faced grim-reaper dominates my thinking. Ah, it's one of those days! (Well, I'll try Kenko's words when my mind is less agitated.)

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    1. R.T.,

      It's good advice, but unfortunately I don't always follow it.

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  2. Hi Fred, great post. No I don't think it's remarkable that someone in the 14th century should give relevant advice pertinent even today. Humans don't really change much.

    At any rate, as you know, I've recently taken The Great Step. Didn't hesitate - much, didn't wait, didn't dither, didn't think of the obstacles. Just jumped in and here I am in N.C.

    I know I would have regretted it all my life if I hadn't grabbed at the chance. :)

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    1. Yvette,

      That's something that fascinates me about his Essays in Idleness--so much of what he writes could be written today.

      I have found in the past that many of the obstacles really existed in my head or if they did exist weren't nearly as serious as I had imagined.

      Congrats on taking your Great Step.

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  3. I'm a terrible procrastinator and this makes me feel so bad. Seriously.

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    1. Di,

      You are not alone. Procrastination or the law of inertia is a necessary part of the structure of the universe. It is as unavoidable as gravity.

      Delete
  4. Hi Fred. Thank your for stopping by my blog.

    I have been reading some of your posts. I really like your site.

    This work sounds well worth reading. It is striking how sone authors who lived centuries ago can still be relevant. It shows something universal about the human condition.

    Indeed one must act when enthusiasm is strong. That is something that can wain so quickly.

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  5. Brian,

    Thanks for the kind words and for stopping by. I agree--humans haven't really changed that much but give us a few hundred thousand years more to evolve and who knows what we might become.

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  6. Hi, Fred!

    So do you think Kenko speaks of himself, his own choice (perhaps delayed) to leave his position as head of the palace guard to become a Buddhist monk?

    This is inspiring and speaks to a yearning (fantasy?) inside many of us. But to actually do what he did (or something as dramatic) comes with risk and requires unusual and resolute determination.

    PS: Shadow says: Procrastination works but with risk. The trick is to know which tasks to put off and trust they will take care of themselves. The longer you've been around, the better you get at it.

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    1. Shadow Flutter,

      From what I have read about him, he was a Buddhist monk before "retired" for a couple of years. There is no information about why he left or why he returned when he did.

      One scholar thought that perhaps he had offended a more important court official and decided it was a good idea to become invisible for awhile. This was just a guess on his part, and he said he had no information as to why Kenko left.

      We will probably never know why.

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  7. To answer your question: We live in a highly competitive and capitalistic world where a premium is placed on having enough money. Lots of people doing something other than what they dream of doing, so, no, I don't find it odd that it is relevant today..

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    1. Shadow Flutter,

      We all need to survive, and only the few lucky ones find a way of surviving that they really enjoy.

      Delete