A Guide to the - Rissho Kosei-kai

Flexibility of MindIs it possible to endow a robot with the common sense of a human being? This has become asubject of great interest in the continuing development of android robots. State‐of‐the‐artrobots are said to be superior to humans in terms of memory and data processing. However, ifonly one aspect of knowledge is emphasized, a robot may also make an extreme judgment,such as that it is acceptable to kill people for the sake of peace. For a safety valve to check suchrecklessness, we have discovered the necessity of some kind of common sense or emotion.Nevertheless, endowing a robot with common sense has proved extremely difficult. A systemsengineering professor at Hosei University, Toshiro Terano, explains, "This is because commonsense is the accumulation of human knowledge over thousands of years."To see clearly the true cause of all events, that is, the origin of existence, is to possess genuinecommon sense. A famous phrase in the Lotus Sutra, "in character upright, in mind gentle,"refers to someone who is honest and flexible enough always to accept the truth; in otherwords, someone with flexibility of mind.To understand the importance of flexibility, let us observe the functioning of the hand. We cansee that unless the wrist and fingers are able to move supplely, one cannot improve, forexample, one's playing of the piano or violin. The same is true of needlework, handicrafts, andartwork. If the body is not limber, then it is doubtful whether one can improve one's skill inbaseball, wrestling, judo, or any physical activity. The reason for this is that if the arm, the hip,or the wrist is not supple, then it will not be able to move in the way it is supposed to in theory.Spiritual flexibility is even more important. Christ said, "Blessed are the meek; for they shallinherit the earth." This may be taken to mean that one who is flexible enough to accept thetruth can build a new world.It seems that, in many cases, once people reach a certain position in life, they become selfrighteous.They are dogmatic about their own ideas, position, or appearances, and are unableto change. In disputes between individuals as well as nations, a deadlock occurs when peopleare so attached to their own beliefs or positions that they lack the breadth of mind to makemutual concessions. Just how much this inflexibility hinders the progress of societies andhuman happiness is hard to measure.Dr. Sakuzo Yoshino (1878‐‐1933), a professor of political science at the University of Tokyo andan advocate of Japan's prodemocracy movement in the early twentieth century, wrote a bookconcerning his expectations of his students. He wrote that while it was important for them toseek out the truth and advocate their principles, it often happened that once they becameconvinced of a truth, they tended to close their minds to other approaches. "What I want mostof my students," he wrote, "is openness to truth. . . . The student's approach to the quest fortruth must be not only passionate, but also inconsistent. To prevent misunderstanding, let meexplain what I mean by inconsistent. I mean that students must constantly strive to be right andthat they must be prepared to change their minds if the need arises." This is flexibility of mind.Undoubtedly, some would reject Dr. Yoshino's view, saying it might be all right for students,whose role is to pursue the truth, to be inconsistent, but that people in positions ofresponsibility cannot afford that. Normally, we think that inconsistency means a willingness tocompromise under pressure. But Dr. Yoshino advocates inconsistency in the sense of honesty,bravery, and open‐mindedness, which are essential for progress.Inability to make that kind of headway is caused by preoccupation with appearances, whichhave absolutely nothing to do with essential qualities. In adhering to such meaningless things21