PL Teachings

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE PL PHILOSOPHY

An "Artistic Life"

The essence of being human

The simple reason for the existence of human beings is because they have been given life. That life is theirs, but for the most part they are unable to control it. From where our life originated has not yet been clearly explained by science. However, we do not have to explain that human beings exist as part of the universe and life comes from somewhere in the universe.

PL recognises this vast boundless universe as God and we believe the source of life comes from there. Human beings are living as part of this universe (God), and they are God's (the universe's) children. They have the ability to live by their own power, but they also exist by God's power.

In this way, if we recognise that human beings live by being allowed to live, then we can clearly understand the misconception of thinking that we can do everything by our own power. We have to realise and believe that God allows us to live. Then we can recognise that we are the children of God and for the first time, we can fully demonstrate all our given abilities when we express by relying on God. The PL ideology of LIFE IS ART is to clarify that the significance of human life is in fully demonstrating our own abilities and thereby revealing our self — our individuality.

The meaning of "to live"

The meaning of human beings being alive is that they are always doing something. They may be sleeping, working or doing something as they are living, and if not, then they are dead. That is to say, as long as human beings are living, they are expressing. There is no other way that human beings exist.

Observing the human way of expressing ourselves, we can understand that our expressions are always relating to other people or things, which are part of our environment. For human beings to live, we must be involved with people and things.

By existing, it means that human beings are involved with other people and things. Therefore, to live properly or contentedly we have to have good relationships with people and things. There is both joy and a reason for living if we do our creative effort to improve these relationships.

What is human happiness?

True human happiness is not found in getting what we want or in having other people do what we want. We can find joy and deep happiness as human beings when we continuously accumulate our creative effort in improving our expressions in our relationships with people and things.

We call it an "artistic life" when people live by fully expressing the joy of their self-expressions.

PL provides a way of practicing an artistic life that is taught through the PL teachings, such as the PL 21 Precepts and the PL 21 Guidelines. If people believe and follow these teachings, putting their heart into what they say and what they do for their work, their housework, studies and other activities, this leads to living an enjoyable life where one is blessed both mentally and materially.

To live an "artistic life"

When we see our reflection in the mirror, we are each completely different from anyone else. There is no one else who is exactly the same as us anywhere in the world. Even from the past up to the present, there was no one that was the same, nor will there be from now on and forever. When we think in this way, then we realise that we are very special and important to be born in this world as we are.

All human beings are artists since their birth. We are born to enjoy creating something, even if we do not do it well. Then, as we grow up we gradually express our creativity in politics, education, technical skills or in various businesses. These are all self expressions — the "art" of expressing ourselves.

Because these are all our "art," if you are involved in some way in these things, naturally your individuality is reflected in your work. For human beings this gives us joy.

Some people think they can get good results without having to do any effort, get money without working and that they can steal things from others. However, by these means they do not experience joy because true human joy is when we express ourselves by doing something with our sincere hearfelt effort — our Makoto.

As mentioned previously, human life is all about self expressing — doing "art" to express our self. By living an "artistic life" we will find our true life and our "real self" within it.

This world is neither an accidental one nor a suffering one. The world is created by God with human beings who are allowed to live here as the manifestation of God and who should all live enjoyable lives. When we understand that LIFE IS ART and begin to live an artistic life, we can be immersed in joy by being able to live an enjoyable life. Actually, life is nothing else but art!

In this way, if you are seeking your own self expressions and then expressing "your true individuality," your whole life will surely be filled with pure appreciation and joy as an "artist of life," having the feeling: "I'm glad to be born as a human being."

Universal Laws for Human Life

The direction of the universe is toward "harmony"

In Japan it is common to have a standard of judging when thinking of right and wrong, which is based on a strong influence from Confucianism. However, there are very few people who have clear thoughts as to what really is right and what is wrong. But by observing the movement of the universe there is a clear direction and that direction is harmony.

Also, the expressions of human beings who are allowed to live as part of the universe, go more smoothly when they are moving toward harmony. However, by taking the opposite direction, there is resistance and things don't go well. In this sense, "harmony" can be called balance. The secret to having a happier life — a harmonious life — is to have balance, such as having balance as a couple, balance in your workplace, balance in your body and keeping a balance in the activities in your life. Therefore, if you can think that right is the direction of harmony and that the opposite direction is wrong, then it accords with our happiness or unhappiness.

God's law and human law

Right from the beginning of the universe there have been laws to control all kinds of happenings with various kinds of phenomena in both the natural and also in the human world, and we call these God's laws. The "PL 21 Precepts" clarify these laws of God.

Also, within God's laws, there is human law that governs the human world. Human law is determined by more than two people and is decided by human will. These laws include such things as the promises of an individual, the rules for a school or a company, the laws of a country or international treaties, and these rules regulate societal life as human expressions.

For example, if people do not keep their promises to others, then they are likely going to receive some form of punishment for this. Also, people who do not keep their promises lose their trust and then become unable to do their full self-expressions. For people who do not follow the laws of society, they will eventually be shut out of normal social life.

Even though a person is in accord with human law, by losing his mental and physical balance he lives an unhappy life. Others may say of him, "He is such a nice person", but he is unhappy because he has moved away from God's law. In another case, a person has quite a contented everyday life by following the direction of God's laws even though people may say, "He is not a very good person," because he does not follow human laws.

Therefore, the true right and wrong for human beings is decided by both God's laws and human laws.

All is kamwaza

Human beings tend to think that they are living by their own power, but that power does not originate from them. They are able to live because they have been given the power to live. As a result, they are able to live with their various functions. We say that, "God allows human beings to live."

The meaning that human beings are allowed to live by God, is not that they are just given life, they should not forget that they are living within the whole (God) and can only accomplish their expressions by receiving God's power.

God has given human beings the ability to live freely by their own will. In this sense, they can live by their own power. However, if they try to live completely by their own power, then things will not work that well for them. This is because they are given the ability to express, but the results of that expression are beyond their ability.

The things that happen around us and the results that appear from our expressions are all functions of the universe. That is to say, they are created by kamwaza (God's laws or God's acts). In PL we say that "all is kamwaza."

In this way, human beings are allowed to live in kamwaza. Therefore, the secret of life is to recognise that all is kamwaza, to fully understand and receive it as kamwaza, and create your own art within it.

The Basic Self-Expressions

The meaning of BEGIN ONCE YOU PERCEIVE

It's both natural and comfortable to live by Precept 19, BEGIN ONCE YOU PERCEIVE. This means to put things into practice as soon as you notice them by following your first thought.

The meaning of "perceive" is that God lets you notice things, so as a matter of principle, receive them positively and put them into practice right away. It's an effective way to live without wasting mental energy.

Your first thought is the one that first comes to your mind when you face something. To notice something suddenly when you are doing something, is also the first thought. The correct way is to act by following what you notice. PL's guidance for making art in your life is to value your intuition and to do this, it is important that you live by following your first thought.

The five basic expressions are "listen," "see," "think," "do," and "say"

We do all kind of things in our daily lives such as going to work, doing housework, studying, talking to our family and all of these expressions consist of speaking, listening, seeing, doing and thinking, which are the five basic human activities.

If you can do each of these activities correctly, then you won't have any problems. However, this is not always so easy to do. There is an old saying: "If your mind is not here, then you can't even see that you are looking at something; you can't even hear though you are listening; and you can't taste even though you may be eating."

The meaning of not being able to see even if you are looking at something is that you are looking at it carelessly or looking at it with vacant eyes. You are supposed to see it, but you can't. In this case, you are not really seeing it. It's the same thing for listening. You may be listening half-heartedly or doing it carelessly but you are not really listening.

Then really what is "seeing" or "listening"? Unless you understand this, you are probably not able to live correctly. Think about it and try to understand what you have to do to follow the key points of the 5 basic self-expressions. PL members are guided in following these through the PL 21 Guidelines and through the ministers' consultations.