These days in Japan people discuss about "Quaria". It means that our sensitivity is different from each other. For example: when I look at a red rose, certainly I recognize the color red. And you can also see the red color. But how I am recognizing the red color and how you are recognizing the red color is different.

Or when I touch something smooth or soft. How I am feeling it is different from how you are feeling it. This is very important. Everybody has his/her own way of sensing things. I would like you to realize this and start accepting your own way of feeling and sensing things through Natsukashii group. Because of the education and the conditioning you had, you were forced to feel in a certain way. Your originality has been corrected and the standard was given to you. This gap has been creating discomfort and difficulty in your life.

Champaka:

Can you explain me more about how our `Quaria' our originality could be suppressed by the discipline and the education?

Kohrogi:

Why do you want to educate your child? Why do you want to discipline your child? Because you got the same thing when you were small. You feel like educating your child because the child was born. If you don't have a child you cannot do anything. You cannot discipline other's children. Some people (called teacher) even believe that they can and should educate children. It is very strange job. Then why was a baby born? The whole purpose is to start a new life. Life has the momentum to reform, renew itself. But by disciplining and educating your child you are giving him/her the old. For example you will be taught in school that you should call a certain appearance of a color 'red'. The language has to be taught. There are different shades of red. Some red color looks like blood or red like a sunset or red but little more mandarin. How you recognize red is different from each other. This is our originality. But then you cannot be adjusted to the society. People believe that by disciplining and by education your individuality, your originality will be supported. But the reality is in the process of education and discipline you lose your originality. It is very tricky.

Why were you born in the first place? It is so that you can have a chance to realize your own Self. You were born as a baby physically, but you need to be born once more. (as your real Self). This realization that you are your Self can be felt in our daily life. When you feel the wind and feel the sunlight and in your sleep and in the morning when you wake up and you become hungry… Your own original way of experiencing your life. In other words this recognition of the fact that just being natural is the best, is being born for the second time. But in general you have been told that you are missing something. You need to remember this and learn that. Your parents also believed that they missed something.

But you were born to realize that you are already full and complete. You were deceived that you need money, education, and appreciation from others to feel this fullness. The carrot and the stick is always the way. Make an effort then you'll get the good result and you will feel happier. I would like you to recognize Now, this moment intensely and that Now is so full.

Champaka:

This reminds me that even in therapy or in meditation I had certain ideas. Like I should feel like this or I should experience that or I should become like this. And when I do not experience what I expected it created a problem.

Kohrogi:

Talking about therapy work and meditation, some people may experience deep relaxation and others may feel a little relaxation but experience very subtle sensation in them. This difference is important. But you start questioning about your experience and comparing with others, then you feel insecure. Is this ok or not? In this summer I would like you to suspend your questions. Just leave your questions aside without any judgement. Whatever you experience in the group you may not be able to get the answer during these 3 days. Then you can bring it back to your home. What is important is your original experience.

Often people say that human beings are social animals. We belong to the school or we belong to the organization etc. We identify with the idea that we are man, woman, old, young etc. We love to belong to something. But we all already belong to the human being. I don't think that we need to belong to anything anymore. When we look deeper we belong to life. We can experience tremendous happiness and joy (Ureshii in Japanese). Life is in other words Ureshii (happiness and joy). The way to Ureshii and how each individual feels it is different. I would like you to feel it in your own original way.

Champaka:

I think that everybody is seeking for Ureshii consciously or unconsciously. First we believe that we can reach to the state of Ureshii by getting more money or higher status or house etc. Then we realize that these outside things don't give us real satisfaction. Those people who come to Natsukashii know it and seek for this Ureshii inside. Can you talk more about it?

Kohrogi:

I have been telling you that you are already full and fulfilled. The stones and flowers and plants, everything around you has been silently waiting for you to realize it. But you are looking for Ureshii in a wrong place. You pay more attention to some outstanding events or unusual things in your life while Ureshii is waiting for you in your ordinary life.

Champaka:

We cannot feel this fullness in our ordinary life. It seems impossible to stay here and now and squeeze the juice of life. We cannot appreciate what we have, where we are, how we are. We were conditioned to become someone and seek somewhere else to be happy. The whole motivation of life seems to be based on ambitions. I think the basic requirement to feel fullness of life is to be here and now. But we are always in the future or the past.

Kohrogi:

That's right.

Champaka:

Many of us are feeling that our busy mind is the hindrance to stay here and now.

Kohrogi:

Someone had asked about busy mind 2 years ago.

Champaka:

Yes, and you have again mentioned it last year that not to try to regulate the traffic of the mind. We understand it well but when we come back to our daily life we experience the same busy mind. Some people complain about their busy powerful mind.

Kohrogi:

When you say that your mind is especially strong and powerful you are making your mind special. Everybody's mind is moving fast. But when you see someone who is silent you console yourself saying that his mind must have been not so strong while your mind is extraordinary strong. You decided that your mind is incapable of being controlled. But at the same time still you want to control it with some powerful help. If you want a help you need to surrender totally. Like master Shinran (Buddhist master) used to teach to surrender completely to the hand of existence. If you can do that you will realize that you are absolutely taken care of by the existence. In the west this looks absurd. And most of you cannot do that. You may think that you are helpless and nobody if you follow such an advice. You were educated not to go with the flow of life. For example you fight with your busy mind. You try this therapy and that meditation to improve this and that. And you may be fed up and collapse in the process but soon stand up and start fighting again…

If you observe what you are doing from a distance you will notice that this is exactly the flow of your life. You are following the flow of life. Of course your life becomes a rapid stream in that case. When I say the flow of life I mean much slower calmer flow of a huge river. You just float in it.

Imagine: you are swimming in the river and suddenly you get a cramp in the leg and arm. When you panic and try to do something then you will get another cramp in your belly. I had once such an experience. If you still continue to fight against cramps then your whole body get cramped and you will die. But if you can just relax and float in the river, doing nothing just observing the pain then in 5 to 10 seconds the cramp will be gone. This is the same with your mind. If you start fighting against your mind then you'll get more cramps and if you go on fighting (because you don't want to loose your fight) you'll become one big chunk of mind.

Coming back to the originality everybody is unique and original. You can appreciate it more. But it may look too ordinary for you to appreciate it. You may ask me "What do I appreciate about myself?" or "I cannot see any progress or evolution in me." You are used to recognize your originality in this way. First you achieve something and look around and compare with others and then you can recognize that you are higher than others you feel your originality. You judge your own mind too. This mind is wavering, bad! That mind is stable, good! Again you create a pyramid. After all I cannot have real peace unless everybody becomes peaceful. When I become peaceful, silent, it is natural that I would like everybody to have this peace. Whoever had arrived wished the same. As this process can be arduous and when you see many people are struggling hard not understanding the point, you may judge them saying: this is not for the stupid. Again you create a pyramid. Mind is noisy. It is its nature. I remember: I used to work in a café. While working I used to choose my favourite cable radio program of rock and roll or pop music. And I made a bit loud to enjoy the music. Then the customers came in. They came to the café to discuss their business or something. Naturally they started talking with a little louder voice because the music was loud. So I could not listen to the music well and made a volume louder. Then the customers also started talking even louder. Like this the music and the voices were becoming louder and louder. Finally it sounded like customers were shouting each other.

Similarly if we start fighting against the mind the mind is happy that it becomes the centre of your attention. As I have told you before you just let the mind pass. Let the mind participate. Even your mind wants to participate in your life. You welcome it. Then the karma will start dissolving because it was not suppressed. It is similar to deal with a small kid. You often start ordering and trying to control. "Don't do that" "How many times I have to repeat the same thing!" You are trapped in fighting to control the kid. But if you understand the situation deeply you will notice your mistake. First of all you have not understood the need of the kid rightly, that's why they are expressing it in that way. If you can let everything (including your mind) participate in your life all your traumas, difficult memory, emotions, will be harmonized and will be assimilated in this world with joy. Without going through this experience one can not have compassion to others. Imagine someone was born with a silent mind and he is just silent. Then he will never be able to understand the difficulty of other people.

When you are participating in Natsukashii group you experience silence and joy. It may stay for a while even after the group. Then again you may experience your busy mind. Many of you may have had a similar experience and difficulties to accept that. I recommend you to take it easy. When it happens you just say that it is active day for the mind. Let it participate. Mind will come back again and again this way or that way. Our physical body is a media for the mind to express. Fighting attitude toward mind creates tension in you.

Champaka:

Can you talk about Mu-Meditation this year? It was very powerful and intense last year.

Kohrogi:

I'll introduce you advanced Mu-Meditation this year. I don't know advanced is the right word or not. You will have clearer experience through Mu-Meditation. It will become simpler too.