Recently, I’ve been reading A Compass to Fulfilment by Inamori Kazuo.
The word fulfillment immediately drew me to this book—after all, it gives life meaning.
In the book, I found Inamori shared his guiding philosophy:
1. A person is born with a fate—an accumulation of past actions.
2. A person lives under the law of causality—the principle that every action creates a corresponding effect.
More importantly, he believes the law of causality is greater than fate, meaning we can reshape our destiny through conscious effort.
This resonates with what I’ve learned from wise friends in Prague about the five phenomena of human life: causality, retribution from the past, habits, consciousness, and destiny. A perfect example is the transformation of matcha.
Originally called MoCha, matcha came from China and was valued for its bitterness in traditional medicine. A Japanese Zen monk brought it to Japan, Zen and tea cultivation flourished in Japan almost simultaneously. As Zen practice cultivated people's consciousness, it led to an innovation in tea farming—the shading method. By blocking direct sunlight before harvest, bitterness was reduced by limiting catechin production, while sweetness and umami were enhanced as amino acids like L-theanine increased, promoting a sense of calm. Through changes in habits and consciousness, MoCha evolved: it was renamed TenCha, and the fine powder produced from it became Matcha.
"The law of causality is greater than given fate." By elevating consciousness, we change our habits, which in turn transforms our destiny.
Inamori Kazuo, both a successful entrepreneur and a cultivator of the mind, emphasizes the power of mental purification in guiding one's life.
Recently, I’ve been enjoying Shoju no Shiro matcha from Zen Market, which means "purity of longevity." It beautifully echoes Inamori’s words:
"My wish, for when the end of life approaches, is to have raised my soul into something even just a little more pure than it was at the time of my birth—to have a pure mind filled with kindness and consideration."
With the compass of self-cultivation, reshaping our habits, and embracing the law of causality, we can navigate our path to fulfilment—just as matcha transformed through centuries of mindful refinement.
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