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 (see PL’s concept of God in FAQs) 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 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. If we recognise that we are the children of God, then 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 by relying on God and thereby revealing our “true 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. Therefore, by existing, it means that human beings are involved with other people and things. Thus, 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 practising 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 and others call us lucky.
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 we are 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 don’t 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 we are involved in some way in these things, naturally our individuality is reflected in our 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 some think 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 heartfelt effort — our Makoto, especially if it’s for the sake of others.
As mentioned previously, human life is all about self expressing — doing art in expressing 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, our 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’s 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 that govern all happenings with various kinds of phenomena in the natural environment that we call God’s laws. The human world also exists within God’s laws for humankind and the PL 21 Precepts clarify these laws.
Also, within God’s laws, there is human law that governs the human world. Human law is determined by 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 financial and business 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 their mental and physical harmony they live an unhappy life. Others may say of him, “He is such a nice person”, but in reality he is unhappy because he has moved away from God’s laws. In another case, a person leads 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 doesn’t follow human laws.
Therefore, the true path of 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 that they have been given life and also, 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 outcome of that expression is 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 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 and accept that all is kamwaza, to fully understand and receive it as kamwaza and create your own art within it.
