In the last time, we discussed what you can do when you have ESP and
I have tried to express my own thoughts. It is

“What you envision, make it comes true”

For example
while all children are happy to be born in Japan,
while living a life full of smiles and
a safe and challenging society, and if we wish to see it,
we want to use our psychic abilities to make it happen.

Now, psychic-like powers are sometimes called a sixth sense.

In English, it is Six Sence, after all.

This means that there are 1-5 senses before it.
By carefully building up these 1 through 5
the sixth one becomes brilliant, I think.

We try to live with all five senses, carefully and fully feeling them.

Today I would like to explore “hearing” among them.

Our daily life is quite, busy.
Sometimes, it is a “noisy” environment.

Sounds of cars, construction, loud background music in the store,
when I come home, the TV is just on and the sound of smartphone notifies me
it’s endless.
These are sounds that come in on it’s own in a sense.
What I use to listen it is

The ability to “listen”.

But the word “hearing” is used to describe

Sense of “listening” sensitivity.

Kanji tells us the difference between “hear” and “listen”. And

“Listen” is to listen with the ears with the inclination of the fourteen hearts

It’s the ability to listen with one’s own feelings which want to listen.

We are too busy with the sounds that came in on their own and are we giving up too much to listen the sound we want to listen?

Unfortunately, many children in Japan commit suicide because they are bullied, commit crimes or lose hope.
In the two years 2020 and 2021, 1,000 of kids in elementary, middle and high school committed suicide in this country.

How many adults did these kids have met before they committed suicide?
As well as myself, I believe that adults and society are the perpetrators.

If an adult asks, “Are you okay?” the child will answer, “Yes”.
But maybe we lost ability to listen to those powerless voice that lurks behind the “yes” and asks for help.

Since the year after the earthquake
I along with many of my colleagues have continued to invite people living in Fukushima, where the nuclear power plant accident occurred to Niigata for a “recreational activities”.
Just recently, we completed our 20th session.

All the people living in Fukushima are doing well.
Just like in other prefectures, they go to school, go to work, and engaged in various activities as if nothing had happened to them.

If I ask “Are you okay?” the answer is “Yes, I’m fine!”

But,

When we made time to sit knee to knee, heart to heart, and snuggle with the people from Fukushima who came to our retreat and
even now, I feel their hardships through their eyes.

Because we want to build a relationship that resonates with each other, even if only a little, rather than a shallow relationship where we make superficial judgments based on superficial situations and verbal exchanges, and because we want to show such an attitude to our children,

To nurture the “ability to listen”,
why don’t we take a moment to “make silence”?

From a too-loud routine
shall we turn off the TV when we eat,
let’s go to the beach on our next holiday,
let’s go to the forest and hug a tree

You may be able to hear the sounds that you have not heard before.
I believe this will foster the “ability to listen”.

I’ll be back next time to continue with the five senses!

Author ; Mayumi Inoue