Proposing a New View of Humanity
Konosuke Matsushita and Katsuhiko Eguchi spent six months putting it together and said, "Now that we've put this together, we can die.
The Power of a Single Word: Words of Konosuke Matsushita p.59 "I could die now.
June 1971
A manuscript that has been worked over for more than 20 years
6 months, 65+ guesses
Mid-December, end of
In "Thinking about People," Konosuke proposed "A New View of Humanity. The proposal itself, which consisted of about 900 words, was published in 1972, but this was not the first time it was made. It was the result of repeated examination of the "Humanity Declaration" that was published in September 1941.
Proposing a New View of Humanity
Everything in the universe is constantly being generated and constantly developing. Everything is new every day, and generative development is the law of nature.
It is in man's nature to have the power to rule over all things while adapting to the movements of the universe. By reigning over a universe that is constantly generating and developing, by developing the great power hidden in the universe, and by discovering the essence of each thing given to all things, and by making the most of it, we can create true prosperity of the "oneness of matter and mind.
Such human characteristics are a natural fate given to us by the laws of nature.
Because of this divine mandate, man is the king and ruler of all things. In other words, man judges right and wrong, determines right and wrong, and reveals the reason for the existence of all things based on this heavenly decree. And nothing can deny his judgment. Man is truly a sublime and great being.
Even those who have been endowed with these excellent characteristics are not always just and powerful when viewed individually in reality. We seek prosperity, but we often end up in poverty; we wish for peace, but we end up in strife; and we are often unhappy in our attempts to attain happiness.
Such a human reality is nothing but the result of not realizing one's own given destiny, and being obsessed with one's individual interests, gains and losses, and wisdom and talent.
In other words, human greatness cannot be fully realized by individual wisdom or individual power. When the wisdom of the ancients, moderns, and sages, as well as that of many others, is freely and unobtrusively enhanced and fused together, the sum total of the wisdom of the time becomes the wisdom of the people, and the wisdom of the people makes the most of their natural destiny. This is the greatest power to bring the laws of nature into reality in a wide range of community life and to realize man's destiny.
Indeed, human beings are sublime and great beings. We must all realize the greatness of human beings, be aware of our destiny, and engage in the great work of creation and development while enhancing our knowledge.
The eternal mission of human beings is to be aware of and practice this destiny. In order to clarify the significance of this mission and to achieve its fulfillment, we hereby propose a new view of humanity.
[A New View of Humanity: A View of Humanity, Nature, and the Universe〈5〉 - Selection of Terms | Konosuke Matsushita.com https://konosuke-matsushita.com/keywords/human-nature- universe/no5.php]
---
This page is auto-translated from /nishio/新しい人間観の提唱 using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I'm very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.