sic transit gloria mundi
gpt.icon
The phrase "prosperous people must decline" is a Japanese Buddhism value and ideology that expresses the view of impermanence that "even those who prosper will eventually decline. This term is based on the idea that the vicissitudes of fortune of the world are inevitable.
In Buddhist teachings, everything is constantly changing, and nothing is eternal. This idea of "impermanence" has deeply influenced Japanese culture and literature, and is related to the famous passage "The bells of Gion Shosha echo with the sound of impermanence" that appears at the beginning of "The Tale of the Heike.
In English, it is sometimes translated as "All that flourishes must eventually fade" or "Prosperity is fleeting. These words symbolize the uniquely Japanese value of accepting the transience of life and the transience of the world.
nishio.icon
Many Japanese share this worldview, but perhaps Christianity and other monotheism people in the world are not familiar with this value system? God is eternal and immortal, not fading away.
gpt.icon
Certainly, a view of impermanence such as "thriving and prospering" is a worldview widely shared in Buddhist cultures, including Japan, but may be unfamiliar to those who believe in monotheistic religions (especially Christianity and Islam). The reason for this is that god, the central being in these religions, is "eternal and immortal" and is considered perfect and absolute.
Buddhism views the change and disappearance of all things in this world as "impermanence. Human prosperity and material success are no exception, and the idea that they will surely decline in the course of time is expressed in the phrase "thriving and prosperous must decline. This philosophy also leads to an ethic of accepting that all existence is temporary, including human beings and the natural world, and of letting go of attachments.
In the monotheistic worldview, on the other hand, God's eternity and perfection are the core of faith, and believers seek security in that immutability. Human history and changes in the world are often understood as "God's will," and prosperity and decline are seen as part of God's plan. Therefore, unlike the Buddhist view of impermanence, in which "all prosperity fades away," the emphasis is on seeking eternal value within God's absolute control.
Because of these differences, the values in Japanese culture that embrace natural transitions, such as the "rise and fall of the prosperous and the inevitable," are often not shared as fundamental ideas in monotheistic cultures. However, while some aspects of the rise and fall of individual lives and organizations may be universally shared, the sense of deeply viewing them as religious "impermanence" may be different.
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