Returning to the ‘Connection Before the Division’ — A Way of Being for the Era Ahead

Lately, in the way I move through my work and life, there is a stance I am strongly conscious of. It is:

To deeply gaze into, feel, and master my own centre.

And, at the exact same time,

to open my heart to the flow of my surroundings, turn my thoughts toward them, and remain connected.

When faced with these two ’ways of being’, we often find ourselves trapped in the question of:

"Is it an OR, or is it an AND?"

A choice of OR: "Should I preserve my own centre (A), or should I open up to my surroundings (B)?" Alternatively, a choice of AND: "Let us cherish our own centre whilst simultaneously opening up to our surroundings."

However, once we squarely confront this question of "OR versus AND", a crucial underlying structure reveals itself.

Whichever option we choose, it presupposes that "A" and "B" exist from the very beginning as separate, independent entities. The debate over OR versus AND is merely a choice of how to handle two elements that have already been severed.

Even if we opt for the seemingly richer choice of "AND (both A and B)", it ultimately amounts to nothing more than selecting two separate things at the same time.

When that happens, the subsequent question inevitably devolves into a matter of technique:

"How do we make both of them work?"

And within that, a subtle sense of a temporal sequence begins to emerge.

"First, firmly establish your own centre; then, once you have the breathing room, open your heart to others."

The True Nature of Jiri (自利) and Rita (利他)

As I contemplated this structure, the concepts of Jiri (自利, self-benefit) and Rita (利他, altruism)—which I study daily through Eastern philosophy and the Japanese spiritual tradition—vividly surfaced in my mind.

In the general world, self-benefit and altruism are also treated as a completely severed "A and B". That is precisely why the sequential logic of

"first fulfill yourself (Jiri), and only then be kind to others (Rita)"

passes as sound common sense.

Yet, here, I would like to pause for a moment.

Originally, Jiri and Rita do not entail such a time lag. Could it be that they are things capable of existing simultaneously—or rather, things that are existing simultaneously?

To deepen one's own centre to its absolute limit (Jiri) is, in itself, nothing other than opening oneself to the movements of the entire world (Rita). There is no borderline between them; they arise concurrently as the front and back of a single manifestation of life.

Through my daily professional activities and dialogues with various people, I have come to realise that a substantial number of individuals hold the view:

"Only after I achieve my own goals can I contribute to society."

I do not wish to argue whether this view is right or wrong. I simply feel that this is the structural footprint of our existing paradigm.

It always carries a "condition". This is because it sets off from a starting line where the self and the other have already been pulled apart.

The History of Division and the Contemporary Question

In bygone eras, that structure of division may well have functioned.

Looking back at history, in the 17th century, Descartes declared, "I think, therefore I am," ushering in the era of mind-body dualism. The soul was severed from the flesh; the spiritual was divorced from the material. This was the definitive paradigm shift that shaped the trajectory of modern science.

Through this, humanity acquired the methodology to treat the world as an objective target—to "divide, analyse, quantify, and visualise". That this paradigm shift drove the explosive development of subsequent science is plain to see in our history books. That this very structure of "division" granted humanity unfathomable benefits and material prosperity is an indisputable fact.

However, we who live in the present day are confronting one massive question.

Even though the world has become so adept at placing its consciousness on the visible—at dividing, analysing, quantifying, and visualising—are people truly happy?

Surrounded by a daily reality where we are materially provided for, where everything is individualised, and where technology keeps us constantly "connected", have we not lost an essential, visceral connection, harbouring a quiet sense of isolation and suffocation?

Remembering the Connections  — ‘State Before the Division’

And yet, in our attempts to heal this condition, we often try to drag the old paradigm back in. We employ a reversible process of trying to somehow "stitch back together" the things that were divided.

Mandating 1-on-1 meetings in an organisation whose hearts are scattered; pasting a "social contribution" label onto the back of standard business outcomes. On the surface, things may appear re-stitched, but at a fundamental level, nothing changes.

What draws my interest right now is the question that sits before that step.

We do not need to stitch scattered pieces back together. The question is:

what if we remember the "state before the division"?

And what, exactly, was contained inside it?

This sensation of "existing simultaneously" connects deeply to the ancient Japanese concept of Yaoyorozu (the eight million gods):

"The divine exists within myself, and simultaneously within nature."

It refuses to sever the divine from nature, or the world from the self. Because there is an underlying consciousness that "everything is connected as one from the outset," the flexible wisdom of Shinbutsu-shugo (神仏習合, the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism)—which embraces different faiths rather than rejecting them—was able to emerge so naturally. I recall the renowned mathematician Kiyoshi Oka once expressing this very connection with the word natsukashisa—a profound, nostalgic yearning.

Spirituality Breathing in the Everyday

And this spirituality breathes quietly within our most ordinary, everyday behaviours even now.

The fact that no one feels it strange to clean the classroom they themselves use. The fact that, after the revelry of a festival, people spontaneously and beautifully clean up the streets without being told by anyone. Overseas media often praise Japanese sports fans for cleaning the stands after a match, yet the individuals themselves likely have zero awareness of "performing some special, virtuous deed."

These are by no means rule-bound duties (altruism). It is precisely because they feel the space and the world around them as "a part of themselves" at the bottom of their belly (肚, hara), remembering that pre-divided connection, that the act bubbles up completely naturally and simultaneously.

Altruism predicated on self-benefit: Explicit Knowledge (The existing paradigm) No distinction between self and other: Tacit Knowledge (The coming paradigm)

At the level of "explicit knowledge", which can be explained through logic and words, our minds inevitably separate self from other, and science from spirituality.

However, we step beyond the comprehension of the head (logic) and drop down into the belly (hara / somatic sensation). When that shift in consciousness takes place, the "self" and the "world"—which were supposed to be split apart—quietly tie together at the bottom of the belly and invert. When we shift to the level of that "tacit knowledge", all opposition vanishes.

Self and world are one. I am the world, and the world is me.

I feel this is the very marrow of the Japanese heart, the genuine embodiment of Jiri-soku-Rita (自利即利他, Self-benefit is altruism).

To live as oneself becomes, as it is,

to let the world live,

and furthermore, to know that one is being kept alive by the world.

In that space, there is no scrambling for shares, no pre-conditions, and no time lag.

The World is in the Midst of a Shift

What paradigm we choose to live by from this moment forward is resting entirely in our hands.

Past customs and the old Cartesian structures remain an option, of course, but we do not need to be bound by them. At any moment, starting from right now, we can choose a new way of living and a new way of perceiving the world.

It seems our ancestors practised this sort of supple, flexible perception long, long ago (as recent anthropology and archaeology are beginning to reveal through works like The Dawn of Everything).

And lately, I find myself meeting an extraordinary number of people who are wordlessly drawn to, and resonate with, this new way of being. They do not wave a grand theory around; they are simply companions with whom I can quietly exchange a nod of, "Yes, exactly."

Dialogues where we do not need to make 'understanding one another' the goal.

Holding our differences loosely, just as they are, with an "Ah, I see,"

taking not a single step back,

yet simultaneously forcing not a single step forward—

with an exquisite sense of distance.

If we can transcend the division of the head (logic) and return to that "connection before the division" in our hara (somatic sensation), that too will serve as a bridge to the next paradigm shift. In truth, the number of people beginning to grasp this is growing. With every solid response I feel, my conviction deepens.

The world is now, undeniably, in the very midst of a shift.

As for this shift in paradigm, and how it will manifest in our daily lives and our upcoming societal choices, I look forward to writing about it deeply on another occasion.