Common Sense, How to Exercise It Part 2

Yoritomo teaches us that, altho moderation is only of secondary importance, it is still indispensable to the attainment of common sense.

It is moderation which incites us to restrain our impatience, to silence our inexplicable antipathies and to put a break on our tempestuous enthusiasms.

Can one judge of the aspect of a garden while the tempest is twisting the branches of the trees, tearing off the tendrils of the climbing vines, scattering the petals of the flowers and spoiling the corollas already in full bloom?

And now, Yoritomo, who loves to ill.u.s.trate his teachings by expressive figures of speech, tells us the following story.

"A j.a.panese prince, on awakening, one day, demanded lazily of his servants what kind of weather it was, but he forbade them to raise the awnings which kept a cool, dim light in his room and shielded his eyes from the strong light from without. The two servants left him reclining upon his divan and went into the adjoining room, where the stained-gla.s.s windows were not hung with curtains.

"One of them, putting his face close to a yellow-tinted pane of gla.s.s, exclaimed in admiration of the beautiful garden, bathed in the early morning sunlight.

"The second one, directing his gaze to a dark blue pane and, looking through the center, remarked to his companion, I see no sunshine, the day is dreary and the clouds cast gloomy shadows upon the horizon.

"Each one returned to relate their impressions of the weather, and the prince wondered at the different visions, unable to understand the reason."

There, concluded the Shogun, that is what happens to people who do not practise moderation.

Those, who see things through the medium of enthusiasm refuse to recognize that they could be deprived of brilliancy and beauty.

The others, those who look upon things from a pessimistic standpoint, never find anything in them save pretexts for pouring out to their hearers tales of woe and misery.

All find themselves deceptively allured; some rush toward illusion, others do not wish to admit the positive chances for success, and both lacking moderation, they start from a basis of false premises from which they draw deplorable conclusions, thus defeating future success.

The spirit of penetration, according to the old Nippon philosopher, is not always a natural gift. "It is," said he, "a quality which certain people possess in a very high degree but which in spite this fact should be strengthened by will and discipline.

"One can easily acquire this faculty by endeavoring to foresee the solution of contemporary events; or at least try to explain the hidden reasons which have produced them.

"Great effects are produced, many times, from seemingly unimportant causes, and it is, above all, to the significant details that the spirit of penetration should give unceasing and undivided attention.

"Everything around us can serve as a subject for careful study; political events, incidents which interest family or friends, all may serve as just so many themes for earnest reflection.

"It is always preferable to confine this a.n.a.lysis to subjects in which we have no personal interest; thus we shall accustom ourselves to judge of people and things dispa.s.sionately and impersonally. This is the quality of mind necessary to the perfect development of penetration.

"If, for any reason, pa.s.sion should create confusion of ideas, clearness of understanding would be seriously compromised and firmness of judgment, by deteriorating, would cast aside the manifestation of common sense.

"The spirit consistency is perhaps more difficult to conquer, for it is a combination of many of the qualities previously mentioned.

"Its inspiration is drawn from the reasoning faculty, it cannot exist without moderation and implies a certain amount of penetration, because it must act under the authority of conviction.

"If you strike long enough in the same place on the thickest piece of iron, in time it will become as thin as the most delicate kakemono [a picture which hangs in j.a.panese homes].

"It is impossible to define the spirit of consistency more accurately.

"It is closely related to perseverance, but can not be confounded with it, because the attributes of consistency have their origin in logic and reason which does not produce one act alone but a series of acts sometimes dependent, always inferred.

"The spirit of consistency banishes all thought derogatory to the subject in question; it is the complete invest.i.ture of sentiments, all converging toward a unique purpose."

This purpose can be of very great importance and the means of attainment multiform, but the dominant idea will always direct the continuous achievements; under their different manifestations--and these at times contradictory--they will never be other than the emanation of a direct thought, whose superior authority is closely united to the final success.

Wisdom, continued the philosopher, should be mentioned here only as the forerunner which permits us to a.n.a.lyze experience.

It is from this never-ending lesson which life teaches us that the wisdom of old age is learned.

But is it really necessary to reach the point of decrepitude, in order to profit by an experience, actually useless at that time, as is always a posthumous conquest.

"Is it not much better to compel its attainment when the hair is black and the heart capable of hope?

"Why give to old age alone the privileges of wisdom and experience?

"It is high time to combat so profound an error.

"Is it not a cruel irony which renders such a gift useless?

"Of what benefit is wisdom resulting from experience if it cannot preserve us from the unfortunate seduction of youth?

"Why should its beauty be unveiled only to those who can no longer profit by it?" This is the opinion of Yoritomo, who says:

"What would be thought of one who prided himself on possessing bracelets when he had lost his two arms in war?

"It is, therefore, necessary, not only to encourage young people to profit by lessons of wisdom and experience, but, still further, to indicate to them how they can accomplish the result of these lessons.

"It is certain that he who can recall a long life ought to understand better than the young man all the pitfalls with which it is strewn.

"But does he always judge of it without bias or prejudice?

"Does he not find acceptable pretexts for excusing his past faults and does he not exaggerate the rewards for excellence, which have accorded him advantages, due at times to chance or to the force of circ.u.mstances?

"Finally, the old man can not judge of the sentiments which he held at twenty years of age, unless it be by the aid of reminiscences, more or less fleeting, and an infinitely attenuated intensity of representation.

"Emotive perception being very much weakened, the integrity of memory must be less exact.

"Then, in the recession of years, some details, which were at times factors of the initial idea, are less vivid, thus weakening the power of reason which was the excuse, the pretext, or the origin of the act.

"This is why, altho we may honor the wisdom of the aged, it is well to acquire it at a time when we may use it as a precious aid.

"To those who insist that nothing is equivalent to personal experience, we shall renew our argument, begging them to meditate on the preceding lines, drawing their attention to the fact that a just opinion can only be formed when personal sentiment is excluded from the discussion.

"Is it, then, necessary to have experienced pain in order to prevent or cure it?

"The majority of physicians have never been killed by the disease they treat.

"Does this fact prevent them from combatting disease victoriously?

"And since we are speaking of common sense we shall not hesitate to invoke it in this instance, and all will agree that it should dictate our reply.

"Then why could we not do for the soul that which can be done for the body?

"It is first from books, then from the lessons of life that physicians learn the principles underlying their knowledge of disease and its healing remedies.