As One Network

This was my first participation in As-One Seminar.
Finally, I got my wish to go to As One Suzuka Community!
I'm really glad I came... really really glad!!
I am not exaggerating, but I feel as if my whole life has been for coming here.

I felt that I was allowed to experience what I wanted to know, not as knowledge studied in my head, but as an experience through the seminar week.
Words cannot express how moved and grateful I am.

After the seminar, I believe now, more than ever in my life, truly, sincerely, quietly, yet boldly and powerfully
'We can all be happy together!
The world will be as one."
It's not a pretty thought, but I can feel that way from the bottom of my heart.
No hesitation, I can say, "Seriously, the world people can all be happy together!"
This seminar gave me tremendous confidence like this, so calmly and gently.

"As One seminar curriculum" and "The ScienZ Method!"…so, so, sooooooo amazing!!!!
Isn't this already...much more than the Nobel Peace Prize!?
I thought this is the one which everyone in the world can be truly happy beyond borders…"the No-labels Peace Prize!"

Let's look back what did I do during the week of the seminar?!
Along with the theme and questions from the navigator, I listened to my inner self each time.
Sometime my head and mind whirling and fluffing,,, but it was precious time to talk with myself.
And I shared the honest voice that came out of me with seminor members and everyone listened to it quietly.
And I also listened carefully to each member's voice as well.
In a cozy Kotatsu room which was a very relaxing and homey, and we all sat in a circle with tea and coffee, and we talked and talked everyday a week.
We were all just talking, thinking and enjoying the indescribable ambiguous feeling by the "hmmm", "really?", "is that so?" and "well, what do you think?" that shoot out from our navigator Ryu-san's smiling face.
And what happened to me was,,,
I laughed a lot, laughed from the depths of my gut, and cried over and over again.
I cried so many times that I didn't even know why I was crying. I think it was the happy tears from my soul.

Now, what was going on inside me?
At first, I was surprised at the way of discussion did not try to come up with answers or right answers. There were no answers!!
It was like... unsettled mood and a strange feeling that I could not seem to grasp.
From the middle of the session, I began to feel more comfortable with this feeling without any answers.
Unknowingly, I became accustomed to a way of being and thinking that was free from judgment.
I felt as if the necessary awareness was coming naturally from within me, as I was reassured that there was no answer or correct anywhere.
I could felt that it is okey to just be as I am and just look at what is inside me at any given moment.

I also realized my idea like "I'll remember that, gotta keep it to myself!" naturally disappeared.
I began to feel more and more comfortable with the sensation of accepting what came at that moment and letting it flow again, just like breathing in and out.
By the end, I couldn't even remember what I was doing just a few moments ago, my head and mind were so relaxed and simple.

In this way, something inside me began to change with many moment-by-moment realizations.
And I think a revolution occurred in me very quietly.
It was as if I had been given a pair of magic glasses that allowed me to see things that I had not been able to see before.

How kind it is to be able to hear my own true voice as it is, and to be allowed to say it.
How kind it is to have someone who listens to my honest voice as it really is, and to be allowed to listen your honest voice as well.
I felt such peace and love growing inside me, just by being able to relax, talk, and listen with no judgements and conflicts. How enriching!
Through the seminar, I became to feel so relieved, so kinder, and calmer. I feel wonderful abundance now.
I feel so much love and closer for everyone I spent the week with. I can feel us as As-one family now.

I also recognized that the "As One revolution" to be free from all kinds of ties, restrictions, judgments, and fictions, and to be happy together as our true selves, is happening very gently and quietly inside each human being.
Now I can comprehend that…
We don't need someone else to work hard and wave the flag to lead the way in making the world a better place.
We don't need to sacrifice something in order to gain something.
And we don't need to be hard on ourselves to be good for the world and good for others…
We just need to know that we are already connected in deep inside of us and there is a sure way to be happy together very peacefully.

Let us listen carefully to our own voice and the voices of those around us, and let us be honest without any fear and hesitate.
By doing so, we will be kinder, gentler, and more secure, and we will develop closer, family-like relationships with those around you and me.
Let us live each day gently, just as we are, without being overbearing or burdened.
It is not something lofty or difficult. Anyone can do it. We all can do it.
So that we can all make the world a better place together, day by day and one by one.

I see the harmony of happiness spreads not through strength and righteousness, but through kindness and peace of mind.
The world will be fulfilled with gentleness and love naturally, like the beautiful ripples of each person spreading and melting away.
And I believe we will embody the fullness and abundance in this world.
It was a week that convinced me of this.
Thank you very much.
Shiho Ide(Kanagawa pref.)

Playing with Building Blocks

I think it was the summer of my third year in elementary school, when the boys' choir I belonged to at the time held a camp.
It was an annual event for about 50 elementary school students held every summer vacation at Nakabusa Onsen, the entrance to Mount Tsubakuro in the Northern Alps. The buses would rock them up a narrow gravel road with no guardrails, for several tens of minutes.



The location is at an altitude of 1,462 meters above sea level. We slept in a large cabin-like building beside a magnificent mountain stream, and then ascended a long flight of stairs to a splendid indoor hot spring pool.
Various memories come back to me, but I can't help laughing when I can't find any memory of the crucial chorus practice.

That summer, on the eve of the last day of the camp, the weather in the mountains was wild and stormy.
When we went outside the next morning, we found that the mountain stream, which had been so clear, had turned into a muddy brown stream, covered with splashing water, and large rocks were being washed away with a rumbling sound.
We cheered at the sheer force of it all.
Soon after, the choir teachers informed us.
"There have been several cliff collapses on the mountain roads. We can't go down the mountain today."
We cheered again.
"We can stay here with the others longer."
"Yay, what are we going to do?"
"Teacher, no more choir practice!"
"・・・・・"
We were so glad for the cliffhanger.
From there on, it was all fun and paradise.
We ran around to see the muddy stream, played cards and ping-pong, dove into the brown, bottomless hot spring pool and played ninja, watched high school baseball on TV, and played as much as we wanted.
I don't know how many days we stayed, but when we ran out of food, the rescue team that came up the mountain carrying their backpacks gave us rice balls to eat and we cheered again.

In this day and age, it would have made the big news that "Children stranded at Nakabusa Onsen Hot Springs due to a cliff collapse were left alone and helpless."
The situation might have made the national news.
I am sure that the adults were big-hearted about the situation, and we children were just happy to play with each other. I don't think we were anxious or worried.
I don't know if we were aware that something might have happened, but the adults would take care of it, and we just left the whole thing to the adults and were floating in the calm sea of peace of mind.
I think everyone has probably had a similar experience.

"How can children laugh and play under such circumstances?"
I sometimes see such scenes like that. Recently, more and more. I am surprised at the sight of them, and at the same time somewhat relieved and relieved, but I also wonder if that is the original nature of us human beings.
It's also the reason why we doze off on trains and buses.
We are quick to put water or food in our mouths.
We can breathe in and breathe out the air of wherever we are and with whomever we are with.
It's in our nature to do so.
Most of the day is spent in such a way that we let our guard down.
We don't suspect nature, society, or people at all.

We live relaxed and defenseless without checking every single thing such as who is driving the car or who made the food, and soon.

Speaking of " Losing Strength”
Right across from the Suzuka Culture Station, there is a children's gymnastics class.
There is a large glass window, and every day there is a crowd of parents who come to watch their children's gymnastic activities from outside.
Just across the street, I caught a glimpse of a boy doing a nice big wheel on the bars in front of me.
I was amazed at how he was spinning so effortlessly, even though it takes a lot of strength to go up and down.
I observed that he seemed to be "relaxed" all the time.
His body was flexible like a whip. His hands were not clenched tightly around the bars, and some of his fingers were floating. I am sure that he is working efficiently only in his core and other necessary parts of his body, and is not straining in any unnecessary parts of his body.
Looking back at myself, I realize that I would not be able to do the big wheel of life if I had to be on guard and defensive at every turn, with all my muscles and mind tense. To keep spinning comfortably and to play around forever, we simply loosen up, let our guard down, and let our true nature take over.



Since its opening in 2010, the Suzuka Culture Station, which is located in the center of the community, has undergone the "customary" remodeling work.
Visitors often ask, "What's changed again? They are right.
From the outside, it may seem unplanned and inefficient.
I have often reflected on what I would have done if I had been able to envision the future, and I will leave that for the future, but for now, the expansion work is underway to prepare for the movement of the five Korean students who entered the Academy this spring and the young people who will follow them.
Mr. Motoyama, a carpenter in the community, is working on the project.
Not only here, but also at the community's offices, facilities, and the houses where each of them live, if there is anything that needs to be done...
"Mr. Motoyama!"
is always called out to him.
"The toilet is clogged."
"The wallpaper is peeling."
"I need a new air conditioner."
"I want the floor waxed."
"I want the rust removed from the roof."
"・・・・・"
There is no way to describe the sense of comfort and familiarity we feel when we can call on him anytime, over and over again, no matter what the need. It has become as natural as breathing the air, but it has soaked into the heart of each and every one of us in the community.
And there is Mr. Motoyama, who responds to that feeling.
This is also a matter of course, but I have never been criticized for doing something like that from him.
"How do you want to do it?"
It is pleasant and enjoyable just to have a conversation about how to do it. Even if I make changes in the middle of the process, he responds with a "yes, yes, yes! So I can say or ask as many times as I want without hesitation. And finally, I am fully satisfied with the finished product.
For me, it's like having a big brother who is always there with his carpentry tools among the big family, saying, "All right, Leave it to me". So I leave it all up to him.

Mr. Yagi, who works with me at the office of HUB, laughed and said, "I have never thanked Mr. Motoyama even though he has fixed a lot of things fo us."
That is the kind of relationship we have with each other.
The existence of one person like him is really significant.


(Mr. Motoyama, the community's carpenter. 1st left)

The current renovation is like a bunch of grown-ups getting together to play with blocks.
"I want to open up the dining room, so I want to empty out the food storage room next door."
"Well, let's turn this interview room into a storage room..."
"Let's move the clothes closet and renovate that room into a meeting room."
"We can install the sliding door of the clothes closet directly into the food storage room."
"Can't the hallway be converted into a dining room?"
"Then let's move the temporary storage in the hallway to this storage room."
"・・・・・・・・"
The ideas kept coming, cool ideas, unoriginal ideas, unusual ideas, and gradually, breakthrough ideas began to emerge among everyone.
We are planning to complete the project around the end of May, but I wonder how it will turn out.
I wonder how it will look to visitors at that time.
Piling, breaking down, piling again...
It is fun to assemble the blocks, and it is also fun to break them down.

This may be a bit of confidential information, but the answer to Mr. Yagi's question, "What is your favorite animal? The answer is "human."
Playing with building blocks is fun because you are playing with people.
Because people come close together, more and more interesting blocks are created.
(For example, I get nervous because there are other people around, or I get anxious about what someone says or does.)
Even if you have a habit of getting stuck in a "The maze in your head that doesn't exist" that you have somehow acquired, you can easily get out of it.
But if you slip out of it, you will be aware that what is in front of you is only a human being, and he or she will clearly come into your sight .
You are a human being, I am a human being, and when we meet, what shall we play together?
Because we feel at safe and calm among humans, we can play with the building blocks.
Because there are always people around, there is no fear that the blocks will fall apart, or even if they do, there is no worry.
If we are swept away together with humans, there is no difference in our enjoyment, whether in clear or muddy stream.

"My favorite animal?" I think it's "human".