Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Steve Jobs


(written on Oct.8,2011)
     Steve Jobs, the great inventor in the field of computer science, has stated in the past, a prediction about what is now happening in the US, the protest going on at Wall Street.
"We are the 99%," the group chanted, a reference to their insistence that most Americans lack the influence in their country's political and financial affairs enjoyed by the elite 1%.” (Quote from CNN news site.)



  Jobs once said, “I think you all know that most of us didn’t make the food we eat. We wear things made by someone else, talk other people’s words and use mathematics that was invented by someone else. What I’m trying to say is that we are constantly receiving things from others. And it is a wonderful feeling to be able to give back to that enormous fountain made from human intelligence and experiences.”
  I feel that this statement of Jobs implies the problem the world is going to face soon and it also shows the answer to the solution.
      The current tax system in the US seems to be preferential to the wealthy group. At the same time, it is said that the actual unemployment rate is much higher than the percentage publicly announced. Many of the modern day people are deluded that by having a lot of paper money, they possess other people’s mind, body, pride, labor, materials…  Jobs had an immense wealth but he knew that he really didn’t possess any of it and it’s all an illusion. He knew that if he received something from others, he should give back in return. His annual salary from Apple was only $1. His total estate is estimated to be $7 billion. He made great success in the Disney animation business as well. If he was a greedy entrepreneur, he could have made ten times more.
      When I look at him with my psychic vision, I see a unique god spirit related to Judaism. The unique character of this figure is in the head. This spirit showed a vision in his brain. He interpreted it and invented into the most advanced technology. He had an image many people couldn’t understand. It must have been very difficult to work with him. I can see why many of the technicians left him because of that. If he had known how to get rid of these deep-seated grudges, he could have lived much longer (the key is to have mercy, gratitude and the yorishiro*). The Talmud text of Judaism is deeply imprinted in his DNA. I don’t know if he had read the Talmud, but his DNA carried the knowledge. If he had ever visited the outer shrine of Ise Jingu, he would have recognized the existence of the god spirit behind him.

     The Talmud text is said to be the secret that brought out the most Nobel prize winners and one of the richest people in the world. The recitation of this text since childhood is said to bring out the highest talent and wisdom into one’s life. Some examples of the teachings are “Being unconfident of oneself is like stealing something from oneself.  ” “True opposition is about fine competitors working hard as a friendly rivalry. And this is a necessary factor in a society.” “There are three things that hurts people; anguish, argument and an empty wallet. Out of the three, an empty wallet hurts the most.” “There are eight things that must not be over exceeded; traveling, sex, money, work, alcohol, sleep, drug, spices. ” “A flexible tree does not break but a stiffened tree will break.” “Pigs eat too much, suffering people talks too much. “The wise man knows what he is talking about, but a foolish man talks about what he knows. ” “Money can buy everything but a good sense.” “When a flour dealer fights with a chimney sweeper, the flour dealer becomes black and the chimney sweeper becomes white. ” “Scratching an itchy part and borrowing money are only a temporary stopgap.” “Even if your close friend is sweet as a honey, you shouldn’t lick it all. When a friend is angry, don't try to pacify. When a friend is in sorrow, don't try to comfort. Rumor is the best introduction and facial expression is the worst informant. Jealousy has a thousand eyes but none is seeing correctly. Walk towards a marriage but run towards a divorce. ”  These are few examples of the Talmud’s pragmatic rules to survival.

     I sense similar ideas behind Steve Jobs statements. I would like to jot down his words to pay a tribute to the great life he left for us. “Don’t settle. Stay hungry. Your time is limited. So don’t waste it by living other people’s life. ” “You are always facing death.  This idea had helped me at times when I had to make a really big decision.” “Everyday, I ask myself. What will I do if this was the last day of my life?” “To acknowledge that one day I will die, is the best method to keep me away from the illusion of fear of loosing something.”


(The words are not exactly the same as his speech since I had translated back from Japanese wordings)

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

*Yorishiro: A place for the spirits to reside. A tree bark (paper) is the right material (more in the search engine within this blog and the Dictionary -Ise-HakuSun-do on right column)




In October, every morning start with disaster awareness. This consciousness can help prevent from the disaster to happen.