The Japanese skill copied by the world

Transcription

1 The Japanese skill copied by the world [1] As the sleek shinkansen bullet train glided noiselessly into the station, I watched a strange ritual begin. During the brief stop, the conductor in the last carriage began talking to himself. He proceeded to perform a series of tasks, commenting aloud on each one and vigorously gesticulating at various bits of the train all the while. [2] So what was he up to? You could say he s practicing mindfulness. The Japanese call it shisa kanko (literally checking and calling ), an error-prevention drill that railway employees here have been using for more than 100 years. Conductors point at the things they need to check and then name them out loud as a dialogue with themselves to ensure nothing gets overlooked. [3] It seems to work. A 1994 study by Japan s Railway Technical Research Institute, cited in The Japan Times, showed that when asked to perform a simple task workers typically make 2.38 mistakes per 100 actions. When using shisa kanko, this number reduced to just 0.38% a massive 85% drop. [4] Mindfulness has become trendy around the world in recent years, but it is not really about sitting in the full lotus pretending you re a statue in the British Museum. Simply put, mindfulness is moment-to-moment awareness. It has been deeply ingrained into the

2 Japanese psyche for centuries. You don t hear people talk about it, but it manifests itself in myriad ways. [5] Tea ceremony, haiku and cherry-blossom viewing, for instance, all share a heightened appreciation of the moment. In tea ceremony, participants take time to notice the design of the cup before drinking and appreciate the decoration of the tea room, which reflects the foliage and blooms of the month. But beyond that, the ceremony celebrates the fact that this moment with this person in this place will never happen again. [6] Nowhere is this celebration of the moment more evident than in cherry-blossom viewing, which sweeps the nation like a fever every spring. Why such excitement? Precisely because the blossoms are so fleeting, lasting only a week or so. Transience forms the Japanese sense of beauty. [7] There are the growing ranks of Moss Girls. Inspired in part by Hisako Fujii s best-selling book, Mosses, My Dear Friends, moss-viewing has become increasingly trendy, especially with young women, who go on guided tours to Japan s lush moss-carpeted forests. This goes way beyond just stopping to smell the roses. Moss Girls get down on hands and knees with a loupe to contemplate the lovely lichens. [8] But there s more to Japanese mindfulness than gazing at bugs and blooms. Countless practical applications govern virtually every aspect of daily life, all designed to help you be

3 in the now. At school, days begin and end with a short ceremony, where greetings are exchanged and the day s events are announced. Before starting the lesson, students are asked to close their eyes to focus their concentration. In the office, a colleague will tell you 'Otsukaresama', (literally you re tired ), as a way of saying thanks for the work you ve done. At meetings, they'll examine others business cards carefully and make a comment, never dreaming of just sticking it in their pocket. [9] These practices are a way of purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moment s thought to. They help keep you conscious of where you are and what you are doing throughout the day, rather than stumbling from one hour to the next on autopilot, focused only on going-home time. [10] Like so much of Japanese culture, the roots of all these customs lie in Zen. Mindfulness has been part of the Buddhist tradition for centuries. In the Kamakura Era ( ), Zen became popular among the samurai class and had a formative influence on the arts, including tea ceremony, flower-arranging and landscape gardening. In the Edo Era ( ), a time of peace, Zen found its way into the education of common people. [11] For its practitioners, Zen is an attitude that permeates every action: bathing, cooking, cleaning, working. Every activity and behavior in daily life is a practice (of Zen).

4 [12] A delightful old Zen story, collected in Paul Reps 1957 anthology of Zen texts, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, illustrates this point. After studying to be a Zen teacher for many years, Teno went to visit Nan-in, an old Zen master. It was raining heavily and, as is customary, Teno left his clogs and umbrella in the entrance before entering Nan-in s house. [13] After greeting each other, Nan-in asked Teno: Did you leave your umbrella to the left or right of your clogs? Unable to answer, Teno realized he was still a long way from attaining Zen, and went away to study for six more years. [14] Most of us might not want to take things quite so far. Nevertheless, Nan-in s question remains relevant, as more and more researchers are discovering that present-moment awareness not only boosts stress resilience and well-being, but also lowers levels of anxiety and depression. [15] Leah Weiss, a senior teacher at Stanford University s Compassion Cultivation Program, is one of a growing number of experts who advocate mindfulness in action. This is something to be practiced throughout the day, rather than just for 10 minutes meditation. Weiss described it as becoming mindfully aware of your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings even while you re engaged in some other activity.

5 [16] So how can we put a little more mindfulness into our lives? Start with something simple, like a bit of pointing and calling before you leave home in the morning. Lights off? Check. Windows closed? Check. Money? Check. Phone? Check. You ll never forget your keys again. [17] Then maybe you ll have time to stop and notice the moss.