The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-05-31
!. WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK
Secret of Japanese Success.


tions knows little of the civilization of the
east. The majority Of the followers Of
the Nazarene, who taught the highest
principles of humanity and brotherhood,
have looked with a, mixture of curiosity,
contempt and patronizing interest at the
Little Yellow Men, of the island empire
Of the Yellow sea-.
Russia is a great christian" nation,
filled with pride, greed, and lust; a nation
with an enormous standing army and an
immense navy at her control; backed
by some of the greatest Of the worlds
fnanciers and bankers, nation with al
most unlimited credit allied by ties Of
race, consanguinity and marriage with the
greatest nations Of great Europe, While
fowery Japan is a "heathen'' race.
Yet when the two nations clashed in
warfare, nine tenths Of the judges in the
military and naval circles of America and
Europe believed that Russia must be vic
torious. One Of our famous military au-
thorities said to the writer: when it
comes to war, it is a long bank roll that
counts for success; Japan will be showed
UNDER
In spite of many things to favor the
Slavs, Japan has held the supremacy
most Of the time: g 49, E4a@
Thus we come to the question-Why?
Western civilization cannot understand
the life or the religion of the orient until
it comes face to face with it.. The whole
only believes in but lives the religion in
which they are reared. Gentleness, fra
I'ternity loyalty and duty are SO interwov-
en- in their lives that they BECOME second
mature. The Japanese make the body
second to soul and spirit They have
Learned the lesson that when one has
mastered the secrets Of contentn1ent and
has necessary shelter, food and raiment
he has everything except what gratlhes
| the selfish needs of the body, and that
when one exerts himself to minister to
1.-THE purely material side Of being he grad
|, ually. joins in the selfish and mad rush to
please the senses, forgetting that ''the life
| is more than meat and. the body than raj
ment-"' 4&
The religion Of Buddha, which IN
somewhat modified form is that Of Japan.
antedates the Christian religion by 500
years, and in real principles Is much the
same The Buddhist believes that ne
! makes his own life here and hereafter IN
| the sunshiny empire even the least child
| believes with st. Paul that whatsoever
| a man sows that also shall he reap
Western missionaries prate of a fanatic
| belief in 'Fate'' as a sort of Juggernaut
| which hurls one onward, UP or down as
chance may have it. One might as well
say that all Catholics worship the images
of the saints instead Of the real thlng De-
| hind the symbol, as to say that all Budd-
hists are idolaters. One must CONSIDER
| the receptivity Of the subject.
| The real fact Of the case which is in
COMPREHENSIVE to the rigid western mind
is that the esoteric philosopher believes
that whatever condition exists must nave
| a natural cause governed by natural law
i In other words that we have HKarma
cause and effect-that belongs 10 US
| thru our own deeds. He beleVes tha,
1 within each one lies a spark OF the grea'
Over-soul and that within himself lies
the will power to bring him to real one
ness with the An-Source-not nothing
i ness" but to cosmic consciousness Of al
life and being He believes. in performing
the duty that lies nearest, be it for per-
sonal benefit or for that OF the nation
Thus he goes forth to battle with the foe
because it is his duty to the nation and te
his own family. He does not fear deatf
because he does not fear punishment, pc
lieving that he is either elevated by ms
own struggle to keep near the great goo
or degraded by his own wrong doing. He
says: Live neither in the present nor II
the future but in the eternal.
| The japanese lives the life taught by
the scriptures of all races: "Whatso
ever thy hand findeth to do, do it Will
thy might
The home life IS one Of serenity, peace
and calm, bit when he goes forth to war
he does so with mind attuned to the Wort
| before him, filled with ambition, not 10
himself but for the, good of the whole, II
harmony with his higher officers and hi
companions.
Another thing to be considered, Japal
is almost wholly a race of vegetarlans
For centuries many Of them have neve
Il tasted animal food which ministers to TN
| desire nature Of and thus they arr
on a higher plane than are the peel
eaters of western civilization. :
Martial authorities are forecastlni
Japay's movements in case OF success, pu
those who know the inner life OF the PEG
pie believe that the same honor, lntegrlt.
. and temperance which have peen $
> marked attributes of the nations life, WI
, continue to govern its progress and deal
! ings with the vanquished foe
Marie Percy.