There are two characters for "tiger" in Japanese. For the zodiac sign, we use 寅("tora"), the same character as in Chinese, and for the animal, we use 虎｡ I asked my students what they think of when they hear the word "tora"; one said the Jewish holy book, and the other said "Tora, Tora, Tora" the movie about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I was told when I was a boy that the progression of the zodiac comes from the order that the animals came to bid farewell to Buddha when he was dying. First was the rat, then the ox, then the tiger, and so on.
A tiger, as you might be able to predict, is relentlessly ruthless once it decides to attack. Any false move, and you're in trouble. But you don't have to worry about being attacked as long as you are doing what the tiger thinks is right. Its not like I believe that any year is determined by the Chinese zodiac or any other, but it is a good idea to honor anything that people pay attention to for so long. This year might be a good one to watch carefully what we are doing as a society.
The past decade, we struggled somewhat to find a new sense of value, since the world is not necessarily working as well as we thought it would. At least, though, we see that now. We thought that the oil crisis of the 1970s taught us something, but it ended up being sensational and short-lived. It did produce some physical changes, specifically the size of cars, to save money. But it sees that now change is required on a deeper level.
This doesn't necessarily mean that we have to stop using some natural resources; maybe some technology will allow us to be much more efficient and sustainable. But no new technology will be successful unless people see a benefit in it. So, we have to ask of any new technology: is this really helping us? Does the Internet help us communicate better? Do cell phones?
We seem to feel lonely even though we are often able to connect through Twitter, facebook, and other social networking sites. Really, there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction, and as long as we can remember that, we'll be alright. The problem is when we ignore our fundamental instinct, which tells us that there is something missing from technological communication.
Sustainability is also built into our instinctual side. I have never heard of a predator hunting its prey into extinction; they know to leave some thing for the future. For example, perhaps most of you are aware that tuna have been over-fished, mainly to be consumed as sushi. If I asked any single Japanese to give up eating tuna, or any chef to stop serving it, they would kill me; but if a sushi chef can bring some sustainable fish that is as good as tuna, or even better, then people will eat that fish. This requires understanding by both the consumer and chef about what sustainability is, and a desire for it.
My Aikido teacher, Koichi Tohei Sensei, said that in Aikido there is no way to stop what people want, but you can change what they want. He also said that before you can expect to control anyone, you have to control yourself. Practically, in terms of our way of life, people won't give anything up, but they will change to something that they see as better. The first step in this is to live up to your own conscience, what you feel deeply is best for the world.
"One candle can light ten thousand, which can become the power that illuminates the world, we must start with ourselves."
- Koichi Tohei Sensei
