Mr. John, It Is Time To Say Goodbye To You

The Gospel of John has a long section of teachings just before Jesus gets crucified, compared with the Gospel of Marks. Jesus uses many metaphors to describe the relationships between him, God and sometimes his disciples. For example in verse 15:1, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” This shows how Jesus is lead by his Father. How the Father raises Jesus. I think the important point here is that Jesus describes himself as a living instead of some kind of material. He has the potential to grow depending on God.

Another difference is that Jesus actually personally talks to God. In John he has only talked to God when he needs some miraculous power and just before being crucified. It starts in verse 17:1, “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:” And he keeps on informing the God about his mission he has completed. He has probably done this because he is dutiful than the Jesus in Mark.

Finally, the last verse, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”(21:25) of the Gospel of John was original. It is written in first person that is not Jesus neither God. It is from a prospective of someone that is a follower of them, someone that is learning from them. This has never come up in John.

Dear John Where Did You Go?

One of the differences between Mark and John is the characters that they put the focus on. First of all, it doesn’t talk that much about the disciples as Mark did. And this totally new type of person came up. A perfect follower that has perfect faith on Jesus and God. We can see this in verse 11:27, “She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” It is the first time in which Jesus didn’t say any kind of lesson back as a response.

Also, it is the first time in which I saw Jesus not saving someone that is sick. In verse 11:4, “When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” Is this to balance out death and life? Or did God said to Jesus to let Lazarus die because he knew what would happen later on? Who knows, except God.

Finally, I would like to share this commandment of Jesus that I thought it was sweet, whether or not I liked it. It is presented in verse 13: 34, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” This line never came up in the Gospels of Mark. Jesus probably said this because he thinks love unite people and produce “light” as he describes himself. I was so surprised to hear love each other and not love God.

All About John Begins Right Here

The version of John has another focus of area than the gospels of Mark. John focuses more on how and why people should believe in Jesus and how to find the way to receive eternal life or forgiveness from God. For example in John 3: 8,

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

What this wants to say is that the re-birth of the spiritual life is something that you can’t earn only by seeking for it. I thought this was quite a radical idea compared with the beliefs Jesus taught previously. I mean, he has always taught that faith is the only and absolute power humans can posses.

Also in verse 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus talks about God and eternal life, in which Mark hasn’t mentioned about it as much. Mark has focused more in events in which shows that Jesus is the chosen one. He describes how he teaches his twelve sometimes naughty disciplines and followers and how faith and his ability make him be so powerful and confident.
Another description of God is mentioned in verse 4: 24, “God isa Spirit: and they that worship him must worship himin spirit and in truth.” For the first time I read an explanation of Him that is related to physical conception. This line has surprised me a bit actually. I had a misconception that one of the unique and an important characteristic of the Bible is that it has many rules and regulations. For example, in order to be a faithful follower of God, you need follow I-don’t-know-what rule. However, that is not it. One of the most faithful followers you can be is by being faithful inside your own heart. That the decorations you would have outside yourself is not as important as the real state inside of you.

Mr. Invulnerable

One of the most crucial stories of the Bible came up in the last chapters of Mark. The reborn of Jesus. He has suffered a lot through the whole process of being crucified. And yet, God didn’t punish the ones who caused harm on him, just like he tried to do to the three friends of Job. However, Jesus got to sit peacefully on the right side of God. So I guess it is all good.

In those chapters about the death of Jesus, I was forced to realize the power of a crowd as you can see in verse 15:15,

“And soPilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him,to be crucified.”

People become so powerful and scary when they loose their self control and become as one. It is non-stoppable. It is way scarier when these people are manipulated by some malicious person. For example the Nazis in the Holocaust. (I am truly aware that the Holocaust is a way more complex problem.)

One of the things that surprised me was in verse 16:11, “And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.” Jesus is mad because his disciplines didn’t believe the others when they said Jesus has come back to life. When he was the one who said to not believe anyone even if they say that he has come back from the death. Or is this part of the faith moral?

Mr. Faith-Is-Absolute

I was so surprised to see Jesus respond with confidence to any kind of trick question. Furthermore, he even made those malicious people nod and feel defeated. I was about to say, “High five Jesus!” but found that it might be quite disrespectful so I didn’t. Maybe one of the reasons why Jesus has such power over people is because he is truly the chosen. Because he has faith, he has confidence, that there is no way to trick him. I would like to be strong like him, some day.

Another thing that I have attracted my attention was a line of Jesus from verse 9:23, “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” He has said this over and over again throughout the whole section of Marks in the bible. However, it was not until this time, that the message has truly come to me. In Japan there are several sayings that talks about one’s mind. One of them is, “Most illness is psychosomatic.” Or “Salvation will come to those of who have faith.” Even in Ishmael there was this axiom that was about one’s mind; “The way will be found when there is will.” I think what Jesus wants to say is something similar to the ones mentioned above but more religious. Our mind is the core of all our actions, which means they affect our actions immensely. Therefore, I believe we can do most of the things that we think we can. (And off course appropriate amount of effort always comes along with the will.) But I never thought those included cursing. (“And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.” 11:21)

One thing I found contradicting was this verse 10: 29,

“And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,”
He has also said that in order to be good, one needed to respect and take care of his/her family. However, by leaving them, they are making his/her families suffer. I mean, the family member would need to work more in order to fill the space of that person. Or is this sacrifice of your own family necessary to save the rest of the people in the world?

Mr. Miracle

Have you heard of the saying, “Think before you speak/act”? The one that since you heard it too many times, you no longer pay attention to it? The one that sounds so obvious and easy but actually a hard one? I think the king that appears in chapter 6 have never heard of it and therefore ended up in a situation like that he would need to regret. “And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.” (Mark, 6:52)
Actually, I think this type of mistake is unavoidable. The problem here was that he made a mistake in the timing of doing that gaffe. This story about the sinful king was a great lesson. I mean I learned that to be careful of when to make the inevitable mistakes.


Another I thing I thought was that I think Jesus has a high expectations on the Son of Man. He wants his disciplines to be like him and be disappointed, “For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.” (Mark, 6:52) He expects them to be delighted when they are in danger of starving. Moreover, not likely Jesus, they don’t have the ability to cause miracle. Or “And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.” (Mark, 5: 43) Jesus has said this after experiencing people not making their promises of not telling anyone so many times.

Jesus said something like Gilgamesh in Mark, verse 8: 35, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” He is mainly saying that one needs to live for the fame and not be afraid. It is just like the line Gilgamesh said when they were leaving to fight against the monster that protects the forest. Is it that the Bible was somehow influenced by Gilgamesh or is it something like the spontaneous invention? (The time in history that similar architecture was built around the same moment around the world.)

Mr. Jesus

Jesus. Is like a revolutionary. First of all, his abilities are supernatural. His teachings are radical compared with what people have been taught of. For example in verse 2: 27 & 28, “And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” One can clearly see that he has some confidence in his words. Jesus has something that makes him not be afraid for what he says, for his actions. Not afraid to commit sins because man can forgive each other.
The reason why Jesus is so confident is because he has faith, according to him. I mean he said, “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark, 4: 40) When they were in the middle of a storm, drowning. But I think faith is not the only reason why Jesus is so confident. The supernatural abilities that he has, is doing some kind of help to his certainty, I believe. I think since he knows he can do something about it, he doesn’t need to be scared at all.
Jesus is like a hero that came on Earth to save the sinners and the unfortunates. He forgives them, and cures them. He tries to pass down the teaching through parables, etc. I think the whole point is to straighten the world and make it full with ‘good’ people. He even encourages people to enjoy the happiness they have now, “No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.” (Mark, 2:21) Or more likely, to appreciate what they have.
Well, I will learn more about Jesus later on, I suppose.

I Think It Is Farewell Tao Te Ching

Dear Tao Te Ching. I think you are one of the origins of my culture. Probably that is one of the reasons why I feel so familiar with this writing and belief. However, I have found some lines I have never heard before from my culture that has enticed my heart. One of them is a metaphor for life. It is from chapter 53,


“Keeping to the main road is easy,
But people love to be sidetracked.”


Yes, I do have heard that metaphor of life and road. In the form of, “life is all about going into the sideways, taking the longer path.” But I have never thought of why. Why do we always walk into that narrow and winding path? I thought that it was because that’s the way that enriches you with experience. But do we take that path because we think it’s right to do so? The more I think about it, the more I am beginning to doubt the answer I always thought it was certain. Isn’t it that adventurous scent that makes us go towards it? Isn’t it that uncertainty of where it might lead to, that makes us be so curious? Isn’t it that scenario surrounding the path that makes us feel so enchanted? This line from Tao Te Ching has made me reconsider the answer that I thought it was definite.


I was surprised when I read the next line I want to share. You know why I was so surprised? Because I have asked about it to myself and thought it was too ridiculous to ask such a question. This line is written in chapter 57 and goes like the following,

“The more rules and regulations,
The more thieves and robbers.”

Well, what I have asked myself was that ‘are the laws and the rules motivating many of us to do what it prohibits us to do?’ Many people can have a warped mind. By being told that you can’t do it, the curiosity towards that whatever thing it is prohibited increases. Also by being told that you can’t do it so many times over and over again, you begin to want go against it. There are even people that just love situations that are in the edge of danger. I thought aren’t those rules tickling the heart of these people? But then soon after I asked myself, I thought; “Oh, don’t be stupid Mamiko. There are reasons to the existence of those laws. And think about the world without chains in our feet. We will be flying and the world might be in total chaos.”


Now, I would like to present with a line that I found interesting. It comes from chapter 64, and goes like this,


“A journey of a thousand miles starts under one’s feet,
So give as much care to the end as to the beginning.”



One of the reasons why I found interesting is that we, or maybe I, have always focused on how important is the ‘first step’. But if you think about it, the next steps that come after the first step is as important as the first one. I mean, one of the difficulties to accomplish something is to keep the spirit until the end. To not give up. In Japan we have this saying that goes “three days bonze”. It is used to describe a person that cannot continue doing whatever thing he/she has started and only lasts for about three days. (I am like this when I start a diary. When I see the dates I have written, the period of time between the first one and the forth one is about a year.) I would like to always keep in mind about this line in order to keep up my spirit until I finish up anything I’m doing.



To conclude up the whole story of Tao Te Ching the line from chapter 78,

“The truth often sounds paradoxical.”


was suiting. I mean, what Tao Te Ching said has mostly sounded so contradicting. Starting from how the opposite of each other defines each other it keeps on uniting many of the ideas that it seems it will never coexist in the same definition. The analogy of good & bad and black & white is one of the best examples. The ‘paradoxical truth’ continues with the description of a sage or a good person. Or “how the strong and stiff with fall” and “the soft and weak will overcome.” (Tao Te Ching Chapter 76)

I think I learned a lot and did several discoveries after reading this book of the Tao.
However, I guess that this post will be a farewell to Tao.





One more last thing I want to say is about this line from chapter 70. It’s rather a question than a opinion. For the first and last time in the entire book, the author uses first-person, “My words have ancient beginnings,” to what it seems to describe about Tao. What does this mean?

The Author of Tao Te Ching Is a Genius

Tao Te Ching is becoming the top religion (or principals?) in my list. I agree with most of what this book is saying and I like the part that it doesn’t have this specific role model that looks down at you. I would still need to analyze and evaluate it carefully before giving an opinion about this book though.

So, I would like to observe some pieces that got my attention.

Let me begin with a line from chapter 34, “It does not show greatness. And is therefore truly great.” Well, the line reminded me of this saying in Japan. Which goes like the following,

“Intelligent hawks hide their nails.”

It more or less means that the ‘the truly great ones don’t show their greatness.’ I think it is part of the culture of being conservative. (However, I also think that this saying shows the good side of being conservative. I mean, being conservative is not always good.) As you might have noticed, I do like the line from chapter 34 just as I like the saying. I think the more you try to show how great you are, the more you would look fake. Off course there are exceptions such as performance arts. But in general I think it is so true.

Another line that got stuck in my head was from chapter 44 that goes, “Gain or loss: Which is more painful?” I never realized how ‘painful’ it is to gain something until I was asked which one is more painful. Well, let me assess the terms gain and loss. Gaining something automatically means loosing something. For example, learning the academics intensely means loosing time to do other things than studying. (Whether or not it is worth using the time.) Or gaining opportunity and loosing friendship. However, loosing something doesn’t necessary need to mean gaining something too. This means if you gain something it will result zero. However, if you loose something it will result negative one. Or would it? When you loose something, does it mean it is because you have gained something? Does that mean that they are the same thing? I will say that gaining and loosing is not a matter of comparison for now.

Dear Tao Te Ching.

Tao Te Ching is revealing its religious side of it. Its strong characteristic of seeking for a specific superiority. We can clearly see this from chapter 21, “The greatest Virtue is to follow Tao and Tao alone.” In the Bible it is God, in Bhagavad-Gita it is Lord Krishna. Why do men seek for a specific superior existence? Why can’t they just do their best at all times? Is it because one can be more motivated if there is a specific goal in front of us? Or do the authors of these books write about such existence to make the readers more obedient? (Whether or not they exist or not)

Well, another question came up to my mind after reading Chapter 15, “Not seeking fulfillment, they are not swayed by desire for change.” But don’t you call ‘desire to change’ when you are seeking for this perfect Tao? Isn’t ‘desire’ the fuel to take an action of being detached? Or does this mean that in order to be ‘detached’ one needs to cut him self apart with any kind of desire? Personally, I think that’s not possible. As I said before, by trying to be like Tao you already have a desire. It may not be the same desire as wanting a material or wanting a love. But it is a boiling emotion.

Finally, I would like to share a line that made me think, which is from chapter 26, “To be restless is to lose one’s control.” This means, that in order to be in a ‘rest’ one needs to have a control of one’s self. Right? If that is true, I can interpreter that self-control is the way to become calmed. I should start doing this.

First Post of Tao Te Ching

I like what Tao Te Ching is saying about how things exist because of the existence of the opposite of it. It probably is this way because one of the ways people identify things is by comparing with others.
Well, I would like to share some of the axioms from this book reminded me with a discussion we did in class about good people.
For example, from chapter 3, “If nothing is done, then all will be well.” Think about it. Doing something for someone means that you are going in favor with that person. Going in a favor with a person automatically means going against another one. Therefore, if everyone doesn’t do anything for anyone, then there will be the so-called “peace”.
Now, if that is what I want or not is a different matter of fact. I personally think it will be boring if no one does something. I wish that things worth breaking that “peace” exists. And that I will be able to encounter with one. Even if it means I am running towards the opposite direction of illumination. I am not sure if I believe in it though.
Another axiom similar to the one mentioned above comes from chapter 7, “Through selfless action, he attains fulfillment.” In one word, I believe it is telling you to be detached. It sounds so similar to what Lord Krishna said from Bhagavad-Gita. Be detached and complete your duties. I think I am still young to be able to consider this as a possible way of becoming a better self. Because I totally don’t understand how one can say that you took whatever action you took because it was your duty. I do not understand how you can put your reasons for your own actions to something beyond your reach. I mean, it just sounds an excuse to whatever thing you are doing.
But please be aware that this is only a way of thinking of a student who still doesn’t know that many things. And I am very sorry for my immature and not responsible comments I have made in my response. I do apologize if this has offended someone somehow.

Creationism VS Revolution Theory

By all means, E.K. Hornbeck is guilty for teaching the revolutionary theory about humans because it goes against the Butler Act, a law that states no public teachers should teach any kind of theory that contradicts the explanation written in the Bible. This law especially refers to the revolutionary theory of humans stated by Charles Darwin. However, his punishment shouldn’t be a grave punishment because of several reasons.


First of all, the theory of human evolution doesn’t totally go against the bible as Henry Drummond said. From Genesis 1: 3-5,

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

we can see that God created Day and Night on the first day. However, He does not specify how long the “day” is. This means, one day might have not being the 24 hours we think it would, but it might represent 10 million years. Do you see where we are getting at? Creationism and the Theory of Revolution can coexist in the terms of time.


Furthermore, it was God who gave us the ability to think. He has made us specially to rule over the world He has created according to Genesis 1: 26,

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

God has given us the right to think. The right to put some logical thoughts to the events happening in our surroundings. Why would E.K. Hornbeck need to be severely punished for using the right God has given to him, to us. Additionally how does Harrison Brady know what is right or wrong?

Science has widened our view. We need to balance modern and traditional in order to have a better quality. We need to keep the old, good traditions but also incorporate the new, great facilities. It’s like mixing blue and red to come up with a even beautiful color, violet.

Goodbye Confucius.

The Master talks more about what a Good person should do which will make them good leader. The book often uses the term common people and scholars. And describes how people like them, scholars, affect the common people. This might be because intellectuals had more power in the politics at the time of Confucius.
Well, one of the lessons of Master that drove my attention is in chapter 17:8,

“The Master said, ‘Zilu! Have you heard about the six (virtuous) words and their six corresponding vices?’
Zilu replied, ‘I have not.’
‘Sit! I will tell you about them.
‘Loving Goodness without balancing it with a love for learning will result in the vice of foolishness. Loving wisdom without balancing it with a love for learning will result in the vice of deviance. Loving trustworthiness without balancing it with a love for learning will result in the vice of harmful rigidity. Loving uptightness without balancing it with a love for learning will result in the vice of intolerance. Loving courage without balancing it with a love for learning will result in the vice of unruliness: Loving resoluteness without balancing it with a love for learning will result in the vice of willfulness.’

The key terms here are “learn” and “balance”. Surprisingly, balance is a word I have always ended up with whenever I thought of something. For example, the balance between giving up and accepting; working and playing; sharing and reserving; dreaming and being realistic; etc. Even good things needs to be balanced. According to Confucius it is learning which balances out things. Maybe it is because the knowledge one wants to learn is infinite just like rain. However, I believe learning is not only factor that balances out things. I think the opposite of it, it’s what balances out things. Black and white, fire and water, good and bad. One can identify dark because there is light. One can identify good because there is bad. And so-on. This happens because comparing is one of the most common ways to recognize things, I think. I mean, think about it. Heroes wouldn’t exist if there is no bad.


Another quote I liked is from chapter 15: 28, “The Master said, ‘When the multitude hates a person, you must examine them and judge for yourself. The same holds true for someone whom the multitude love.’” What Master wants to say here, is that never get influenced by what the others say. This is a hard thing to do. Or at least for me it is. And I think it is one of those lessons that sounds so obvious and easy, but hard to do. Such as “trust yourself.” Or “make your words into action.” (Actually, they don’t sound that easy.) Well, anyways I like most of things Master mentions. However, I sometimes doubt if that’s because they are similar to my culture. Or because I really do like what Confucius is saying, without any pre-culture influence.

When There Is Will, The Way Will Be Found

After reading some more chapters from the book of Confucius Analects, I realized how each chapter is more or less independent. Well, obviously one needs to read the whole book to understand more in depth about what Confucius wanted to saying. But each chapter explains certain thing and is understandable without reading other chapters. One of the lines that got my attention is from chapter 7:8,

“The Master said, ‘I will not open the door for a mind that is not already striving to understand, nor will I provide words to a tongue that is not already struggling to speak. If I hold up one corner of a problem, and the student cannot come back to me with the other three, I will not attempt to instruct him again.”

It may sound harsh what the Master is saying. However, I believe that his toughness can train his disciplines very well. I mean, masters exists to teach but students also need to do something to be prepared for whatever lesson the master would give. The students need to be willing to do their job that will get them ready. And I think the Master is talking about does preparations that are part of the learner’s job.

Another part I like is from chapter 7:30, “The Master said, ‘Is Goodness really so far away? If I simply desire Goodness, I will find that it is already here.’” It reminded me of this quote from Ishmael that said something like, “the way will be found if there is will.”

What is Good?

The definition of a “good person” is a theme that can be discuss about for hours. And yet, not come up with a conclusion that everyone can agree with. Well, also in the book of Confucius the definition of “good” is discussed. For example in chapter 4:6,

“The Master said, ‘I have yet to meet a person who truly loved Goodness or hated a lack of Goodness. One who truly loved Goodness could not be surpassed, while on who truly hated a lack of Goodness would at least be able to act in a Good fashion, as he would not tolerate that which is not Good being associated with his person.’
‘Is there a person who can, for the space of a single day, simply devote his efforts to Goodness? I have never met anyone whose strength was insufficient for this task. Perhaps such a person exists, but I have yet to meet him.’ “

Actually, this part of the chapter is not talking about the definition of goodness but about humans’ influence on each other. I think what the first part is saying is similar to the saying that goes like, “revenge only produces more revenge.” A negative feeling will never be able to produce anything positive. But positive attitudes have all sorts of possibilities.
What I have interpreted from the second part of this chapter is; what is important is the continuation of whatever thing you are doing. I mean, Master is saying that everyone can start doing a thing. But it is an ability, to finish the thing you are doing. I personally think that this is hard. This continuation requires patience for a long time. And patience for a long time is one of my weak points I need to overcome.


As a closure, I would like to talk about this metaphor used in the analects which I liked. It comes form chapter 6: 17, “The Master said, ‘Who is able to leave a room without going out through the door? How is it, then, that no one follows this Way?’” It shows how Master thinks that the “way” is something so easy to do and hard to not do. It seems that the “way” is the door to the room, which probably represents something similar to heaven in the bible and illumination in Buddhism.