On Believing

To believe means to consider something to be certainly true without any lies or falsehoods, and to accept it with strong conviction. To believe in a person is to count on them or rely on them, and can also be rephrased as trust or confidence. When a person believes in another, it is premised on the idea that the other person is an ally (or at least not an enemy) and someone who shares a certain common understanding that makes mutual comprehension possible. However, once that person displays unexpected words or actions, one feels betrayed. If those words or actions deviate significantly from one's own perception, one may even come to harbor hostility. Yet, this is not because the other person betrayed them, but simply because a part of them that had not been seen before has now been revealed. Nevertheless, it is extremely difficult for people to realize this. In this sense, believing in others seems to be two sides of the same coin as being betrayed by them.

By the way, there are those among us who believe in the existence of God and His teachings without doubt. For them, God is absolute and presumably would never betray them. For them, what is the same and what is different between believing in God and believing in a person? Even when we say 'God,' the way of believing seems to differ depending on the nature of that divinity. There are gods that reside in nature or matter, and there are gods that guide humans by saving the good and punishing the wicked. Those who believe in the former simply believe in and revere that existence. They would likely accept both good and bad things in people's lives as they are. Those who believe in the latter revere a God who wishes for the world to be happy and who provides guidance and teachings to that end. They would accept that good things are God's salvation and bad things are according to God's will, and that both are necessary for the happiness of people and the world. Although the approaches to acceptance differ, both seek to accept. In that state, the feeling of being betrayed is unlikely to arise.

However, when it comes to other people, things do not go the same way as when facing God, as mentioned above. Why is this? Is it not because while God is an existence that is absolutely above humans, humans are (or strive to be) equal to one another? If God were not so-called omniscient and omnipotent, but rather an existence with the same abilities, the same appearance, and the same limitations as a human, how many people would be able to continue believing in God without feeling betrayed when affected by God's failures, misunderstandings, or violence? God can continue to be believed in precisely because He is not an equal to humans, but exists on a higher plane. Humans, however, are biologically of the same species and are ethically equal. Yet, because there are differences in abilities and values due to individual differences, they try to be companions, and if they are not companions, they try to distinguish them as enemies. It could be said that a human believing in or being betrayed by another human is a type of human social behavioral principle.

If I were to state an ideal here, it would be that for a human to believe in another human is not to believe in the other party/other person, but rather to be in a state where one remains unshaken when the previously unseen parts of the other party/other person are revealed; that is what true 'believing' is. The gaze of 'believing' should be directed inward, not outward. If one has this heart, one will truly never be shaken.

However, humans cannot escape the fact that they are social animals. This is by no means meant in a negative sense. It is precisely because we are social animals that people have developed, and that I am here now, and you are here. It is because we are social animals that we try to make companions, try to find the distance between us and our companions, and try to find our respective roles within society. Seeking rewards or recognizing interests within that context is a very natural thing for humans to do. While there are things that cannot be helped as a habit of humans and society, how one tries to approach one's own ideal thoughts and actions is the path for humans to find happiness.