JAPAN- Part-2 : Humility & Respect

In continuation with our series on Japan, there would be no better acclaim than to confidently say that if one has to see & experience what humility and respect mean, one must step on the lands of Japan. I am not mentioning this just for the sake of it but due to the numerous episodes of personal experience. There have been times when I wondered about the level of clarity the Japanese hold for these core moral values. In a normal circumstance and for an average human being, it would be tough to comprehend such high levels of moral ethos that the people of Japan hold for themselves and for others.

As an experienced train passenger, I have been on quite many rail trips, and in all of them, I have seen varying levels of professionalism of the rail personnel and at times the lack of it! But in the train journeys within Japan, I was fairly amused at the manner in which the ticket conductors and the train supervisors would enter each bogie by bowing down in respect and greeting the passengers. Then they go about their duties and on the way back, they would turn towards the passengers to bow and respectfully leave for the next bogie. Not once, not twice, but each and every time in their rounds for checks, they would do the same. Such a high level of respect and with it the display of humility is something that the whole world should see and learn from.

Similarly, wherever we went, be it a shop, a home, a temple, a hotel, or even an elevator, the people present would acknowledge each other by bowing their heads in respect, usually without uttering a word. Whoever said that "Silence is golden" must have deciphered the phrase after meeting a Japanese for they are the ones with very few words but extremely powerful gestures and manners. Being with them, each one of us from the rest of the world, would unknowingly follow their cue and start bowing to each other with a smile and displaying the best version of ourselves in terms of respect and humbleness. It's like we all learned from their actions without anyone literally teaching us. One surely needs truckloads of humility to bow to every other soul one meets. What an incredibly simple way to respect every fellow being on this planet. 

The most magical part of this respect and humility lesson was the experience we had on our visit to Nara Park in Osaka. I am not sure if you all would believe me if I said that this park has an amazingly respectful bunch of deer, for each one of them would bow to us and we bowed back to them. Have you ever met a deer who replicates their fellow humans with such a high level of respect?  

The bowing part is quite evident in their mannerisms but there are several other forms in which their humility is visible. If there is a queue and one of the not-so-humble foreigner happens to cut the queue and stand-in, they would just humbly move back without uttering one single word. This act of tolerance and patience without even a passive irritation can emerge only from a person who is so full within and lacks nothing.

In a world where selfishness reigns, where the mantra of "me-me" is spoken out loud & clear, and where there is zero tolerance, one can only wonder at such high principles displayed by the souls in this country where they have no complaints, no accusations, no harsh words to correct someone but only respect, love, peace and acceptance. How can we not get colored by them!