At the same time, I was deeply impressed by the
various lighter essays that made up the last part of the book. Not only did I
feel a greater affinity to these than to anything I had read previously, but I
also felt the presence of something qualitatively different. I felt as
if what I was reading had emerged from the recesses of my own soul. Of
course, I do not mean that I could have written them myself, only that I did
not feel that someone else had written them. When I look back on what I have
produced myself since I began writing, I have to admit that not everything
gives me the same feeling of intimacy that I had at that time towards Nishida’s
writings.
This may sound odd, but on
reflection it seems to me altogether natural. It is no easy matter for one to
be oneself authentically, and it is in fact altogether possible for somebody
else to be closer to one than one is to oneself. To have been given the
opportunity as a young man to encounter someone nearer to me than I was to
myself I consider one of the greatest blessings and joys of my life. Such an
experience brings one to an awareness of oneself by reflecting onto an external
mirror an image of oneself elevated far above one’s actual self. To
be sure, such a lofty self-image is no more than a possibility whose
realization is beset with difficulties. Still, when one has not been
given the opportunity to encounter someone in whom this loftier self can be reflected, life
tends to wear itself out in comings and goings on the flatlands without
ever venturing up the hills and mountains, and indeed this is the case for
a great many people. For them, life comes to an end without their
having realized this vertical dimension. To meet a teacher in the genuine sense
of the word—one who invites you to ascend the mountain path that turns out to
be the way that leads you to yourself—is rare good fortune. I am deeply
convinced that this is just what happened when I picked up Nishida’s Thinking
and Experience.
Nishitani, Keiji. Nishida,
My Teacher, in Nishida Kitarō: The Man and His Thought
(Studies in Japanese Philosophy Book 2) (pp. 12-13). Chisokudo Publications.
1985, Kindle edition.
