Managing Stress In Times Of Crisis: The Three Japanese Concepts

Managing stress in times of crisis is a necessity to successfully respond to many of today’s demands. Changes, uncertainties, new challenges, worries, fears … There are many personal and existential dynamics that swirl around us, suddenly placing us in new situations that we had never anticipated. However, Japanese philosophy hides valuable lessons regarding this type of context.

We could say that much of that legacy of wisdom that takes root in Japan comes from Zen Buddhism. This vision that makes the knowledge of the mind and the observation of nature its standard, covers the Japanese personality with an air of calm and balance that has always attracted the attention of the western world. Now, there is something else that transcends that philosophical legacy of the Zen schools.

Japan is a country that is basically defined by its geographical condition, which gives it the character of an isolated country marked by a strong social organization. They have been through numerous challenging periods, including World War II and the subsequent atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese population understands crisis, sacrifice and the art of psychological reconstruction.

So much so that they have three key terms that make up the basic tools to deal with everyday stress. We analyze it below.

Managing stress in times of crisis: temporality, observation, affiliation

Most of us have heard or read at some point that the word crisis, in Japanese (危機 = kiki) is made up of two characters that could be translated as danger and opportunity. Well, actually, this interpretation would be somewhat fallacious according to the experts themselves. Thus, sinologist Victor H. Mair, from the University of Pennsylvania, corrects this idea to clarify that the exact translation would be rather “danger” and “critical moment or crucial moment.”

A crisis, for the eastern world, would be rather an invitation to be alert. To be aware that threats surround us and that it is essential to be prepared to detect and face them. They themselves are, in fact, a reference on how to deal with adversity and therefore it is interesting to delve into three philosophical perspectives that are usually applied in these same contexts. They are as follows:

Temporality

There is an interesting book called Emptiness and Temporality: Buddhism and Medieval Japanese Poetics that addresses this concept. In Japan, few dimensions are as ingrained as the idea that everything that surrounds us is ephemeral, temporary.

Thanks to this filter, one becomes aware that no pain persists forever, that what worries today will have a solution tomorrow or will no longer be important. Our problem, the problem of the West, is that we are not skilled at seeing reality in perspective. We cling to the immediate difficulty and are gripped by it.

To manage stress in times of crisis, it is necessary to train a mental approach that allows us to transcend a little beyond the present moment. It is true that what happens now is decisive. However, it is also necessary to look up at the horizon and understand that this moment will pass, that life is stages, chapters to write and pages to turn. Everything flows and in a short time, the suffering of now will have vanished.

Observation

Observe to train the senses. Look to awaken attention and direct it where it is important. Does it really cost us so much? Certainly, yes, it is difficult for us. We are a society that looks but does not see, that hears but does not listen ; We have become used to being aware of a thousand stimuli, of hundreds of information at the same time.

In moments of crisis, everything piles up and the whole world seems to flow excessively fast … On the other hand, the Japanese are ahead of us in the art of observation, of the gaze that attends to what surrounds them from a balanced heart and mind. Relaxed observation would allow us, for example, to see opportunities in the midst of challenges. Creative solutions to moments of difficulty.

Observing is more than seeing, it is transcending beyond to be able to intuit options, clarify new paths.

The Importance of Membership in Managing Stress in Times of Crisis

What does Japanese culture mean when it talks about affiliation in difficult moments? This term has to do with the need to support each other. To manage stress in times of crisis, it is essential to be able to count on family, friends, and the community itself. This perspective is deeply rooted in the East, the sense of union is what has made them overcome times of great difficulty.

Today it is important not only to know that we are close to ours. Knowing it, perceiving it and having it first hand alleviates discomfort and reduces suffering. However, it is also key that this affiliation is present between countries, regardless of distance, regardless of ideologies and antagonisms. Now more than ever is the time for alliances, to work together for the same purpose.

Stress, fear, and anguish grow when we feel alone and trapped. Let us be able to build bridges and make ourselves present in feelings, wills and actions so that this discomfort fades, placing hope in tomorrow.