TAKEUCHI OSAMU
Asian Horizons, Vol. 4(No. 1, June 2010) 114-127, Jun, 2010 Invited
Wa (harmony), as one of the most important virtues, has played an essential role not only in the individual cultivation but in the formation and the preservation of society and community. Though on the one hand there is surely an influence of Buddhism and Confucianism to the background of the thought of wa, there is also something original in it.
On the other hand, the original point of Christian ethics is in the Gospel of Jesus. “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (Jn 23:34) – this is the new commandment which Jesus gave us. Though the word of wa is not used, this means that one should be one in Christ, in other words, nothing other than all the people should live out the peace of Christ.
The “heart of wa” and “Christian ethics” do not exclude each other, but rather have a common central point. That is, the more one can cultivate and master the heart of wa, the more one can embody the Gospel of Jesus here in Japan.