Helen Keller and Satoshi Fukushima
As I was watching a late TV program, occasionally dozing off, something woke me up and glued me to the program. It was Professor Satoshi Fukushima’s remark, “If we discover the meaning of living, then there’s no reason to get desperate….” Professor Fukushima, who I had’nt
seen before , became completely blind and deaf at the age of 18 in the 100th anniversary year of Helen Keller’s birth (1880).
Professor Fukushima is now teaching at the University of Tokyo (Todai). I understand that it is something unprecedented in the world for a completely blind and deaf person to be a professor of a university. Not long ago, I had an opportunity to buy and read his book titled “To live means to associate with people!” I found the book advertised in a newspaper.
He was born in Kobe in 1962. When he was four years old, his right eye was excised, and at age nine, he lost his entire eyesight. At age 18, he was also completely deprived of his hearing. He writes in his book: “How should I or can I continue to live in this condition?” He says it felt as if he was hurled into complete emptiness of the dark universe. “My soul was literally enshrouded in frozen solitude,” he says, looking back on his agonizing past.
Professor Fukushima tried to conduct communication with others by means of a particular type of braille, which was worked out by his mother (having somebody write in braille on the back of a hand). His efforts and hardships are unimaginable, but he is an astonishing optimist. His book tells here and there how he is attempting to live a most meaningful life for both himself and others.

Living a natural and comfortable life
While I was reading his book, the following passage struck me as the very core of his philosophy: “Maybe it is an impossibility for a physically handicapped person like me to live on a par with non-handicapped people (in terms of power of action or productivity), but that does not actually have much meaning in itself. The purpose of life exists not in being able to act equally well with able-bodied people but in carrying on a life of spiritual comfort naturally, regardless of handicaps such as not being able to see or hear like myself. Being physically handicapped is one thing, pursuing a spiritually rich life of comfort is another thing completely.”
“Richness of life has nothing to do with physical handicaps…” These words can come only from a person who has overcome an unimaginably enormous handicap.

Softening up mental tension through physical treatment
Nowadays an increasing number of people are coming to my clinic, complaining of
problems in eating, depressive psychosis, or suffering splitting headaches for many years. These problems are nothing new at all. In proportion to the seriousness of the symptoms, almost all of these cases seem to be connected with long-term emotional turmoil even from early childhood. In other words, these physical problems are the result of prolonged struggle with mental depression.
In order to release these people from the long mental depression, I am treating them on the physical side by acupuncture and moxibustion. It proves the real value of Oriental medicine. In fact, many of my patients suffering from eating problems say acupuncture helps clear up their minds. A close relative of one patient said she had not seen the patient smiling so happily in many years.

Changing the way of thinking
When I carry on conversations with my patients, I often feel respectful toward them and admire their powerful stance to the difficult environment they find themselves in. But what about the patients themselves? How do they regard themselves? Contrary to what I think of them, many of them keep blaming themselves. Blaming oneself hinders the free budding and development of one’s possibilities. Though not directly related to the hardships conquered by Professor Fukushima, we all must learn from his experience that any human being is blessed with the same kind of power as his to face and overcome his/her own handicaps, whatever they are.
Professor Fukushima writes in his book, “I owe my life to other people…. It is a well-known fact that all of us, without exception, owe our existence to the people around us. The awareness of the “vulnerability” and “weakness” we all share leads to compassion and kindness to others.” It forestalls the tendency to feel humbled or arrogant. His egalitarian way of thinking about human beings greatly impressed me. The uncontrollable physical and mental conflict he suffered under agonizing circumstances led to his capability to empathize with other.

Hardship is just another name of one’s mission
As he kept practicing on the piano at his home, Professor Fukushima felt his hearing was gradually weakening. He recollects how sadly frightening it was that the pitch of the sound, though being produced on the same keyboard, kept changing day after day. Three months later, his hearing was completely gone. During those three months he wrote letters to his friend, and I wish to conclude this writing by quoting one passage from his letter introduced in the book: “If I, too, have a mission for life, then it is my absolute responsibility to fulfill it. Fulfilling the mission necessitates successfully overcoming this painful handicap, because I have reached the conclusion that my mission is none other than my success in the attempt….”

Should we ever feel that we have “collapsed” in our journey through life, we must recall these words of Professor Fukushima and resiliently rise again. It is my belief that anyone is surely capable of doing so.