Starting the Tree of Life, let me share with you some of my stories .... yes, I have many stories.

Many years ago when I was a little child, I was lucky enough to have many neighborhood friends because I grew up in a large apartment complex. There used to be at least more than 10 children of the same age, running around in the play park all the time. It is a blessing environment backed up with strong community. The power of community as we know, have been getting attention these days but back then it was normal. Historically, it is normal for Japanese children to have a strong neighborhood community where children are welcomed and looked after not just by their parents but by other adults in the area. So I was given an opportunity to see my family from inside and outside, and to have many encountering opportunities with people living in the same area. It is peaceful, fun and educating. So I learned a lot when I was a little child. Surprisingly, I came up with the idea of the world, conscious mind, subconscious mind, the relationships, when I was very small around 4 or 5 years old. Similarly, I got inspired by many of my friends.

I tend to remember the words said to me with love.

One of my closest childhood friend, Eri, was a very good and a patient girl. Not only she was nice but she was patient and kind. We went outside to play together very often. We played catch, dodgeball, we did girly things, too, like playing with birdie dolls. One of our favorite was to look for a four leaves clover on the grass.

One day, we were out somewhere looking for a four leaves clover. I don't remember if I was seriously looking or not, but the time passed by quickly and we had no four leaves clover yet after a few hours. I was going to give up, but she said to me, "If we think there is one, there is one. Mom told me.", and a short while after that she came back to me with a big smile on her face saying, "Yukko, (my childhood nickname), Look, I found one!"

Maybe life is that simple but we have so many minds that only speak in our heads nonsense. And so many people, many intelligent people, seem to be swung around by their minds. Living, living the world or living your world, I believe, can be extremely difficult with the wrong direction and leading.

Tree of life is to go beyond our existing intelligence and to live happily with our true-self. Often people do not really know what to get angry at or what to want to have when they face a problem. With Tree of Life, we learn how to always stay happy and keep on pursuing life purposes.