The admirable studentship qualities of the Korean and Japanese arise from their ancient Far Eastern culture, which emphasizes harmonizing the collective by coherence among the individuals. The shamanistic philosophies of Korea and Japan, which predate Buddhism and Confucianism, have a view that the Earth is alive with conscious energies (kamis) in the form of the water and the wind and all the elements of Nature. There are skillful ways to flow in harmony with these natural energies, which is what is also taught later in Buddhism and Confucianism. Overall, the Asian cultures highly value harmony and beauty in Nature and in their lives.

Most people’s social behavior in both Korea and Japan in 2014 are fundamentally influenced by the essential teachings of Shintoism, Muism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, which all teach to enhance harmony and reduce discord in life. Today each member of society in South Korea and Japan is taught at an early age that harmony in the family and within the country is paramount. On the busy streets of Seoul and Tokyo, people flow with each other quietly and respectfully. Pedestrians rarely bump each other, car horns are rarely used, and overall there is mass sensitivity to the harmony of the collective.

There must be a balanced flow of spiraling energy into the dark and out into the light in order for harmony and health to be present. The contractive spiral of Yin pulses in waves of changing dynamics with the expansive spiral of Yang energy. When we flow with the cycles of Nature in harmony, resting in the dark, being active in the light, then health grows.