In Part I, I wrote that “refusing to acknowledge a certain level of somatic knowledge leads to violence through theory, and thus the burden of proving its absence potentially arises for the theoretical side.” In Part II, I describe a hypothesis regarding the human civilization that may emerge if the boundaries that theory can handle are determined.
This is also an attempt to bridge Western theoretical knowledge with the wisdom of breath accumulated primarily in the East. In other words, as a step toward the “science of Zen,” it questions the “Scientific Zero Point” by centering the body across all disciplines.
However, my purpose is strictly to propose a theoretical coordinate system. Here, I describe a hypothesis for a case where its weight increases to the maximum, but naturally, its consistency should be measured by real society.
1. Breath as a Sensor
First, consider human respiration. Breath spans both the conscious and the unconscious. It is neither fully automatic nor fully intentional; it is the most primordial act of life.
Precision in observing one’s own breath allows for the instantaneous perception of whether a state is comfortable or uncomfortable for life. Here, I treat the subtle changes in breath not merely as emotions, but as a theoretically honest sensor. This refers not to conscious deep breathing, but to respiration in its nature closely akin to a dialogue with the unconscious heartbeat. From this perspective, a new ethical hypothesis arises:
“The act of breaking the boundary of another’s mind and body eventually disturbs one’s own breath. It reflects back as suffocation.“
The “boundary” here refers to the distance that allows self and others to exist without suffocating each other. You may have heard terms like “psychological safety” or “personal space.” Just as goldfish grow large when placed in a wide tank, the influence of being able to stretch out appropriately on our cells cannot be underestimated.
In psychotherapy, it seems an image of two boundaries―rather than one―between self and others is used. Placing one’s opinion is strictly within the middle marginal zone, and if one breaks that, a corresponding level of courtesy is required. For example, the other party has no obligation to conform to the words placed in the marginal zone; when asking for action on the other’s side, one must be psychologically equal. Words like “Sorry!”, “Hurry up and do this job for me!”, “I’ll buy you a coffee later, so please!”―the recovery of the psychological burden toward the work is expected through the preceding and following words.
2. Sensitivity to Boundaries
Sensitivity to boundaries is something that can be mastered as a physical sensation by refining one’s breath. Mastering breath requires respect for others. One needs to find a method that suits them, but for thousands of years, all kinds of methods have been prepared across all times and places: Zen, Yoga, Tea Ceremony, Aikido, traditional performing arts, indigenous wisdom, labor, and daily life.
In breathing, the concept of “elite” is a contradiction. The more one is an elite, the more one should perceive hyperventilation within oneself against excessive authority. An elder who is a master of breath is a state that emerges as a result of being recognized by others. It does not establish itself even if one tries to cultivate it intentionally; it depends primarily on self-education. This leads to the Zen saying: “Enlightenment is enlightenment that is enlightened without seeking to be enlightened; enlightenment that seeks to be enlightened is but the enlightenment of a dream.”
On the other hand, if breath does not align, one should feel very intense anxiety. When such thought-based anxiety precedes physical sensation, people voice excuses disguised as rationality. That is the line: “Somatic sensations such as measuring boundaries with others through breath do not exist in this world.” In this way, people begin to destroy the boundaries of others and try to justify it as theory. This could be called the Western scientific version of what Buddhism calls Makyo (a state of delusion).
In other words, the inability to master breathing absolutely never results in the loss of one’s dignity. It is the historical responsibility that the theoretical failure of Western theory must bear, and it is far too heavy for an individual to carry. The authority structures of society that produce excessive desire must be born from the pursuit of happiness through theory. I believe the friction between the theoretical pursuit of happiness and desire is the cause of social breathlessness. This is because when one destroys the boundaries of others while faintly feeling a wall that theory alone cannot cross, breath returns that result directly to the individual.
3. Optimization of Economy
When the yardstick of value called breath increases in weight as common sense, the way the economy is viewed will also change. Economic value may arise not only from labor but also from the existence of those who put people at ease and align their breath. Currently, it is not rare for someone whose presence somehow makes others feel good to be economically poor. This is an issue concerning the essence of Keisei Saimin (governing the world and saving the people)―the root of the word “economy”―which means to govern the country and remove the suffering of the people.
Being an elder or being immature is not the result of an individual’s personal choice. That is precisely why I believe a society will be born where people support them with joy, so they can maintain pride and peace of mind. Centered on protecting breath, the economy might rotate without forcing anyone. In a society where it can be believed that giving will eventually lead to being given to, the need to excessively accumulate currency will gradually fade. It will be optimized to a speed and scale suited to the breath of life, rather than growth or stagnation.
There will be people who do not feel their breath being disturbed due to extreme stress. If left for a long time, it may surface as illness. Also, those who are dull in their sensors and continue unconscious intervention in the breath of others may have that debt accumulate through others and the next generation. Both would be required to either be accepted as subjects of support while maintaining dignity or to have the resolve to choose conscious isolation. Isolation here does not mean expulsion from the world, but a type of choice to be treated like a minor by society. This is because “forgetting the attitude to leave the existence of such sensations as a theoretical margin” leads to abandoning one’s own dignity.
If there is a way to escape from this circle like karma, I am the one who would like to be taught it. I myself had a period when there was a danger of suicide due to depression, and I desire a world where one does not have to choose suicide―the abandonment of breath.
4. Religion and Technology
If religions concerning views on life and death place even more emphasis on breath than they do now, the center of gravity of civilization as a whole will shift. While there may be friction culturally and historically, and mutual understanding may be impossible, respect can still be shown. Memorial rites (Kuyo) with respect for different cultures may be understood as acts to align each other’s future breath. Human breath should flow more easily even through religious friction. It is hard to imagine a god who would not rejoice in blood flowing through sacred texts.
The extreme increase or decrease in population due to excessive anxiety or desire may also gradually slow down. For example, it is said that among worker ants, 70% are always working and 30% are idle. If you gather only the idle 30%, 70% of them will start working. Due to anxiety based on thought, humanity may be damaging the abilities it possesses as a biological organism.
Placing a hand on an injured child―if viewed from the perspective of breath, this should never be called useless. A calm breath is contagious just by being nearby. Haven’t you had the slightly strange experience where, on a clear day when the weather forecast also says it will be clear, for some reason you go out with an umbrella and it turns into a downpour? The existence of such intuitive sensitivity cannot be ignored.
Please absolutely do not misunderstand: I do not disregard theory. I am talking about the possibilities that open up by protecting the boundaries of theory. An elder who disregards theory has no qualification as such, and there is no need to let go of consensus-building through theory. I believe that when theory and “self-censorship through breath” work as a pair, the sanctuary of life is protected. I believe this is the starting condition for NI (Natural Intelligence) rather than AI. Even if perfection could be enjoyed through the electrical stimulation of AI, NI has the impulse to challenge imperfect reality along with a sense of realization. Technically, devices to quantitatively measure breath and heart rate are easily developed. However, these are merely like training wheels on a bicycle and are not the essence.
Mathematically, between theory and matter, they can be described in order of mass as follows:
Theory < 0 = Breathing = Void < Matter
And the spirit of Zen and art, which handle intuition continuously, corresponds to the “imaginary axis (i)” extending vertically from this reference point. In symbols:
i = Art = Zen = NI
These can be rephrased as “expression,” “practice,” and “intelligence,” respectively. In this way, the yardstick of civilization theoretically converges on the body.
NI is intelligence from before it becomes words―in other words, it leads to intuition. It is simply a matter of people with aligned breath naturally finding it easier to live. Since the cells are in a comfortable state, it is natural that it becomes easier to deal with all kinds of problems. It is a story that the world of theory has not sufficiently handled such experiential knowledge. One should become able to face theory, life, and even stress in emergencies with an appropriate distance.
5. Future History
When I myself was unable to adapt to my living environment and suffered from immense stress, television programs I would normally never glance at felt like a solace, and I felt a fierce urge to visit gambling parlors and the sex industry. Viewing this as “respiratory failure,” we can say that political corruption is the consequence of the citizenry’s respiratory failure, and Rock ‘n’ Roll was born in resistance to the suppression of breath―as the “reclaiming of breath.” I believe that the final consequence of the theory’s boundary violation manifests in these forms in real life.
Some psychiatric symptoms, such as addiction, bipolar disorder, and hysteria, might no longer be dismissed as mere “brain bugs.” It will become impossible to continue ignoring the resistance of a living being suffering from the mismatch between environment and theory. In other words, if by any chance the zero point of science is wrong, “the very foundation of previous theory was not rational.” Furthermore, there is the possibility that “through the unconscious violence of theory that remains broken, the survival rights of all humanity may have been impaired for hundreds of years.” With the utmost respect to the authorities, I am being extremely cheeky, but theoretically, wouldn’t this be an issue that authorities in every field and throughout all humanity should verify with all due haste?
And if the empathy that the violation of boundaries leads to suffocation spreads, the next possibility arises: a scientific common understanding that violating the soul of another creates a debt. In other words, humanity may no longer be able to accept violence as it once did.
War, the ultimate form of violence, will not be a matter of “justice” but an act where psychological and spiritual loads are maximized. Carrying out such a mission will itself become a state of literal suffocation, leading to PTSD far more intense than what we see today. At that point, science can no longer be an ally. Thus, the runaway of desires will be neutralized within individuals and groups, potentially being suppressed bit by bit. Even if wars continue for the time being, there is a possibility that they will naturally subside as a collective wave, scientifically speaking.
In time, the era of psychosomatic madness will end, and future history may describe our era as: “A time when humanity repeatedly faced self-destruction through a collective hyperventilation driven by desire.” The aforementioned formula may become established as the World Constitution.
Vivo, ergo sum.(I live, therefore I am.)
I hereby declare the beginning of the Breathing Civilization.
Afterword
I believe that once these thoughts are verbalized, human history gains a theoretical irreversibility. Yet, this is nothing more than a painter’s attempt to rationalize his own sensations. It may be dismissed as the crystalline delusion of someone with bipolar disorder. I do not mind in the least. I will simply be laughed at for my “nitpicking,” just as I have been my entire life. No matter what the majority says, it is an immovable fact that I live every moment within this sense of dissonance. I do not intend to provoke authority unnecessarily; however, if you could imagine the theoretical danger and urgency, and the feeling of living while being crushed by that wordless dissonance, I would be grateful for your understanding.
I simply hope that life’s inconveniences move toward resolution, and I would be truly happy if those suffering―other than myself―could find their breath becoming easier. I feel as though “artists around the world might finally be able to shed warm tears.” In essence, this task has felt like “tax processing”―the feeling of a cleaner of the era. Having written this, I can now spend the rest of my life with the feeling of enjoying my remaining years. I can live quietly whether I am adopted by society or not. I will continue to just paint. IMAGINE is free.
I celebrate the most ordinary of sensations! 🙂
20:00, February 8, 2026
Hirofumi Miyauchi