How to become a good ancestor in the 21st century

by Shoukei Matsumoto,
Ancestorist and Founder of Interbeing

Close your eyes, and imagine. First, in the center, a small circle. It is us, the 8 billion people alive today. Then place another circle below the first, about ten times larger. It is the people, 100 billion, who lived in the past 50,000 years. Lastly, place one more circle above the first circle, about a thousand times larger. It is the people, 7 trillion, who will be born in the next 50,000 years. In between, we, the people living today, may look a mere trifle, but nonetheless we are indispensable.

Social philosopher Roman Krznaric beautifully illustrated these circles in his book, The Good Ancestor. Its core question, “How can we become good ancestors?”, is exactly what people living today should ask themselves. One hundred years from now, in the year 2124, we who live today will be “the ancestors”. We ourselves, who wish future generations to live a life where they can say, “I am glad I was born,” were also wished the same happiness by the dead who came before us. Hope connects us with the past, the future and the present.

So how can we become good ancestors? Or, as the Camphor Tree Village project puts it, “What should we keep or let go for future generations?” As I asked this question of leaders in many different fields, three important virtues emerged:

Humility

Be humble enough to admit we don’t know the future. What we can do for future generations is to leave more options for them to choose. They are the ones who decide the future.

Patience

There is no success or failure by nature. It emerges only when you judge things. Do not rush for results. Keep challenging with patience. Be wise enough to wait to see flowers bloom.

Open-mindedness

Observe people and things as they are, forgetting about judging good or bad. Then, with a feeling of awe, you will understand that the world we live in is full of wonder.

Let’s keep learning from our ancestors, which is how we can make all the people in the past good ancestors. And let’s keep challenging for the sake of future generations, which is how we ourselves can become good ancestors, whether sung or unsung.