#27. Otentosama — The Sun is Watching

Amaterasu Omikami — the great divinity illuminating heaven — does not merely rise and set. In Japanese philosophy, the Sun is not just a celestial body. It is a sacred, ever-present witness, a presence that understands our intentions more clearly than our deeds. When the Japanese say O-Tento-sama-ga-mite-iru — "The Honourable Sun is watching" — they are not speaking of surveillance. They are speaking of something that sees us wholly, always, and without condition.

This holds a very deep meaning for me. When I sit with it honestly — with all my imperfections laid bare — I find myself face to face with an uncomfortable truth. I observe the world around me and within me, and what I find is craving. A persistent, restless craving for more. More of what, exactly? Wisdom? No. Knowledge? No. Empathy? No. If I trace the craving honestly to its root, I find something far more familiar and far more human than I'd care to admit: glitz, glamour, and recognition.

Humankind has quietly transformed itself into a cast of performers. We have aligned our actions — and even our values — to whatever places us under the spotlight. We seek those who will take the right pictures for the right social media posts. We celebrate our momentary stardom, and then — wooshhh — it is gone as quickly as it came. The lights are focused on us, the internal voice screams — Ready! Action — and just as suddenly, lights off, camera shut, performance over. The dopamine, the serotonin, the oxytocin, the endorphin rush — all real, all potent, and all fleeting. We chase the spike and forget the steady glow. But why should we settle for a momentary release when we can choose a longer, truer sail — hale and hearty?

Japanese philosophy intrigues me deeply, and the more I explore it, the more I find its wisdom overlapping with the teachings of my own Bhagavad Gita — as though truth, when arrived at sincerely, speaks the same language regardless of geography or century. In Japanese literature, folklore, and traditional storytelling, O-Tento-sama-ga-mite-iru emphasises a respectful and deep relationship between nature and humanity. The Honourable Sun is there watching, guiding, all the time — even when the camera is shut and the lights are off. This is not the cold, indifferent gaze of a CCTV camera. This is the warm and patient gaze of conscience itself, present in the quiet moments, the unseen ones, the ones no one photographs.

As children, we learn so many things — being true to ourselves being among the very first. But in the hustle and bustle of the survival game, we run, we fall, and we run again, even before we have healed. We rarely pause to ask why we are running at all. What if we slowed down a little? Would we fall behind? Or would we, for the first time, truly catch up with ourselves? What if we held on — and equipped ourselves to become the consciously better version of who we already are?

Then the magic begins. A whole new, beautiful world opens — the world of looking inward. Of taking a task in hand and performing it to the very best of our abilities, not for the audience, but because the Sun is watching and smiling along. We perform without the anxiety of being judged, without the brittleness of being temporary. We begin to exist as an eternal presence of calm. A wholescale initiative like Swachh Bharat — a clean India — becomes more of an attitude than a mere campaign. We don't need a public drive to clean our surroundings when cleanliness already lives as a value within us. We don't have to perform sympathy when someone is in pain. We can simply be just present — fully, patiently and calmly — and let that presence say more than any rehearsed word of comfort ever could. It is not always about standing in the light. Sometimes, it is about becoming the light in a room full of darkness. And the Sun — that ancient, watchful, smiling Sun — would see it, would know it, and would say: well done.

This sun is watching with all attention,

understanding the intention more than the deed.

This sun is unlike the CCTV surveillance —

this sun is our conscience, in and out.

It smiles, and can tell us: well done for your efforts.