How to Read “Preach the teachings according to the opportunity”
Ki ni yorite hō wo toke
Meaning of “Preach the teachings according to the opportunity”
This proverb means you should teach or explain things based on the other person’s situation, ability, and level of understanding.
No matter how wonderful your message is, it means nothing if the other person cannot understand it.
For beginners, you need to teach the basics carefully. For experienced people, you should share more advanced content.
You must change your teaching method to match the other person’s position.
This proverb is especially important in education and guidance. If you explain things to children the same way you would to adults, they won’t understand.
If you only talk about basic things to experts, you will bore them.
You need to assess the other person’s age, experience, knowledge level, and current mental state. Then choose the words that will resonate most with them.
Today, people understand this as a basic principle for all communication. Don’t just push what you want to say onto others.
Instead, observe what state the other person is in. Then show consideration by delivering your message in a form they can accept.
Origin and Etymology
This saying is believed to come from Buddhist teachings. “Ki” is a Buddhist term that refers to a person’s qualities, abilities, and current state of mind when receiving teachings.
“Yorite” means “according to” or “based on.” “Hō” means Buddhist law or teachings.
Buddhism has long taught that even if you preach the same teaching to everyone, people will receive it differently based on their understanding and situation.
Buddha is said to have used farming examples when teaching farmers and business examples when teaching merchants. This is called “taiki seppō” – adapting teachings to the listener.
It has been valued as wisdom for changing your teaching method according to your audience.
This proverb likely spread from Buddhist educational philosophy to the common people. It became established as everyday wisdom.
It teaches the importance of assessing the learner’s situation, not just the teacher’s convenience.
Zen Buddhism especially values this approach. Masters have passed down the tradition of giving different guidance to each disciple based on their personality and stage of enlightenment.
The insight to perceive each person’s “ki” is considered the quality required of a true educator.
Usage Examples
- Following “Preach the teachings according to the opportunity,” let’s teach new employees starting with basic tasks first
- When a child is feeling down, “Preach the teachings according to the opportunity” suggests we should listen rather than encourage them right now
Universal Wisdom
This proverb has been passed down for so long because it understands the essence of human growth and learning.
No two people are in exactly the same state. Even the same person has a different mental state today than yesterday.
Yet why do people try to teach everyone using the same method?
It’s because conveying what you want to say is easier than understanding the other person. Assessing someone’s state requires observation and imagination.
How is this person feeling right now? How much do they understand? What are they struggling with?
Reading these things is not easy.
However, people truly grow only when they receive learning that matches their current state. Goals that are too high create frustration. Goals that are too low create boredom.
Meeting someone who prepares hurdles at just the right height can change your life.
This proverb demands humility from teachers. It’s not about showing off your knowledge. It’s about putting the other person’s growth first.
That attitude is true education and true communication. Everyone wants to be understood.
Responding to that desire becomes the foundation of trust.
When AI Hears This
Claude Shannon, founder of information theory, proved that every communication channel has an upper limit called “channel capacity.”
In other words, there’s a limit to how much information can be sent at once. This proverb identified this principle 2,500 years ago.
The other person’s comprehension, concentration, and mental state are exactly their “channel capacity.”
For example, someone overwhelmed by sadness has no room to accept complex logic. If you try to force advanced teachings into them at this time, the information will “overflow.”
Not only will it fail to get through, it will be rejected as noise.
In communications engineering, when channel conditions are poor, you reduce the information volume and increase error-correction codes.
In other words, you simplify the content and add more repetition and examples.
What’s interesting is that the value of information the sender has and the amount of information the receiver can accept are completely different things.
No matter how wonderful a truth is, if it exceeds the other person’s channel capacity, it won’t reach them.
Excellent teachers and counselors instantly measure the other person’s “signal-to-noise ratio.” Then they adjust the density and speed of the information they convey.
This proverb teaches that effective communication is not about the sender’s ingenuity. It’s an adaptive modulation technique that matches the receiver’s state.
Lessons for Today
Modern society overflows with information. But more information is not always better.
This proverb teaches that selecting information and how you convey it to match the other person is what matters.
When you want to tell someone something, first stop and think. What does this person need right now? What words will reach them?
That moment of consideration greatly changes the quality of communication.
At work and at home, don’t just talk one-sidedly. Develop the habit of choosing words while watching the other person’s expression and reactions.
If you sense they don’t understand, try saying it differently. If they seem bored, get more to the point.
This kind of flexibility is what makes someone trustworthy.
Especially in today’s social media age, broadcasting your own opinions one-way is easy. But what truly moves people’s hearts are words that show consideration for their situation.
This proverb teaches that the essence of effective communication is not technique. It’s deep interest in and compassion for the other person.
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