Opinion The wisdom of Manjusri By Tony Laszlo	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
文殊の知恵 「三人寄れば文殊の知恵」ということわざがあるが、最近、一人では到底こなせない仕事を任されたとき、筆者はそれを身をもって体験した。その分野に詳しい各国の人たちと連絡を取り、信頼関係を築くところから始めたため、最初はどうなることかと思っていたが…。

Two heads are better than one, according to an old adage heard pretty much all around the world. A Japanese saying takes this notion a significant step further: if three people put their heads together, it is said, they can generate the wisdom of Manjusri, the Buddhist deity noted for her omniscience. The proverb suggests that, if a group of people get together and share their intellectual assets, an abundance of knowledge will be amassed and the solution to many problems found.

Recently, I had the occasion to put this concept to the test in a global setting. The editors of the "FIFA Korea/Japan World Cup Official Guidebook" asked me to be responsible for more than a quarter of the coverage of the 32 national football teams that will participate in the World Cup.

Within just a few weeks, I needed to find out the nicknames of the star players from Poland, Russia, Belgium, Ireland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Sweden and Denmark, predict how far each team would advance in the matches, assess the various personal preferences and quirks of each of the team's coaches, and identify which injured players would recover in time to play. And I had to be doubly sure that each of the 23 names on the team roster was spelled correctly and that each was positioned correctly under each player's photo.

I don't know of any single individual who had the answers to all of these questions — and I was very sure that I was not that person. So, I decided to employ the Manjusri principle and seek out football enthusiasts from around the world. Some of these people I met through friends, others in the multilingual nooks and crannies of the Internet.

It was rough sailing in the beginning. First, there was the language factor. Not everyone was comfortable speaking English. But this was largely solved with persistence, patience and a number of good dictionaries.

Then there was the question of trust. Some people eyed my efforts with suspicion. Was this really a journalist writing a guidebook? Or was it perhaps a spy for the Japanese side, seeking out the weaknesses of the world's teams? Of course, trust is a two-way street. Could I be sure that the wisdom being generated was reliable? This second obstacle was the larger one, but it was overcome as the various parties involved came to know each other better, and became convinced of the other's authenticity and sincerity.

I am happy to say that, in the end, the Manjusri principle paid off. I was able to collect various facts, confirm their validity and then collate them together into something fit for the eyes of my readers. A highly sophisticated network was born, one that I am confident can answer just about any football-related question thrown at it. And it can be creative in other ways. For example, some of my new friends recently responded to an invitation to contribute a small message to the people of Japan and Korea, which I then put up on the Web site.

Of course, the Manjusri principle only works when people participate of their own volition, because they feel their efforts are somehow worthwhile. Thus, to attain the wisdom of Manjusri, one must do more than just bring three people together. One must also ensure that they are satisfied and happy.

Shukan ST: May 31, 2002

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