Asking “Who is our ancestors?” is like asking “what is the air?” It’s so simple yet mysterious.
Who are our ancestors actually? I’d love to explore this question today.
Our closest ancestors are our mom and dad. And then, it goes like our grandma, grandpa, great-grandma, and great-grandpa…
Yes, I know it is so obvious. But because it is so obvious, we stop thinking about it.
Sometimes I hear “I am 15th leader of this tribe.” Or “I am 20th owner of this hotel.”
This kind of statements are not uncommon in Japan. It’s so amazing to know some lineages last so long, and their wisdoms keep flowing over the generations.
Well, I get curious about this. So then, how about me? How about before the 15 or 20 generations?? Have you ever questioning about that like I do?
Let me explore the numbers of the ancestors.
1 generation before us are our parents: 2 people.
2 generations before us are our grandparents: 4 people.
3 generations before us are our great grandparents: 8 people…
When we go back to 10 generations, there are 1,024 people, and the sum of our ancestors are 2,046. (!) Only going back to 10 generations, we have 2,046 ancestors. If one of them are missing, we are not here. Mathematically speaking, going back to 20 generations, we have more than 2 million ancestors. I believe that our ancestries are more complex than that, and my point here is that we have so many ancestors!!
The lineages are not only for famous tribes or hotels.
Each one of us has an incredible ancestral lineage.
Now, I’d like to expand my scope of the time.
Our ancestries have kept flowing since at least 5-6 million years when the human revolution started.
With simple calculation, if I say one generation is 30 years, 10 generation would be 300 years, and 20 generations would be 600 years. It is beyond my brain to understand our ancestries continue for more than 5-6 million years. I don’t know much about science, but I’m still fascinated by thinking about the it. I have no idea how many ancestors existed or how many generations came before us.
It’s a mystery.
It is so obvious, yet isn’t it amazing?
Our lives literally build on the countless ancestors came before us.
They somewhat lived through many difficult times like climate changes, wars, and starvations etc. They protected their lineages. In other words, ancestors let us live here and now. It’s so humbling, and I cannot stop feeling the preciousness of the life.
Lastly, I’d like to expand my awareness of the time a little more.
Go beyond the human time, since the beginning of the universe, or even before the universe, life is keep continuing. Because it needs to be continuous. We live in the flow of the eternal time as a part of the flow. Perhaps, the love is the flow itself.
When we have difficult times, when we feel lonely, when we feel the life is so small, we can remember this flow, the love. We are part of this mysterious flow of life, and our life is so precious. This moment, we are surrounded by the love of our ancestors, the Earth, and the universe.
With love,
Kyoko
photo credit: David Spangenburg
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