Respect actually means not disturbing the relationships among different lives. Respect creates better relationships between lives and that is why respect was and is one of the most important things in life. One respects life because each life is related to other lives and these millions and billions of relationships create and maintain life on Earth. Even in the case of highly technological machines like Ferrari cars or great works of art, it is not the object that should be respected but the human beings behind the creation of the object. In other words, only life and living things should be respected. One should respect human beings, animals, trees, etc. Respect used to be very important to all people all over the world. If one sticks to the original meaning, only those who understand life should be called sensei and a sensei is behaving like a teacher 24 hours a day, even in his daily life. The original meaning of sensei is one who is spiritually born before others. This birth is a spiritual, not physical birth. So sensei literally means a person who is born before. Sen means before and Sei means to be born. It suggests that when one understands life, one feels as if one is newly born. This creates a new question: How should a teacher behave in his daily life? Zen Buddhism began the idea of understanding life. In this way people can continue to refer to them as sensei without the need for a change of titles. People who are called sensei are supposed to behave as a teacher in daily life as well. If one teaches only on the tatami for a few hours, it is inconvenient to keep changing one’s title on and off the tatami. If one teaches Aikido techniques, one is a teacher only on the tatami. But one might not be a sensei if one is not teaching. There is also the question of what makes one a sensei. In general however, a Japanese teacher is usually addressed as sensei by his students all over the world. It is true that in Japan the word sensei is sometimes abused. Since lawyers often become politicians, even politicians are often called sensei. In Japan a lawyer or a doctor is normally called sensei because they are supposed to know more than others. This is similar to using the Mr, Miss or Ms – it merely indicates respect toward the person. A young kindergarten teacher of 20 years old can be addressed as sensei by a parent of 50 years old because the parent appreciates the fact that the young teacher is teaching the child. In Japan anyone who teaches anything is called sensei.
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