The Book of Ichigo Ichie: The Art of Making the Most of Every Moment, the Japanese Way

by Héctor García

Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh recommends: “There is nothing else filling your mind as you chew—no projects, no deadlines, no worries, no ‘to do’ list, no fears, no sorrow, no anger, no past, and no future. There is just the apple.”

A fifth flavor, especially valued by the Japanese, is umami, associated with food with a high level of amino acids.

umami (旨味: 旨 delicious, 味flavor, in Japanese) that we taste in fermented foods—like a good cheese, a cured ham that isn’t too salty, or a ripe tomato that’s neither sweet nor acidic—still hadn’t been identified.

The Japanese discovered umami in kombu kelp and katsuobushi (bonito flakes), but it is also present in miso soup and in soy sauce. Another interesting fact about umami is that breast milk is high in glutamate, a key amino acid in foods like kombu, or edible kelp.

When a food tastes neither sweet nor acidic, bitter, or salty but it’s delicious . . . it’s umami!

“Human beings memorize three percent of what we see, five percent of what we hear, and thirty-five percent of what we smell.”

Let’s take a look at the properties attributed to three of the most popular essential oils: Pine for stress relief. In a study conducted at the University of Kyoto, 498 volunteers took two fifteen-minute walks in a pine forest on the same day. At the end of the day, those who had previously been feeling sad, nervous, or angry reported relief.

Lavender for sleep. Numerous studies show that this plant with purple flowers is an excellent cure for insomnia, thanks to its tannins, flavonoids, and other natural substances that reduce anxiety and help to ease muscle tension, facilitating rest.

Mint for concentration. Known since ancient times to have an invigorating effect on the mind, mint is used by many college students in the United States to optimize focus while studying. It can also revive the body after an exhausting day, and thus a few drops of mint oil are often used in the bath.

Just be with people. Often, what other people need isn’t our opinion or even our questions. Some people need only company, and to know that we’re there with them, sharing their pain or worries.

Or leave them in peace. In high-stress situations, sometimes the best we can do for someone is to give them the gift of privacy.

Metta bhavana is a five-stage Buddhist meditation that helps to calm the anger that removes us from the present moment and to transform negativity into love, understanding, and friendship. To perform metta bhavana, which translates as “loving-kindness,” you just need to follow these five steps: Sit down and send feelings of warmth, kindness, and goodwill to yourself. Try to feel rather than think these emotions. Now think about a friend, someone who isn’t your partner or a relative, and try to summon even greater feelings of love toward this person. Then think of a neutral person, someone about whom you feel indifferent, and focus on sending them feelings of fondness and humanity. Embrace their humanity. Next, think about someone difficult or even an enemy, someone you dislike profoundly, and make an effort to summon that same feeling of warmth, goodwill, and understanding toward them. To finish, bring these four people together in your mind—yourself, your friend, the neutral person, and the enemy—and try to harbor fond feelings for all four at once. Visualize this love spreading into your surroundings, your city, your country, and the whole world.

“You are not your thoughts.” When we separate the observer from the observed in this metacognition exercise, we manage to detach ourselves from our mind at the same time we observe its processes. This helps us reach a state of calm.

When we stop identifying ourselves with our thoughts, our ego dissolves and we flow fully with the moment, at the same time deeply and intuitively understanding the nature of reality.

Whatever is happening is the best we can experience, because we are experiencing it now.

Analysis. There is a common saying that goes, “If you want to be happy, don’t analyze everything.” When we try to dissect the moment, we’re in danger of killing it. Why must we search for the meaning of everything?

The joy of the moment can’t be defined, dissected, understood; it can only be lived.

Albert Einstein explained it this way when asked about the relativity of time: “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.”

In Zen Buddhism, when the present takes hold of our entire being, turning the past and the future and the physical world into an illusion, we are considered to have reached satori.

Satori

Don’t worry if, while you meditate, all kinds of thoughts come into your mind. Think of them as clouds floating by. Remember that you are not your thoughts. Let them pass by without judging them.

Don’t transition too quickly from meditation to activity. After you finish your session, give yourself time to stretch and move your body before going back to your other activities.

The question to ask, as much to write a story as to write—or reinvent—the script of your life, is What if . . . ? When we ask this question, we open the floodgates to the creative flow we need to unblock ourselves and step into a world full of ichigo ichie.

I’ve been bored by my job for a while and don’t know what to do. What would happen if I took a leave of absence or saved enough to live on for a few months and allowed myself to explore other possibilities?

enjoy many unforgettable moments with those most important to you, beginning with yourself.

Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” To live these words, we must become masters of ceremonies in our own lives, giving meaning to every moment, creating in

Every unrepeatable moment is a small oasis of happiness. And many oases together make an ocean of happiness.

Apply mindfulness to your five senses. Train yourself in the art of listening, watching, touching, tasting, and smelling to give each moment the richness of human perception.

A journal in which we keep notes of these moments of daily magic will increase our ability to follow the invisible threads of reality.

Journal Of magic moments

If you don’t like what there is, make something different. Human beings are transformative by nature and have the power to reinvent themselves as many times as it takes.