How to Be Mindfully Present With a Japanese Concept of Living the Moment

Why live in the past when it cannot be undone. Why live in the future when it’s undetermined. Live in the present, so you can be in harmony.

My grandmother passed away when I was in Japan. I had been studying far from home for five years then. I didn’t remember the last time we talked, but I reckoned it must be a distant, faded memory.

I could have called my grandma. I could have told her about my new life, and that I couldn’t wait to see her. But I hesitated to pick up that phone. I didn’t know the value of the moment she was with me. Not until I lost my dear grandma.

I kept blaming myself in despair. One day, my Japanese friend overheard me talking to another. I said that I regretted the past and could not get back to the present. This particular Japanese friend then interrupted me (which is something Japanese people rarely do).

He insisted to know my story. He went on listening and nodding. Then he said to me in Japanese “Ichigo Ichie (一期一会)”. I had no idea what that was with my poor Japanese. He then explained to me what this Japanese concept was about.

A lifetime is unidirectional. Everything can’t go backward in time. It does not exist two identical events during one’s lifetime. The universe is a complex formula with billions of billions of events. The possibility that two events match completely in time and location is almost zero. Every second that passes is gone to dust, forever.

Life awaits nobody. People misunderstand life as monotone and repetitive. They ignore that every moment in life is equally valuable. Some wish for a promising future whilst some live in the past glory. But the only way to live one’s life is to live the present. To concentrate on what is happening at this right moment that won’t be coming again.

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