Ichigo Ichie Book Quotes

If you don’t like reality, create another where you can live.

komorebi—the play of sunbeams filtering through tree branches,

The question to ask, as much to write a story as to write—or reinvent—the script of your life, is What if . . . ?

if you’re brave enough to do what you love, every day could be the best day of your life.

You are a miracle, and there has never been-- nor will there ever be--anyone like you - Pau (Pablo) Casals

The Buddha summed it up with perhaps his most famous saying, “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional

The moment is a jealous lover that demands we give it our all. Every unrepeatable moment is a small oasis of happiness. And many oases together make an ocean of happiness.

ikigai: discovering something we become passionate about and which also comes easily to us.

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

What we are experiencing right now will never happen again. And therefore, we must value each moment like a beautiful treasure.

Even an elderly person can decide to wipe the slate clean and reinvent themselves, because they, too, have their whole life ahead of them. What matters isn’t how many more years we might live but what we will do with the time we have left.

SATORI AND KENSHŌ Satori, which literally means “understanding,” is the word used in Zen to refer to a kind of awakening or enlightenment. Another term used in Japanese Buddhism to refer to a state of enlightenment is kenshō. The differences between kenshō and satori have been discussed extensively by various authors. According to Suzuki, kenshō is a momentary experience in which you see your own nature through a direct tunnel, while satori is a deeper and more lasting transformation.

If you know how to create the right wrapping, the present will be your gift.

Melchora Aquino de Ramos, a woman from the Philippines who was eighty-four when the unrest broke out that would lead to her country’s independence. Far from being intimidated, she used the shop she ran as a shelter for the wounded and persecuted, in addition to offering advice to the revolutionaries from those modest quarters where secret meetings were held. The old woman’s subversive activities came to the attention of the colonial authorities, who detained her and interrogated her about the identities of the revolutionary leaders. Melchora Aquino refused to give any information, and as a result she was deported to the Mariana Islands. When the United States took control of the Philippines, Melchora returned home as a national heroine and was named “Grand Woman of the Revolution.” She was actively involved in the creation of her new country for more than twenty years and died at the age of 107.

As Marcus Aurelius writes in his Meditations, the drama of existence is not death but never having begun to live.

Steve liked the idea of using the mind to study the mind, something known in psychology as “metacognition.

If you find yourself alone, make sure you are good company! With the right spirit, a tea with yourself can be an unforgettable celebration.

The meaning of ichigo ichie is something like this: What we are experiencing right now will never happen again. and therefore, we must value each moment like a beautiful treasure. Anger is almost always a destructive emotion, as the Buddha taught: "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else:you are the one who gets burned." Anger keeps us tied to the past, preventing us from enjoying the here and now. Learning to see the beauty of things also allows us to make them beautiful. Chanoyu is a call for us to pay attention to all five senses and to be anchored in the present, making the ceremony an art that goes far beyond drinking tea. Having problems is part of being alive. It is our difficulties and how we face them, more than our periods of contentment, that shape us throughout the course of our lives. The moment is a jealous lover that demands we give it our all. Every unrepeatable moment is a small oasis of happiness. And many oases together make an ocean of happiness. Journeys into the past and the future are often painful and nearly always useless. You can't change what happened. You can't know what will happen. But here in this moment, all the possibilities in the world are alive. The simple fact of stepping away from the daily whirlwind of hurry and obligations will open the doors to well-being.

We all have the ability to make a new start in life, regardless of age.