Zen Words for Everyday Life Vol. 8

The Zen phrase 一期一会 (ichigo ichie) reminds us to treat every encounter as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The phrase itself is easy enough to understand—it literally translates to “one opportunity, one meeting”—but extremely difficult to put into practice.

Please excuse me for bringing up a personal matter, but one of my relatives passed away quite suddenly just the other day. I had meant to get in touch so we could go out for a meal again sometime, but that ended up never happening. In that moment, I realized that there is no point in having regrets after the fact.

I believe that the deepest part of this Zen phrase ichigo ichie is that it can give us a jolt of motivation to counteract such feelings of regret.

This is because, even in the midst of regret, there is an encounter before us. And so, I remind myself that I must be grateful for the encounters before me so that I will not end up with any regrets the next time.

Zen places a focus on the very moment of the immediate now. If we can stay focused on the present, then we will have no “regrets” or “unfinished business” about the past. Nor will we have any anxiety or procrastination toward the future.

I should point out that when I talk about “encounters,” I am not just talking about people. One can have an encounter with a book, an animal, or the magnificence of nature.

We must be grateful for these precious encounters along the journey of life that each of us must experience for ourselves, as we face forward and keep on advancing until the final moment arrives.

As with ichigo ichie, I find that the simpler the Zen phrase is, the harder it is to put it into practice. There is no shortcut other than to keep reminding oneself to appreciate each of the encounters we have before us from day to day.

There are certain things in our daily lives that we take for granted. We should not need an extraordinary event such as the death of a loved one to remind us of how precious those things actually are. Ideally, we would appreciate them on a daily basis, but that is easier said than done. So, what should we do? I touched on this question in Zen Words for Everyday Life Vol. 5 “Chisoku.” If you have a moment, please check it out.

Saihoji　 　 FUJITA Ryuko