Ikigai

Brief Summary

A little book on purpose or reason for living (i.e. ikigai) by (García et al., 2017). It includes wisdom by (Taleb, 2012) and (Seneca, 1997). Life isn’t a problem to be solved and that there’s no perfect recipe for ikigai, as Okinawans say you should not worry too much about finding it. Practice the flow state in everything you do, eat less and stay active. Also see The Little Book of Ikigai.

Key Takeaways

• Morita Therapy (MT): Acknowledge and accept your anxieties, worries and fears, and do not attempt to eliminate these symptoms.
• Logotherapy is based on the premise that the primary motivational force of an individual is to find a meaning in life.
• Accept the world the way it is and find the flow state in the tasks you do.
• Find a distraction free environment and control what you’re doing.
• Concentrate on rituals rather than goals.
• Search for beauty in things that are flawed and incomplete.
• Life is pure imperfection.
• Focus on the customs and traditions rather than objects that are impermanent.
• Eat a balanced diet.
• Do low intensity exercise.
• Learn to cope with difficulties.

Miscellaneous Notes

• p.42: Just as worry often brings about precisely the things that was feared, excessive attention to a desire (or hyper-attention) can keep that desire from being fulfilled.

Logotherapy was developed by neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl and is based on the premise that the primary motivational force of an individual is to find a meaning in life. Frankl describes it as “the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy” along with Freud’s psychoanalysis and Adler’s individual psychology.

Logotherapy is based on an existential analysis focusing on Kierkegaard’s will to meaning as opposed to Alfred Adler’s Nietzschean doctrine of will to power or Freud’s will to pleasure. Rather than power or pleasure, logotherapy is founded upon the belief that striving to find meaning in life is the primary, most powerful motivating and driving force in humans. A short introduction to this system is given in Frankl’s most famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning (1946).

• p.46: MT came into being a few years before Logotherapy.
• MT is not meant to eliminate symptoms, instead it teaches us to accept our anxieties, worries and fears.
• Donkey example: a donkey tied to a post by a rope will keep walking around but will never free itself. A person with obsessive emotions, feelings or thoughts is the same.

Basic Principles of MT

1. Accept your feelings, obsessive emotions, feelings or thoughts are like waves. If you try to control them you create another wave. The two waves will not cancel each other but will create a bigger wave. And you will end up more miserable than the initial condition. Accept and acknowledge your obsessive emotions, feelings or thoughts, etc. They are like weather, you cannot predict or control them, you can only observe them.
2. Do what you should be doing. Don’t focus on eliminating symptoms, focus on the present moment and if you’re suffering, just focus on accepting the suffering and carry out what needs to be done in your daily life. Also avoid intellectualizing the situation. Carry on what you should be doing.
3. Discover your life’s purpose. We cannot control our emotions, but we can take charge of our actions every day. Having acknowledged all emotions, feelings or thoughts that occupy our mind and carrying out the actions as we go through the daily life, actions themselves will deal with emotions, feelings, etc. To decide on the action ask: What do I need to be doing?

The Four Phases of MT

1. Isolate and rest (5 - 7 days)
2. Light occupational therapy (5-7 days)
3. Occupational therapy (5-7 days)
4. Return to social life and real world

Naikan Meditation

Naikan (Japanese: 内観, lit. ‘introspection’) is a structured method of self-reflection developed by Yoshimoto Ishin (1916–1988) in the 1940s. The practice is based around asking oneself three questions about a person in one’s life:

1. What did I receive from this person?
2. What did I return to this person?
3. What troubles, worries, unhappiness did I cause this person?

There are many forms of Naikan practice, all focusing on these three questions. The most rigorous form of Naikan is practiced in week-long Naikan retreats, which start by focusing on the three questions on the individual’s relationship to their mother. The questions can then later be expanded outwards to other relationships. During the sessions a guide comes and listens to the participant from time to time allowing them to put into words what they have discovered.

A related fourth question, “What troubles and difficulties has this person caused me?”, is purposely ignored in Naikan. Naikan presupposes that people are naturally able to see answers to this fourth question, and that too much focus on this question is responsible for unhappiness in day-to-day life.

Shoma Morita

Masatake Morita (森田 正馬, Morita Masatake, 1874–1938), also read as Shōma Morita, was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and the founder of Morita therapy, a branch of clinical psychology strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism. In his capacity as the head of psychiatry for a large Tokyo hospital, Morita began developing his methods while working with sufferers of shinkeishitsu, or anxiety disorders with a hypochondriac base.

Also, David K. Reynolds, an American author, synthesized parts of Morita therapy along with the practice of Naikan into Constructive Living, an educational method intended for English-speaking Westerners. Constructive Living has since become extremely popular in Japan, and Reynolds is the only non-Japanese citizen to receive the Kora Prize and the Morita Prize by the Morita Therapy Association of Japan.

Morita was a great Zen Master of Naikan introspective meditation. Morita said if you’re angry think about it 3 days before coming blows. After 3 days that intense desire to fight will pass on its own. - p.51: Ikigai is finding your existential fuel. Finding your flow in the tasks you do is essential, for example: - eating a balanced diet - doing low intensity exercise - learning to cope with difficulties

Accept the world the way it is.

• p.65: Focus. Find distraction free environment and control what you’re doing.
• p.70: Ganbaru. Persevere, stay firm by doing your best
• p.75: To maintain flow, have a meaningful challenge and work to overcome.
• p.78: Studio Ghibli follows traditional methods (not digital), drawings are made by hand.
• p.85: Concentrate on rituals rather than goals.
• Find flow in everything you do.
• Mundane things have a flow where you can train your brain.
• Challenging things will have you enter a state of flow where you solve problems and arrive at pleasure arousing moments, but this is not about reaching goals, it’s all about the process of enjoying the process itself.
• Focus on simplicity, protect your time, stay in touch with those who are alike.
• Your time to yourself is your ritual where you cultivate your wellbeing.
• Meditation will train your brain for deeper focus and clear your mind of all clutter.
• Repetition is the key to mastery, i.e. mastering your mind as well as your craft.
• Find the flow or better create your flow.
• p.103: Try Orion beer, an Okinawa original.
• p.109: Shinto means “the path of gods”.
• The main religion in Okinawa: Ryukyu Shinto, combines elements of Chinese Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Shintoism.
• p.122: No train system in Okinawa, this encouraged people to walk and cycle.
• They eat less than 10 gr. of salt, which is below that of Japanese government’s recommendation.
• p.125: Hara hachi bu: Be still a bit hungry when you finish your meal.
• Western meals are served in courses sequentially whereas Japanese meals are (usually) presented all at once, small portions on the table. (supposed to help avoid eating too much).
• Eat fewer calories, an ancient practice for more than nine centuries.
• p.127: Fast one or two days a week (consume fewer than 500 calories). 5:2 diet, eat normal 5 days, fast 2 days in a week.
• p.128: Jasmine tea reduces blood cholesterol.
• Sanpin-cha: a mix of green tea and jasmine flowers.
• p.130: Drinking white or green tea every day can help reduce free radicals in bodies.
• p.130: Shikuwasa is citrus fruit, extremely acidic, impossible to drink without diluting with water. Taste is between that of a lime and a mandarin orange.
• Eliminate refined sugar and grains. Avoid cow’s milk and all its derivatives.
• Exercise is required for healthy life-style but movement is most essential to be healthy. Okinawans do not go to Gym but active throughout the day.
• Be active for strength, joy and serenity.
• p.137: Radio taiso: Morning warm up has been around since WW II. It promotes a spirit of unity through light exercises in a group setting.
• p.145: Tai chi, was originally a neijia, or internal martial art, meaning its goal was personal growth. Focused on self-defense, it teaches those who practice it to defeat their adversaries by using the least amount of force possible and by relying on agility. Objectives of tai chi:
  • To control movement through stillness
  • To overcome force through finesse
  • To move second and arrive first
  • To know yourself and your opponent
• p.161: Gentle movements and breathing.
• p.166: Contemplate on what you can control, don’t worry about what you cannot control.
• p.167: Cynicism is about eliminating negative emotions. Pleasures, emotions and desires are fine so long as you can control them.
• p.168: Negative visualization is to think what’s the worst thing that could happen. Practice negative visualization, for example, by fasting two days a week or by taking cold a shower one a week
• p.169: Meditate for healthier emotions. “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react that matters” - Epictetus
• Become aware of your desires and emotions and acknowledge them.
• p.170: The Impermanence of Things, do not worry about past or future, practice this notion of impermanence.
• p. 171: All things human are short-lived and perishable - Seneca.
• Do not fight the nature of world that is temporary, ephemeral and impermanent.
• Search for beauty in things that are flawed and incomplete.
• Focus on the customs and traditions rather than objects that are impermanent.
• Life is pure imperfection.
• p.174: Hercules faced the Hydra, he despaired when he discovered that cutting off one of its heads meant that two would grow back in its place.
• Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shock and stays the same, the antifragile gets better. Learn to be antifragile.
• p.182: Keep going, don’t change your path - Aida
• Life isn’t a problem to be solved and that there’s no perfect recipe for ikigai, as Okinawans say you should not worry too much about finding it.

The Ten Basic Principles of Tai Chi

1. Elevate the crown of your head, and focus all your energy there.

2. Tighten your chest and expand your back to lighten your lower body.

3. Relax your waist and let it guide your body.

4. Learn to differentiate between heaviness and lightness, knowing how your weight is distributed.

5. Relax the shoulders to allow free movement of the arms and promote the flow of energy.

6. Value the agility of the mind over the strength of the body.

7. Unify the upper and lower body, so they act in concert.

8. Unify the internal and the external to synchronize mind, body, and breath.

9. Do not break the flow of your movement; maintain fluidity and harmony.

10. Look for stillness in movement. An active body leads to a calm mind.

The Ten Rules of Ikigai

1. Stay active; don’t retire. Those who give up the things they love doing and do well lose their purpose in life.

2. Take it slow. Being in a hurry is inversely proportional to quality of life. As the old saying goes, “Walk slowly, and you’ll go far.”

3. Don’t fill your stomach, we should eat a little less than our hunger demands instead of stuffing ourselves.

4. Surround yourself with good friends. Friends are the best medicine.

5. Get in shape for your next birthday. The body you move through life in needs a bit of daily maintenance to keep it running for a long time

6. Smile. A cheerful attitude is not only relaxing-it also helps make friends.

7. Reconnect with nature. We should return to it often to recharge our batteries.

8. Give thanks. Spend a moment every day giving thanks, and you’ll watch your stockpile of happiness grow.

9. Live in the moment. Stop regretting the past and fearing the future. Today is all you have. Make the most of it. Make it worth remembering.

10. Follow your ikigai. There is a passion inside you, a unique talent that gives meaning to your days and drives you to share the best of yourself until the very end. If you don’t know what your ikigai is yet, as Viktor Frankl says, your mission is to discover it.

Further Reading

• Breznitz, Shlomo, and Collins Hemingway. Maximum Brainpower: Challenging the Brain for Health and Wisdom.

• Buettner, Dan. The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest.

• Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

• Frankl, Viktor E. The Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy. Vintage, 1986.

• Frankl, Viktor E. Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning. Basic Books, 2000.

• Frankl, Viktor E. The Will to Meaning: Foundations and Applications of Logotherapy

• Friedman, Howard S., and Leslie R. Martin. The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study.

• Morita, Shoma. Morita Therapy and the True Nature of Anxiety Based Disorders.

• Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. Incerto series: Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, Antifragile.

• Willcox, Bradley J., D. Craig Willcox, and Makoto Suzuki. The Okinawa Diet Plan: Get Leaner, Live Longer, and Never Feel Hungry.

Reference