Find happiness by living fully in the present with this definitive guide to ichigo ichie --the Japanese art of making the most of every moment--from the bestselling authors of Ikigai and The Four-Way Path . Each moment in our life happens only once, and if we let it slip away, we lose it forever--an idea captured by the Japanese phrase ichigo ichie (pronounced itchy-GO itchy-A ). Often spoken in Japan when greeting someone or saying goodbye, to convey that the encounter is unique and special, it is a tenet of Zen Buddhism and is attributed to a sixteenth-century master of the Japanese tea ceremony, or "ceremony of attention," whose intricate rituals compel us to focus on the present moment. From this age-old concept comes a new kind of mindfulness. In The Book of Ichigo Ichie , you will learn to... appreciate the beauty of the fleeting, the way the Japanese celebrate the cherry blossoms for two weeks every April, knowing they'll have to wait a whole year to see them again; use all five senses to anchor yourself in the present, helping you to let go of fear, sadness, anger, and other negative emotions fueled by fixating on the past or the future; be alert to the magic of coincidences, which help us find meaning among the disconnected events of our lives; use ichigo ichie to help you discover your ikigai , or life's purpose--because it's only by learning to be present, to be tuned into what catches your attention and excites you in the moment, that you can identify what it is that most motivates you and brings you happiness. Every one of us possesses a key that can open the door to attention, harmony with others, and love of life. And that key is ichigo ichie . A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE “[ Ichigo ichie is] a hopeful practice, a promise that while we’ll never get these moments back, we can squeeze a whole lot of life out of them before they go poof.” — The Washington Post “A hopeful and practical guide to relishing everyday experiences and living in the moment . . . Filled with anecdotes, parables, and lessons, this [is a] reassuring handbook.” — Publishers Weekly Héctor García and Francesc Miralles are the coauthors of Ikigai , a 1.5-million-copy international bestseller, as well as The Four-Way Path . Their books have been published in more than sixty languages. Héctor is a citizen of Japan, where he has lived for over a decade, and is the author of A Geek in Japan, a #1 bestseller in Japan. Francesc is the author of a number of bestselling self-help and inspirational books and of the novel Love in Lowercase, which has been translated into twenty languages. Prologue: In an Old Tearoom   On the afternoon that, though we didn't yet know it, this book was about to be born, a storm was battering the narrow streets of Gion, in the heart of Kyoto-home of the last remaining geishas, among other mysteries. We found refuge in a chashitsu , a teahouse, which was empty because of the downpour.   Sitting at a low table beside the window, we noticed that the torrent of water rushing down the narrow street was sweeping with it sakura petals from blossoming cherry trees.   Spring had sprung and summer was on its way, and soon nothing would be left of those white petals that inspired such passion in the Japanese.   An elderly woman in a kimono asked us what we would like, and we chose the most special variety of tea on the menu-a gyokuro from Ureshino, a place in the south of Japan where the best tea in the world is said to be grown.   As we waited for the steaming teapot and the cups to arrive, we shared our impressions of Japan's former capital. We were amazed that there were two thousand temples in the hills surrounding the city, whose population is smaller than that of Philadelphia.   Then we listened in silence to the rain pounding the cobblestones.   When the old woman returned with the tray, the tea's fragrant aroma roused us from that brief and pleasant torpor. We lifted our cups to see the bright green infusion before savoring the first sip, which tasted both bitter and sweet.   At that very moment, a young woman riding a bicycle while holding an umbrella passed by the old teahouse and smiled shyly at us before disappearing into a narrow street.   It was then that we each looked up and discovered the wooden plaque on a dark brown pillar. It bore this inscription:   一期一会   We set about deciphering those characters, pronounced " ichigo ichie, " while the damp wind swayed a small bell hanging from the eaves of the teahouse, making it ring. 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.   This message perfectly describes what we experienced that rainy afternoon in Kyoto's old town.   We began to talk of other unique, unrepeatable moments like that one, to which perhaps we hadn't paid enough attention because we were too concerned with the past, the future, o