Posted by Click here to get a free newsletter Zen and a Way of sustainable prosperity: Balance, financial success, and sustainability with the secrets of the Japanese Omi-merchants.
While the purpose of Whole food plant based diet seems to be to be healthy, the purpose of Ikigai Diet is to find your Ikigai, or to live a life with Ikigai.
What does Ikigai mean?
Ikigai is often interpreted as a reason for being, a reason to live, finding a reason to live, a reason to get up in the morning, or finding a purpose to live.
It is a Japanese word and it is a combination of two words Ikiru and Kai. Ikiru means to live and Kai means worth. Therefore Ikigai means worth living. We have other words which are combined with a word Kai such as Yarigai and Oshiegai. Yarigai means worth doing and Oshiegai means worth teaching.
For example, Yarigai no aru shigoto means a work that is worth doing. Oshiegai no aru seito means a student who is worth teaching. If I were to use Ikigai in a similar sentence, I would say Ikigai no aru jinsei meaning a life worth living.
Therefore, to find a life with Ikigai means to find a life that is worth living, and to live a life with Ikigai means to live a life that is worth living.
What kind of life is worth living for you?
It is different from a person to a person isn’t it?
One thing we all have in common though, is that we all want to lead a happy life, don’t we? So pursuing happiness is our common goal and we can say that Ikigai Diet is a diet that can help you achieve that goal.
I talk about it in this video, as well.
The subtitle of IKIGAI DIET is The Secret of Japanese Diet to Health and Longevity. Therefore it is a diet to be healthy and live long. And yet do we all want to live long?
It depends on the kind of life you have doesn’t it? If you have a boring life, you don’t want to live long. You want to live long only when you have a happy, fulfilling life. Therefore the quality of life we have matters.
Okay, I see your point, but how can a diet make you happy?
A lot of the elements in Ikigai Diet such as eating organic and natural food, eating whole food, eating fermented food, and eating MA GO WA YA SA SHI I seem to be good for our health and longevity, but are they good for our happiness?
You can find out about MA GO WA YA SA SHI I in this video.
Yes, they are, because they are based on Japanese natural medicine and they are supposed to help our mental health as well as physical health. You would feel happier if you practiced Ikigai Diet.
And you will understand more how Ikigai Diet helps you become happy, if you read Chapter 10 of the book.
Chapter 10 By Adding Hygge to Ikigai Diet, It Will Become More Sustainable
Placebo Effect
Don’t Become Too Dogmatic
Hare and Ke
Bringing Hygge into Ikigai Diet
Vegetarian Gourmet
Zen and the Art of Miso Soup Eating
Contemplation and Appreciation
Omi-merchant's way of Sustainable Prosperity 