The Japanese inspiration for apple

Jobs would return to Japan many times throughout his life, and he would always make a stop in Kyoto, his favourite city.

For representational purpose

Zen was an essential tool for Steve Jobs when it came to designing his Apple products. One of his guiding principles was to simplify as much as possible, eliminating any element that wasn’t strictly necessary.

The iPod, whose simple, beautiful, intuitive design was revolutionary for its time, as well as the iPhone, among other products, demonstrate how much Jobs was influenced by the simplicity he learned from Zen.

However, Jobs didn’t travel to Japan for the first time until the early eighties, when he was looking for the most appropriate floppy disk for the first Macintosh. On that trip, he met Aiko Morita, the founder of Sony, and was able to try one of the first prototypes of the Walkman, a device that impressed him. Another thing that fascinated him were the Sony factories, which he used as a model when the time came to build factories for Apple.

While on that first trip to Japan, Jobs took the chance to visit Kyoto and the Eiheiji Soto Zen monastery, where his master had trained before moving to the United States.

Jobs would return to Japan many times throughout his life, and he would always make a stop in Kyoto, his favourite city.

Someone else from Japan whom Jobs admired was the fashion designer Issey Miyake, who focused on seeking elegance through simplicity. Jobs developed quite a personal friendship with him, and it was Issey Miyake who created the legendary turtleneck that Jobs wore almost daily during the later years of his life.

What’s Ichigo Ichie?
Ichigo ichie can be translated as “Once, a meeting” and also as “In this moment, an opportunity.” What this means to tell us is that each meeting, everything we experience, is a unique treasure that will never be repeated in the same way again. So if we let it slip away without enjoying it, the moment will be lost forever. …The cultivation and practice of ichigo ichie will allow you to lead a happier, more fulfilled life, without feeling weighed down by the past or anxious about the future. You will learn to live fully in the present, acknowledging and appreciating the gift of every moment.

Eight Zen Lessons for an Ichigo Ichie Life

Though Steve Jobs was prone to anger, and often treated the people around him unfairly, studying Zen allowed him to bring beauty, simplicity, and harmony to millions of homes with his creations. The teachings of this Japanese version of Buddhism give us many opportunities to incorporate ichigo ichie into our daily lives.

1. Just sit and see what happens. Our spiritual short-sightedness often causes us to look far away—in space and time—for what’s really right in front of us. Zen teaches us to simply sit and embrace the moment, with no further ambitions than this. If we are with other people, we celebrate their company as a gift.
2. Savour this moment as if it were your last breath. You can live only one day at a time, and no one can be certain that they will wake up the next morning. So let’s not postpone happiness. The best moment of your life is always this one.
3. Avoid distractions. An old proverb says that a hunter who takes aim at two preys at once will kill none. The same thing happens when we try to follow a conversation or read a book at the same time as checking our phone. Zen teaches us to do one thing at a time, as if it were the most important thing in the world. If you do it that way, it undoubtedly will be.
4. Free yourself from everything that isn’t essential. One can recognise an expert traveller more by what they leave at home than what they carry in their suitcase. Life is a thrilling adventure through which it’s best to travel light, so every day, whenever you feel overburdened, ask yourself, What can I let go of?
5. Be your own friend. Rather than comparing yourself to others and worrying about what other people think, assume that you are unique in the world. As the celloist Pau (Pablo) Casals said in a poem written for children: You are a miracle, and there has never been—nor will there ever be—anyone like you.
6. Celebrate imperfection. If not even nature in all its complexity, with all its births and deaths, is perfect, then why should you be? Each failure is a sign that you should take a different path. Each flaw is an invitation to polish a diamond. If you have the will to improve, then it’s perfect to be imperfect.
7. Practice compassion. From a Buddhist perspective, feeling sorry for someone doesn’t mean feeling pity but rather a profound empathy that allows us to travel toward the situation of the other to understand their motivations and, if necessary, their mistakes. Each person acts according to the moment of personal growth in which they find themselves. Even when they behave in hateful ways, it’s the best they can do with what they have.
8. Let go of your expectations. Making predictions, waiting for certain things to happen, is a guaranteed way to kill the moment. Ichigo ichie is experienced with the uncluttered mind taught by Zen. Regarding this last point, expectations are like the wrapping that prevents us from seeing the gift. Once we have freed ourselves from them, the present offers itself to us in all its splendour.