Ikigai 2.0: Evolving the Ikigai Diagram for Life Purpose (& Why and How it Needs to be Redesigned)

The first post gives you the origin/definition of ikigai, the evolution of the original ikigai diagram, and busts some myths that should be considered about ikigai. It provides the basis for why the ikigai diagram needs to evolve.

This post outlines why and how I think it should be redesigned.

A Quick Ikigai Refresher:

In the first post, we learned that ikigai actually has a dual meaning. If you were to sum up the various definitions and bucket them, we could categorize them like this (paraphrased):

**1. The feeling/spiritual meaning that life is worth living (being):**Universal human experience, humans as spiritual beings, the joy of living, the happiness and benefit of being alive, feeling that life is valuable/worth living

2. The object/source of value in one’s life that is worth living for (doing): Things that make one’s life worthwhile, something to live for, cultivating one’s inner potential, allowing the self’s possibilities to blossom, one’s work or family or dream, the realization of what one expects and hopes for

I believe the most powerful ikigai aligns both of these:

Ikigai Dual Meaning = Life is worth living (being) and worth living for (doing).

This is the absolutely critical piece that almost all of the modern day approaches to life purpose leave out: BEING.

I recently posted a summary of Oprah’s new book The Path Made Clear where she shares inspiration and perspectives from the world’s greatest visionaries, artists, teachers, and trailblazers. Guess what she realized about all of them?

“The common thread among them: They have discovered that in this world, there is no real doing without first being.”

Speaking of Oprah, she helped put spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle on the mainstream map. Tolle explains why being is primary and must come before doing. It turns out the ikigai dual meaning is exactly what Eckhart Tolle teaches:

• “The most important thing to realize is this: Your life has an inner purpose and an outer purpose. Inner purpose concerns Being and is primary. Outer purpose concerns doing and is secondary.”
• “Doing is never enough if you neglect Being. The ego knows nothing of being but believes you will eventually be saved by doing. If you are in the grip of the ego, you believe that by doing more and more you will eventually accumulate enough ‘doings’ to make yourself feel complete at some point in the future. You won’t. You will only lose yourself in doing. The entire civilization is losing itself in doing that is not rooted in Being and thus becomes futile.”
• “Your inner purpose is to awaken. It is as simple as that. You share that purpose with every other person on the planet – because it is the purpose of humanity. Your inner purpose is an essential part of the purpose of the whole, the universe and its emerging intelligence.”
• “Awakened doing is the alignment of your outer purpose­ (what you do) with your inner purpose (awakening and staying awake).”

Maria Popova, author of the deep-thinking blog Brain Pickings, agrees:

• “I frequently worry that being productive is the surest way to lull ourselves into a trance of passivity and busyness the greatest distraction from living, as we coast through our lives day after day, showing up for our obligations but being absent from our selves, mistaking the doing for the being.”