Life is Precious—Don’t Waste It!

As a way to connect with my Japanese bloodline, I’ve been slowly learning my mother’s native tongue. Ten years of studying Japanese language has been sometimes tedious, mostly fun and engaging, and occasionally revelatory. One of the revelatory expressions that has rocked my world is mottainai.

Mottainai (もったいない or 勿体無い, pronounced mot-tie-nye) is a common expression in any Japanese household. Often associated with food, which is how I first heard it, mottainai conveys a sense of regret in wasting something needlessly. In many eras in Japan, food has been a precious resource, at times quite scarce. People have had to be mindful with food, to not let it go bad, not throw it away. Even a single grain of rice is worth preserving and consuming with appreciation for its capacity to nourish. By today’s American standards, where we have such enormous food waste, this can be a radical idea. According to one statistic, in 2021 we Americans wasted 108 billion pounds of food, or 40% of all food. Not wasting food is a mindfulness practice, in and of itself.

Mottainai is also an expression used with other objects, such as old clothes that are resewn or repurposed rather than discarded. There was a wonderful art exhibit at San Francisco’s de Young Museum called The Necessity of Resourcefulness: Lessons from Traditional Japanese Textiles.

https://deyoung.famsf.org/necessity-resourcefulness-lessons-traditional-japanese-textiles

Here we can see the true spirit of mottainai as folk garments and fabrics made from plant fibers that are sewn, and later resewn, into patchwork cloths in rural communities in Japan. What would our wardrobes look like if we shopped less, and patched and repurposed our clothing more?

Mottainai is currently a term being used by environmentalists. While modern Japan can be incredibly wasteful with their addiction to elaborate packaging, the modern environmental movement is reviving the spirit of mottainai as a way to encourage people to “reduce, reuse, recycle, (and respect)”. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, used the term mottainai at the United Nations as a slogan and campaign to promote environmental protection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMw-fP_GRP8

I have since learned from my Buddhist teacher, Ryoei sensei, that mottainai originated as a Buddhist term. It has not fulfilled its purpose. In a spiritual sense, mottainai conveys not only a caution around wasting what still has purpose and potential, but also what inspires a sense of awe and gratitude for the gift of life that is given. In Buddhism, everything has Buddha nature… rocks, trees, grasses, rivers, animals, and humans all have an essential nature that is completely awake. We humans, it is said, all have the capacity to realize that awakened nature, in this very life. Are we fulfilling our purpose? How do we waste opportunities to live our own lives fully? How might we set the intention again and again to live up to our full potential to support the health of ourselves and our planet?

As a wilderness rites of passage guide, I see no better place to explore the spirit of mottainai than on the Earth, with an intimate circle of people wanting to wake up to their fullest potential, in service to all of life. We invite you to contribute to the collective awakening needed on our beautiful life-giving planet by opening to the awe-inspiring blessing of life. Let’s make choices, however big or small, to stop wasting life. Together, may we revere, respect and preserve it.