Benefits of simple living

By Taru Bahl

BEAUTY, they say, needs no adornments, ‘tis most adorned when unadorned. Sometime back, one saw a girl in a department store. She was clad in a gown which had tiger stripes printed on it. Though she had used heavy make-up, it failed to hide her sallow and patchy skin. Her hair, despite the chemical treatments it had received, were coarse and lifeless. Her fashion accessories made her look like a gaily decorated Christmas tree, while her anorexic figure made her look older than her 18-odd years. Where was the natural beauty and freshness of youth? The sad thing was that she was not bad looking.

Houses reflect not just a person’s social status but also the owner’s character, taste and lifestyle. But, most of us go on a decoration over-drive, cramping inner and outer spaces with all the artefacts we can lay our hands on. The mishmash may obstruct physical movement, accumulate layers of dust and may not even be aesthetically appealing, yet we keep on piling an assortment of objects. Our ‘to-buy’ list never seems to exhaust itself.

Study desks (whether at home or in the office) are again a picture of perfect clutter. We find it easy to hoard but difficult to chuck. In the bargain, the in-trays in our life overflow with superfluous, irrelevant things and the out-trays remain neglected. If you find yourself disorganised, running against time, in a state of disarray, short-tempered, intolerant and suspicious, you should know that it has a lot to do with the junk you have accumulated, not just in your life but also in your mind.

According to Tao philosophy, "If you want to be free, learn to live simply. Use what you have and be content where you are. Quit trying to solve your problems by moving to another place, by changing mates or careers. Leave your car in the garage. If you have a gun, put it away. Sell that complex computer and go back to using pencil and paper. Rather than read every new book that comes along, re-read the classics. Eat food grown locally. Wear simple, durable clothing. Keep a small home, uncluttered and easy to clean. Keep an open calendar with periods of uncommitted time. Have a spiritual practice and let family customs grow. As you rely less and less on knowing just what to do, your world will become more direct, more powerful. You will discover that the quality of your consciousness is more potent than any technique, theory or interpretation."

Mahatma Gandhi said, "civilisation, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication but in the deliberate reduction of wants. This alone promotes real happiness and contentment". Dr Shrikant, who is the honorary Dean of the S.P. Jain Institute of Management in Mumbai, says that the more he cuts down, the more time he has to be happy.

Real life experience has taught Subodh, an IIT graduate who is corporate hi-flier, that chasing ego-based goals may help you scale the professional ladder but it takes away the serenity of your mind. According to him, when you move away from tangible goals — power, money, position and fame, towards a more intangible fulfilment, you begin to believe in what you are rather, than what you have.

Ultimately, simple living emerges from being a simple person. Developing trust in life and dropping survival attitudes is what leads to simplicity.

Most of us think that simplicity is something that can be embraced in the twilight of one’s life when material desires have diminished and disillusionment in personal relationships has set in. But seeing the frenetic pace of modern lifestyles and the kind of pressures it puts on the individual, it makes sense to embrace simplicity, if not in toto, at least partially.

Simple people don’t have to necessarily bid adieu to the physical comforts of life, they need not get complacent about their ambitions and future plans, they don’t have to opt out of the rat race, allowing others to ride rough shod over them. On the contrary, by being simple in body, mind and spirit, you are emerging as a stronger human being. One who has control not only over the environment but also the mind.

You find heat unbearable so you invest in air conditioners — in the car, bedrooms, and office. Then you go in for generators and inverters to see you through erratic power cuts. Travel too is in air conditioned train coupes/coaches. Now what happens on days you are caught in a traffic-jam and your car conditioning packs up? You are impatient, irritable and flustered. In the office when the air conditioning plant is non-functional, you find your productivity level abysmally low.

In summers, when you are on outstation duty, rather than stay with friendly cousins, who are still roughing it out with noisy desert coolers, you prefer checking into a hotel so you can catch your forty winks in cool but synthetic comfort. As lives get more and more consumer driven, needs and desires increase manifold. The thin line between necessity/comfort and luxury/waste gets blurred, mainly because we don’t think it merits attention.

The moment you decide to simplify your life and make conscious attempts to do so, you find tolerance levels going up and everything around becoming less complicated, more beautiful. Expenditures decrease, you are more focused, organised and in control of yourself.

You discover positive facets to people and situations, adding spiritual dimensions to your relationships. There is more wisdom in the solutions you seek and greater courage to implement them. There is clarity since all the ambiguity in your mind, the ifs and buts, have been wiped out. You don’t collapse in times of stress.

Begin the elimination process by making a list of things you can immediately dispense with — at the physical, emotional and psychological level. Things whose absence doesn’t make you cringe and which don’t undermine your sense of identity. As the concept of simplicity gets embedded in your psyche, you will find it easier to also do away with things which matter. You will learn to let go and flow with the tide. To quote Tao on the paradox of letting go, "when I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need."

There is this story about a businessman and a cobbler, who were neighbours. The rich man felt sorry for the cobbler who worked so hard to make his ends meet. One day, he magnanimously made a donation of Rs 5,000. The cobbler had no almirahs, lofts, trunks or drawers, so he stashed away the booty under the bed. Now began a search for a sturdy lock. Even after locking, bolting and securing the doors and windows, sleep eluded him. He would jump in fear at the sound of approaching footsteps or the prattling of birds. When neighbours peeped inside, he doubted their intent, when customers came visiting, he packed them off quick, lest they found out about his new -found riches. When he saw that he had become a nervous wreck and had lost his friendly light-hearted ways , which were so much a part of his carefree life, he returned the money. He was happy the way he was. Simplicity for him was not a hollow sentiment or a temporary expedient; it was a living creed.