Is it simple to embrace simplicity?
Amarnath Wadehra

VIRTUES of simple living and high thinking are drilled into our minds at the impressionable school-going age itself. Even today, in schools, men like Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave are held out as paragons of simplicity imbued with high mindedness. Yet the common perception of simplicity is different. It is a philosophy that one never practises, or even preaches today. Simplicity is something we have begun to feel ashamed of in real-life situations. Why? There can be so many reasons.

Often we confuse a simple person with a simpleton. But there is a vast difference between the two concepts. A simpleton is basically an uninformed individual — not cognisant of the ways of world. Innocent? Perhaps gullible? Probably. Ignorant? Certainly. Ignorance perpetuates gullibility, not simplicity. Again let us not confuse a simpleton with the rustic. Despite the impression he gives, the latter has an earthy shrewdness that helps him get along in this world.

Let us give an example of a fictitious character the likes of which one is likely to encounter in real life too. He is a wise man. Extremely wise. Looks right through you. Though he’s not had much schooling but he moves around meeting people and making them fond of him in no time with his confidence that has roots in his wisdom. And the same thing also makes him awfully simple. He communicates with people, animals and God as if he is speaking to himself. No difference or prejudice blots his worldview. He always has a thing or two to tell about how people think and what their expectations are, be it elders or kids.

That’s the simplicity that arises from natural wisdom, unlike the simplicity of a villager which can be traced back to his ignorance. Again, academic excellence does not lead one towards simplicity. The contemporary educational system doesn’t help much in fighting off little apparitions of false ego that keep raising their heads every now and then whenever one takes a few steps forward in the path of knowledge. Thus the aspiration for true enlightenment, when not met, becomes a toxic raw material, which is both expensive and hazardous. It can mutate into such psychological distortions as arrogance, false ego and socially unacceptable behaviour.

Who then is a simple person? He is the one who consciously adopts a lifestyle sans frills and complications. He chooses to shun sophistry and leads a life of substance without actually making a show of it. Ostentation is foreign to his nature. He is truly a sophisticated person for whom simplicity is the highest form of ideal. It involves disciplining of the mind, the spirit and the body. Over a period of time, we are exposed to influences that either hurt or bloat our ego. In the former case, one sometimes resorts to aggressive egotism in order to hide one’s hurt and phobias. In the latter case, one tends to look down upon others through sheer conceit. Thus one evolves an attitude that prevents one from adopting a clear down-to-earth worldview. Too many complications in our thought processes warp our personality. What is the way out? Perhaps one should listen to American writer Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) when he says, "Our life is frittered away by detail...Simplify, simplify."

Often when one is still young, one becomes a slave of the ego. Ego sprouts only when we have not encountered life’s deep and turbulent waters. When you acquire enough experience, you will realise that it takes several lifetimes to get to the other side of the ocean. Experience helps in our evolution as we gradually shed our ego. Evolved souls see unity in all creation and find no difference between the self and other. Simplicity comes with such self-realisation.

Some people cast off material assets in the name of simplicity, while others remain uncomplicated in their worldview even while enjoying all material provisions of life. Still others devote themselves completely to intellectual pursuits — not for glory or material gains, but just for the sheer joy of it. Here one is reminded of the German-born US painter Hans Hoffman’s observation, "The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak."

Certainly, simplicity is not all that simple!