Living Simply

By Paul Kowalewski

 Photo: Pixabay

Living Simply

by Paul Kowalewski

While browsing through a local bookstore the other day I took note of how many “lifestyle magazines” there were, and most of them featured some sort of story about “living simply.”

For the most part, the magazines contained low-fat recipes using organic ingredients, exercise tips and suggestions for home decor in a minimalist fashion – eating well, staying healthy and “Feng Shui” decorating – the pathway to living a “simple life.”

As I looked through those magazines it struck me that “living simply” is essentially at the core of every spiritual discipline, but eating a low-carb diet doesn’t necessarily help a person to “live simply.” Furthermore “living simply” doesn’t necessarily mean, “living poorly.” You don’t have to live in a shack or a hut or drive a run-down used car to live a simple life.

For me, the meaning of “simple living” on the spiritual journey is perhaps best explained by the Buddhist teaching about “detachment” – living life without “craving” or “clinging” to anything or anyone.

Things and possessions: I can enjoy my “stuff” in life without being unduly attached to any of it- to my house or car or money or clothes. I live simply when I don’t constantly “crave” more – always desiring the bigger and better, newer and faster. And – I live simply when I don’t cling to any of my “stuff” -“squirreling it away, stacking it all up in big piles, ready and willing to share what I have with others, especially with those who have less.

Power and status: I live simply when I don’t devote my entire life to climbing the ladder of success – craving more power and greater recognition, often climbing over others to get to where I want to go. I live simply when I don’t spend my waking hours strategizing about how I might impress others because I so highly prize their opinion of me.

Time: “Time” is not something I own or possess. When I live in the past, clinging to my memories or when I spend my time craving future success in the days to come, I am not living simply. I live simply by accepting the “gift” of each and every moment – paying attention to the revelations of the “now.”

Ideas and opinions: Like any human being, of course I have my own beliefs, ideas, and opinions about almost everything in life, but if I rigidly cling to my view of the world and think that my answers are the right answers, I will never experience truth. I live simply when I am able to hold onto my ideas lightly and always allow my answers to be turned into questions.

Other People: I cherish all the people in my life- my spouse and children, friends, neighbors, colleagues. I value the woman who delivers my mail and the guy who checks out my groceries at the supermarket. I live simply when I can hold all these people dear to my heart without clinging to any of them or using them to meet my own needs.

God: “God” is Holy Presence, wild and untamed, unable to be boxed up, categorized, or even named. I live simply when, with an uncluttered mind and wide-open heart, I welcome that Holy Presence every minute of every day, crying out: “surprise me!”

“Live simply!” The spiritual pathway is paved with wonderful surprises all along the way.

Please visit Paul’s blog The Desert Retreat House for more articles, and check out his book on Amazon: http://amzn.to/18IipCI

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