Fall in Love with Simplicity

Dr. Rajesh Bhola
India
Feb 21, 2014

 

I come across persons who have an innate quality of being so good at heart, so pure and spontaneous, that it does not take time for anybody to fall in love with them. Even a brief talk will them makes you feel the simplicity and innocence of their minds. Such persons indeed fly freely, like clouds in a blue sky. These enlightened persons are mature enough to simply enjoy life as it is, and by doing so liberate themselves. When we develop this courage, to live life as it is - not craving for external facelifts, not spending time on manipulations, not feeling the desire for artificiality, no longer running away, feeling well grounded - we too will experience a profound calmness. We will feel no burden. It will be akin to walking in the woods without disturbing a blade of glass or entering the water without making a ripple. Unfortunately, most of us live very complex lives, which move too fast, deliver too little and demand too much. We are always troubling ourselves to get the next new thing - whether clothes or even friends. While life can be quite simple, we insist on making it complicated. We should learn to cultivate simplicity. An austere lifestyle also has larger ramifications on our general attitude. 

We often succumb to the pushes and pulls of various ‘demands’. With a host of opportunities in today’s society, the pressure and demand to take advantage of them (all) is overwhelming. In both small and big ways, the drive for ‘more’ has taken over our lives. We do not know where we are or where we are going, or what should be our pace. We are constantly feeling pushed to be every thing and to have everything, at the earliest possible; and as a result we live in a continual state of stress. This driven lifestyle has left our souls at unease. We need to change our pattern of life. We need to learn the art of running the race at a different, more meaningful speed, with self imposed speed-breakers and barriers. We need to break free from the high speed, high pressure, high demand and guilt-producing disease of our lives, by taking to simplicity. Simplicity is never achieved by strategic, managerial attempts to schedule our lives, but by living close to nature and loving people. When something is done with a sense of love, it makes our effort also seem simple. As we learn to love people, we experience a shift from the complex to the simple, from a hurried life to a peaceful one. 

A primary spiritual question is: ‘how do we wish to spend our life’s time?’ We should work hard, commit ourselves to important causes and also have time for relationships, spiritual practices, self-care and social involvement. While not every aspect of our work and domestic lives is inherently joyful, we need to seek a lifestyle that allows us to play with children, be with our loved ones and rejoice in simple things - such as following the flight of birds across the sky or observing a butterfly on a summer day. If we live simply, others may too. Our lifestyles contribute to the joys and sorrows of others.  In this interdependent world, whatever any of us do, matters to the planet Earth and to our earthly companions - both human and non-human. In fact, we find peace when our interest widens from self-concern to the well-being of the larger whole; we also gain in spiritual stature. There are so many conflicting messages out there, about how we are supposed to live, that keeping our faith simple…becomes difficult. It is difficult to strip away all the complications, to get back to living by the basics. Simplicity is probably one of the hardest disciplines to develop. 

We can start polishing our beliefs by first getting rid of the things that clutter and cloud our judgments; we can take out some time for solitude, to really reflect on things. Simplicity means making things clearer, cleaner and easier to understand – leading to a basic shift in our core values. As we develop an internal simplicity, its external demonstration will follow. No, we do not have to give up everything…but our status on Earth will not be our status in Heaven. Simplicity gives us more time to focus on what is important in our lives; it provides opportunities for reflection; and it provides space, so that a more contemplative frame of mind can open up - leading to deeper insights, clearer understanding, and to liberation through wisdom. Being simple is indeed a gift.

The great Buddhist saint, Nagarjuna, moved around with only a loincloth and a golden begging bowl gifted to him by the King - who was his disciple. One night he was about to lie down among the ruins of an ancient monastery when he noticed a thief lurking behind one of the columns. “Here, take this,” said Nagarjuna, holding out the golden begging bowl; “you won’t then disturb me once I have fallen asleep.” The thief eagerly grabbed the bowl and made off - only to return the next morning, with the bowl and a request. He said, “When you gave this bowl so freely last night, you made me feel very poor. Please teach me how to acquire the riches that make possible this kind of light-hearted detachment.”

We lack time for others, for our relationships…and even for ourselves. We either ‘put it off’ or just do not know how to get started. We always feel that we will catch up on relationships when a business deal is completed or when we finish a project or when a child finishes his/her studies. This ‘some day’ will not come, unless we take a pause, and decide to simplify our lives. In our frantically driven, complex lifestyle, we suffer from fatigue, shallow relationships and fractured families. Yes, the rat-race effect has even spilled over to our families. We have started to expect the impossible from our kids. We want that they should be very good at studies and sports, and also be rock-stars! We recently lost a 16-year-old, who committed suicide - despite scoring 90% in the Boards, he felt he had done poorly and had disappointed his parents. 

 

Dr. Rajesh Bhola is President of Spastic Society of Gurgaon and is working for the cause of children with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities for more than 25 years. He can be contacted at rabhola@yahoo.com