Consciousness
of living
“Somebody
should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we
might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever
you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.” Pope Paul VI
To live well, you must always be conscious of your living.
Simplicity in Living
Consciousness of living a
simple lifestyle is the key to happiness and longevity. In this day and age,
living in this complex world of technology is not easy: The complexity of this
world has taken a toll on the human mind, creating undue stress, as well as
many emotional, mental, personal, and psychological attachments in the material
world. For these reasons, profound human wisdom in living is essential to
overcoming stress and letting go of all attachments. Simplicity is the first
step towards detachment, which holds the key to unlocking the door to
happiness. Live a simple lifestyle, deleting all the trimmings of life and
living, as well as all the attachments that may have a negative impact on your
mind.
Epicurus, the Greek philosopher, had this advice on how to lead a
pleasant life: avoiding luxuries, and living simply. The explanation is that
luxurious living may make you into a “needy” person whose happiness always
depends on things that are impermanent and easily lost.
The late Robert
Kennedy once said: “Sometimes I think that the only people in this
country who worry more about money than the poor are the very wealthy. They
worry about losing it, they worry about how it is invested, they worry about
the effect it’s going to have. And as the zeroes increase, the dilemmas get
bigger.”
Can you live a
simple lifestyle to help you let go of all the trimmings of life?
When you were in your
younger days, you might have had many attachments to life that define who you
were, such as the car you were driving, the designer dress you were wearing, or
anything that defined your social status. Can you, at this point in your life,
let go of all these attachments and just lead a simple life?
Living in simplicity
is living a humble life, which is emptying your toxic cravings and attachments.
“All of us also lived among them at one time,
gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and
thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” (Ephesians
2:3)
Attachments create
your ego-self that not only separates you from others but also gives you your
pride, instead of humility.
“Focusing on status
gives us pride, and not humility.
Hoarding worldly
riches deprives us of heavenly assets.
An empty mind with
no craving and no expectation helps us let go of everything.
Being in the world
and not of the world, we attain heavenly grace.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao
Te Ching, chapter 2)
But with humility, we may
see who we really are, not what we wish we were, and what we really need, not
what we want. Humility is self-enlightening.
“Ever humble, we see
the mysteries of all things created.
Ever proud, we see
only the manifestations of all things created.
Only the mysteries,
and not the manifestations,
show us the Way to
true wisdom.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao
Te Ching, chapter 1)
Live a simple life,
especially as you continue to age, and you just don’t die!
Simplicity gives
your clarity of thinking to see the wisdom of living in the present: the past
was gone; the future is yet to come, and only the present is real—a gift from
the Creator, and that is why it is called “present.”
"Simplicity
is clarity.
It
is a blessing to learn from those
with
humble simplicity.
Those
with an empty mind
will
learn to find the Way.
The
Way reveals the secrets of the universe:
the
mysteries of the realm of creation;
the
manifestations of all things created.
The
essence of the Way is to show us
how to live
in fullness and return to our origin."
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 65)
Clarity of thinking may let you have the true human
wisdom to know your true nature, thereby ending your craving and hence your
self-imposed suffering.
In the present
moment, with clarity of mind, you may begin to see the ultimate truths of the
self, others, as well as everything around you. More importantly, you may see
your past follies in identifying yourself with your thoughts that have created
your ego-self, your present futile efforts in striving to protect your
ego-self, and your future futilities in expecting that your ego-self will all
its attachments will continue to exist in the days to come.
Living in the
present is an awakening to the realities of all things. It may afford you an
opportunity to look more objectively at any given situation, allowing
your mind to think more clearly, to separate the truths from the
self-deceptions that might have been created in your subconscious minds all
along.
Focusing on the present
moment liberates you from projecting your desires into the future as
expectations that necessitate your over-doing to guarantee their fulfillment.
“Therefore, we focus
on the present moment,
doing what needs to
be done,
without straining
and stressing.
To end our
suffering,
we focus on the
present moment,
instead of our
expected result.
So, we follow the
natural laws of things.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao
Te Ching, chapter 63)
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
