The wisdom of chisoku — A Japanese stoic concept I apply to desire little and know satisfaction

When enough is enough

Photo by Anne Laure P on Unsplash

Hedonic treadmill affects all of us in different ways. It’s a concept that explains our natural tendency to continuously seek new pleasures, one after another. It suggests “our happiness levels don’t fluctuate over the long term.” “You want something because you think it’ll make you happy, and maybe it does, briefly. But then the new thing loses its shine andyou revert to your earlier, less happy state. This is the ‘hedonic treadmill’, and we all seem to be trapped on it,” says Oliver Burkeman.

Chisoku, a Japanese concept that teaches the wisdom of knowing satisfaction and desiring less, has improved my perception of wants and needs. It means “contentment while desiring little,” “wanting little and being content,” and “desiring little and knowing satisfaction.” It also means to have few desires. It’s about knowing how to stay satisfied in life. Be content with what you’ve got.

I think of it as a kind of mental minimalism.

“In Buddhism we say Chisoku, which means “Be satisfied.” Knowing how much is enough is about finding satisfaction in what you already have. Human desire is endless. Once we acquire one thing, we desire ten of them. And when we acquire ten things, we want a…