Blending Minimalist-Karma yogi lifestyle ~ one of the answers to everyday problems
The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. ~ M.K. Gandhi
I don’t agree with Gandhi on many terms but being rather eclectic by nature (i.e cherrypicking only those concepts which makes sense to me), this quote resonates with the core philosophy of minimalism.
Remember the dude who told Alexander to step aside so he could bath in sunlight when the Great world conqueror asked the sage what he wished. Deogenes is the bloke. He is considered as the pioneer of Minimalism. He resorted to begging for a living. He threw away a bowl when he saw a young urchin using his bare hands as a cup to drink water. Seeing his simplicity, detachment from materialism and boldness, Alexander had remarked “Was I not Alexander, I could desire to be Deogenes.”
While living an extreme degenerate & carefree lifestyle of Deogenes is practically not feasible, there are stories of known saints in India from where we could draw minimalism oriented work culture. A saint known as Ghadhge Maharaj while singing devotional songs also used to complete small pending jobs of household owners. He used to accept wages in food or any other requirement through them only when he finished a task in their house. This work methodology is actually a blend of minimalism & Karma-yogis. The driving factor of people who are recognized as Karma-yogis is completing work with complete renunciation from expectations of the fruit of the labor.
Another Sufi musician, when asked on how could he compose such melodious music, remarked, “I am just a hole in the flute played by god. Enjoy the music.” True humility is such a rare gem of quality these days.
Karma yogis disclose that there maybe be initial pains when you choose this path but given time you realize that the ultimate joy yields from completing the work itself. And this joy in-turn fuels oneself to strive for betterment in one’s character and surrounding environment.
Death is a state in which consciousness enters when it can no longer endure the pain of existence. Enlightenment is perceived to make this transition more comfortable. Many fathom enlightenment as one size fits all solution to everyday problems and it could even turn out to be so. It’s just a matter of realization that the notion of perceiving a case scenario as a problem is nothing but your perception about it. In Buddha’s case it was acceptance of mortality which led to his liberation. Perfection, dreams, ambition are the carrot at the end of the stick that makes hamsters of men fueling the energy for the ferris wheel which feeds the greed of the rare few who understand this endless cycle. The never-ending drive for betterment ultimately worns out the body and one fine moment when the mind has had it enough, you completely breakdown or plan for death. No wonder it is said the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Lots of religions and eventually philosophies point towards detachment for achieving Moksha/Nirvana/Enlightenment. Minimalism is one of the quickest & shortest path towards this goal. You don’t totally detach yourself from everyday needs but gradually make a firm decision to retain only those commodities which are bare essentials for motivation.
The futility of chasing materialistic/ego filled dreams/ambitions could be cited from Alexander’s last wishes. Alexander wished that his dead body be carried to the pyre on a path laid by all the treasure he had accumulated in his life. And his body was to be shifted by only those doctors who had treated him.
By these two wishes he made it quite evident that no matter how much wealth you accumulate in your life, you can never carry it with you when your life comes to an end. And, no matter how lavishly you maybe treated by any doctor, none can save you from death.
Ending this article with three of my favorite quotes:
All this time, we got the fable of sleeping beauty wrong. The prince didn’t kiss her to wake her up. No one who’s slept for a hundred years is likely to wake up. It was the other way around. He kisses her to wake himself up from the nightmare that has brought him there. ~ The fall of Max Payne
“Thank you lord for the roof on our heads, for the food on our table & for the gift of companionship. Amen.” ~ The book of Eli : Prayer of Gratitude
