Article – Simplicity

All religions have two messages: how to live a simple life and how to view the world with simplicity. Simplicity is not just a mark of intellectual or spiritual achievement, but also, more broadly, the key to lasting happiness. According to Paramhansa Yogananda, an Indian Hindu monk, “Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become.”

For all the complex theories about life and the world around us that have been written throughout human history, religious prophets and sages often ground their philosophies with an underlying sense of simplicity — that truth and meaning in life are simple matters, but that the simplicity of this wisdom is occluded by our many layers of socialization, biases, prejudices, and baser impulses. If we could remove these artificial layers we too would arrive at a state of simplicity and therefore contentment and happiness.

The simplicity principle often referred to as Occam’s razor is the idea that simpler theories should be preferred to more complex ones. Studies in the field of perception, learning, reasoning and neuroscience have shown that our cognitive processing also shows a bias towards simplicity.

When I was a young child I was inspired by the phrase “simple living, high thinking.” My experience teaches me that the two are inversely correlated. If our psychic energy is directed towards social complexities of life it leaves little room for moral contemplation and spiritual growth, which are more important.

Simplicity is not just a mark of intellectual or spiritual achievement, but also, more broadly, the key to lasting happiness according to many wisdom figures, such as Albert Einstein, who noted, “The trite objects of human efforts — possessions, outward success, luxury — have always seemed to me contemptible.” Mother Teresa suggested that we should “live simply so others may simply live.”

Confucianism

“Unbending strength, resoluteness, simplicity, and reticence are close to benevolence.”—The Analects, Confucian text

Judaism

“The meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.”—The Hebrew Bible (Psalm 37:11), Jewish scripture