We're All In This Together (19) - Simplify!

[Jundo]

Gassho, J

STLah

[Tai Do]

Thank you, Jundo.
My wife and I accumulated a lot of stuff in 10 years together. We were thinking of donating many things and live a more "minimalist" style of life.
Perhaps now we can use this time to sort out what we really need and what is better in the hands of ohter people who will benefit more.


Mateus
Sat/LAH

[Tairin]

We’ve been in the process of purging for the past several months. It is on hold now as places like Goodwill have suspended donations for the time being

Purging stuff gives me a real chance to decide if the item is of value.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Nengei]

Truly one of our greatest "needs." It is so overwhelming!

Gassho,
Nengei
Sat. LAH.

[Doshin]

Doshin
St

[Hokin]

Thank you Jundo for the reminder!
Here in Mexico there is a popular saying which goes: "No es más rico el que más tiene, sino el que menos necesita"(It isn't richer the one who possesses more, but the one who needs less)! Definitely worth a try!
Personally in my life I have experienced the most sincere and deepest happiness when I could accept and really feel content with actually nothing at all! Also if we "possess" something but actually truly see that we don't really possess anithing at all...then that could be a very good starting point....and let it all flow...complete the circle...let go when it is time to....when it is proper...helthier...useful...
And last but not least: to learn how to use things we "possess" for the benefit of those who surround us! Than that would be a very positive, creative way in which "possessions" are freed of a particular owner but get to be what they really always are anyway: Dancing Life!

Gassho.
Arya.
Sat Today.

[Washin]

Washin
sat/lah

[budajiho]

Thank you, Jundo!
Over the last number of years I have given away most of my possessions other than some bare essentials. It's a truly freeing feeling! Much less to worry about. Thanks for the reminder!
Jiho
sat/lah

[Kotei]

Thank you Jundo.
I was once living a much simpler life, too.
There is some room for improvement... letting go of things...

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Heiso]

Thank you Jundo, a great reminder. Although where I am there seems to be a few people doing this as there are piles of books and dvds outside houses with signs saying 'help yourself', so maybe people are taking stock of what they really need.

Gassho

Heiso

StLah

[Kendrick]

Thank you, Jundo.

“What is the real treasure in your life that money can’t buy?”
~Jundo Cohen

This is a wonderful message. I am a large proponent of minimalism - not the exactly the materialist, aesthetic "minimalism" of high end, designer furniture in expensive New York lofts type of minimalism but more of the "what do I really need?" type of minimalism. I really do believe that this pandemic is giving many people new perspective into the things that matter most to them, OR also highlighting their neurosis (also potentially useful).

Gassho
Kendrick
Sat

[Ryoku]

Thank you Jundo. The circumstances we find ourselves in have forced a simpler existence, not by choice but by necessity for health and safety. It gives us a chance to look around and take an inventory of everything with which we’ve weighted ourselves down. For me and my family it takes actual effort to prevent the accumulation of possessions that eventually are relegated to storage eventually anyway. Lighten your pack, makes it easier to float through life.

Gassho,

Ryoku

[Onka]

One of the best things to happen to my partner and I was to lose literally everything including a car in the 2011 floods here. We weren't insured so started again from scratch. When we can eventually move to a colder climate we expect that we will be taking very little with us. My partner has lived around 25 years in places that couldn't be secured from people or to an extent the elements. I've lived with her the past 15 years. It's liberating to not have a house key. It really feels like you're accepting of the reality of living with the elements including the less desirable elements of the human condition. We both have always just had the thinking that possession of possessions can end up possessing you and that if stuff gets stolen then we hope that the folk who stole it needed it more than us. That doesn't mean that if someone steals our ute I won't be disappointed because I will be. We need that ute for all of our medical and day to day stuff but if any of our gardening/farm equipment gets pinched it won't be the end of the world. Simplifying life for my partner and I works, especially as we transition earlier than many into a life with physical limitations.
Too much stuff to worry about is just that.
Gassho
Onka
st

[Nanrin]

After moving out of my parent's house I moved several times a year until a year or so after college. That kept it very easy to keep my possessions down to a few suitcases. Much harder to do these days with a house and family. Sometimes I miss the simplicity of only having a few bags of stuff. That being said, my family lives in a fairly small house (25 sq. m.) and everyone's personal possessions all fit in their small closet.

One time Mahapajapati Gotami, the Buddha's step-mother and the first nun, asked the Buddha to give her the Dhamma in condensed form before going on retreat. The Buddha responded with a list of 8 qualities - things leading to dispassion, being unfettered, not accumulating, modesty, contentment, seclusion, persistence, and being unburden some are the teaching (Dhamma) and practice (Vinaya).

I think almost every temple and house has a box, shelf, drawer, closet, or maybe even a whole room of accumulated excess stuff to let go of. Always nice to find that stuff and send it along its way.

Gassho,

Nanrin

Sat today

[Tairin]

That being said, my family lives in a fairly small house (25 sq. m.) and everyone's personal possessions all fit in their small closet.

25 square metres? Yikes! That is small. That really puts things into focus. Typical North American homes are far larger. Heck 25 square metres would be even really small for an apartment here. Most people I know have houses far larger than they need and then busy themselves filling them up. I am definitely guilty of this although recently I’ve been working to purge items. I have being careful to not just have stuff go to trash but donating anything that could be of value to others.


Tairin
Sat today and lah