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In Zen Buddhism, simplicity is a core principle that encourages you to reduce complexity and cultivate a clear, uncluttered life. And, the first step to a simple life begins with awareness.
According to Medium, this concept is expressed in one of Zen’s most influential texts, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki. Its core message: simplicity can transform how you live. It’s about stripping away the mental noise that fuels disconnection to the present. Keep it simple instead with a Zen approach to navigating a complex world.
Finding Freedom
As you move through life, experience becomes both a gift and a trap. It teaches you and shapes you, but it can also build walls. You begin to carry labels, judgments, and fixed ideas. As a Psychology Today explains, the nonstop flood of content and comparison on social media, ads, and the people around you make it easy to lose your sense of self. Instead of honoring your own rhythm, you end up chasing trends, copying lifestyles, and trying to keep up with a version of success that was never yours to begin with.
The pursuit of wealth, status, or success isn’t wrong, but it’s not always fulfilling. Chasing more money in your pocket can leave you feeling empty handed when it comes to connection, peace, and happiness. You might gain a bigger paycheck or a better title, only to find yourself emptier than before.
In Zen; emptiness isn't cured by more. It’s cured by intimacy with the present moment. According to Medium, you can free yourself by cultivating a beginner’s mind. Instead of running from task to task or drowning in digital chatter, you learn how to truly live in the present. Like a beginner, you greet life with simple curiosity and openness. You stop clinging to results and make space for discovery.
Cultivating a Zen Mind
Embracing a life of simplicity involves living each day with intention by slowing down and being in the present moment. As Healthline explains, the practice of zazen, or seated meditation, brings your awareness to the present. Simply sit in stillness and silence, focusing on the breath while observing the mind without judgement.
Regular zazen meditation forms the foundation of Zen practice, according to a blog on Number Analytics. Over time, it provides a powerful tool for embracing simple living. There’s no goal to chase, no performance to perfect. The practice itself is stripped to its essentials, teaching that clarity comes not from adding, but from subtracting. You learn to let go of distractions and desires. Instead, you create space for being present with what’s already here with full attention, gratitude, and peace. Life becomes enough as it is — a cup of tea, a breath, a moment of stillness.
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