Living the Minimalist Lifestyle
What Is Minimalism?
In the world we are living in now, we are conditioned to believe the acquisition of wealth and possessions is the objective of our lives. When we turn on the TV and radio, log on to the internet, or read magazines and the newspaper, advertisements that encourage spending and buying jumps right into our face. Our society defines success by looking at how much wealth and material possessions we have accumulated. The more we have, the more successful we are. In order to conform to our society’s rules, we spend our time and effort working to acquire as much as possible. However, some of us have decided to live a lifestyle that goes against what the society expects of us. Instead of accumulating more material possessions, we get rid of what we don’t need and refrain from getting more.
Many people have misconceptions about the minimalist lifestyle. They think that the minimalist lifestyle is about retreating into the woods or places far away from modern amenities. This may be what some minimalists are doing, but not all minimalists practice the lifestyle to this extent. Minimalist lifestyle is about living with less and only with what we need, not what we want. In fact, the concept of minimalism is not new; spiritual practitioners such as monks and nuns are the very early adopters of this concept. They have realised the acquisition or accumulation of wealth and material possessions is a distraction to genuine contentment and happiness. Therefore, they choose to live a simple life, abstaining from unnecessary material possessions and focus on the spiritual practice for real happiness.
The Benefits of Living a Minimalist Lifestyle
We learn to let go: It is hard to be a minimalist in the beginning as the first thing we have to do is to go through what we have and decide what to dispose of or get rid of. Normally, we are very attached to our possessions, and we find it hard to give them away. Adopting a minimalist lifestyle forces us to learn to give things away. Not only do we learn to give away our physical possessions, but we also learn to let go of our emotional baggage, because neither of these things are useful to us.
We learn to appreciate what we have: Becoming a minimalist requires us to change our mindset of how we see things. Since minimalism is about getting what we need rather than what we want, we stop looking at what we don’t have. Instead, we look at what we do have and make the best out of it, so there is no need to purchase more. We become more appreciative of the things and people around us.
We have less financial burden: When we dispose of things that we don’t need anymore, there will be more room in the house. We may not even need such a big space anymore. We can even downsize enough to move to a smaller house and pay less for the roof over our head. We will also find our expenses reduced due to fewer purchases of items.
We have better health: Our success is not defined by how much we have anymore or how society judges us. We stop chasing material possessions and stop constantly thinking of what we don’t have. We don’t have to worry about losing our possessions or if we are able to pay the bills for the things that we acquire. As a result, we are more focused on our state of mind and life become less stressful.
We have better relationships with people: When the acquisition of material possessions is no longer our goal in life and we have less to worry about, we are able to focus and spend our energy doing things that are more meaningful. When our focus is not about acquiring more to fulfil our desires, we are able to focus outward to observe what other people around us need, and do something to help. This creates a pleasant experience for people and thus builds a better relationship with them.
We have more time: We will take back our time, as we don’t have to spend so much time cleaning the house or taking care of our material things. Time can be spent for self-improvement or doing more meaningful things in life, such as volunteering our time in NGOs to do something more meaningful and fulfilling.
How to Start a Minimalist Lifestyle
Spring Cleaning
First, it’s time to look at what we have in the house and dispose of what is not needed. Start with one room first. The rule for disposal is if the items have not been used for more than three months (90-day rule), most likely this is something we don’t really need. As we apply the 90-day rule, we might find we only need five pairs of trousers and five shirts, two pairs of shoes, three towels, two bedsheets, one bag, etc. After the spring cleaning, we will have more space. We can even consider downsizing to a smaller living space, which will reduce our expenses.
Organise Items by Category
After the unused items are disposed of, organise those that we need by category. This helps to declutter our living space and be more organised, making our living space clean and tidy.
Be Mindful When Making Purchases
Before we make any purchase, always ask ourselves, do we really need it? Only buy what we need, not what we want. Buy items that can be used for different purposes so no additional storage space will be needed. If we really have to purchase, apply the one-out-one-in rule, meaning an item can only be purchased if we can get rid of an item in the house.
Limit Time Spent on Various Forms of Media
TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, the internet and other social media platforms constantly reinforce consumerism in the audience. They create the wants in us and encourage us to acquire more material things and we can be easily influenced.
Conclusion
Many people who adopt the minimalist lifestyle say their quality of life has improved. With fewer material things, they are actually happier. They are healthier, as they no longer chase after what they don’t have. They have a better relationship with people as they can focus outwardly more and care more for others. What they say is true, because if we look at the monks and nuns who don’t own anything, they don’t look miserable, they don’t suffer from depression, and they are always happy. The unhappy people are those who are rich materially. Therefore, getting rid of the material things we have and keeping them at a minimum can help us to refocus and re-prioritise our life. Having less things in life is actually finding freedom in life. With minimalism, we can gain the freedom from fear, worry, guilt and depression.
Sources:
- Millburn, Joshua Fields, “Minimalism Is Not a Radical Lifestyle”, https://www.theminimalists.com/radical/ (accessed: 12 May 2019)
- Murray, Christopher, “Minimalist Living: Is Minimalism Just A Fad? Or Can It Really Help You Solve All Your Financial Problems?”, https://www.moneyunder30.com/minimalist-living (accessed: 12 May 2019)
- Williamson, Tina, “Top 8 Benefits of Living a Minimalist Top 8 Benefits of Living a Minimalist Lifestyle”, 30 August 2018, https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/top-8-benefits-living-minimalist-lifestyle.html (accessed: 12 May 2019)
- “What Is Minimalism?”, https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ (accessed: 12 May 2019)
- Harveston, Kate, “A Beginner’s Guide To Starting A Minimalist Lifestyle, https://lifegoalsmag.com/a-beginners-guide-to-starting-a-minimalist-lifestyle/ (accessed: 12 May 2019)
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Everyone, just check our room and then our house, you will find out that some of the stuffs you are not touch them for years. It is time to get rid of them, just donate them and you can benefit others who need them. Our greed and attachment always cause us to buy and keep things which are not necessary for life. My experience to have less things and only purchase what we really need I truly feel that save time to clean and arrange, less financial worry and more happy, these are all mentioned in the article.
Wants V.S. Needs
Wants give us burdens & sufferings
Needs give us peace & time to do better things than chasing materialism blindly.
We’re come with emptied hands, same when we go.
This is simple and yet so hard to execute. Learning to be a minimalist is a good training in life as it serves as a constant reminder to be contented with what we already have and reduces our desire for more. Will try to practise it from time to time.
Hi Siow Lee,
I agree with your comments! I started on this about one month ago and although I’m definitely not minimalist, there is a certain sense of freedom even practising just 10-20% of what minimalism espouses! It’s definitely worth an attempt!
Pastor Jean Ai
Many people like luxurious life. They want many things in their house, in their life. But they never thought of, most the time in our life, to keep everything simple and minimalist is the most peace of mind, easiest thing and simplest thing to do in life. I like minimalist lifestyle, it’s simple and nice. Seeing many things in the house, makes me feel onjested and suffocated. To keep our life minimalist, we just buy things we need to use. Keep things that are needed. It can help us to save money, don’t waste money on materialistic. Most of all, when we live a minimalist lifestyle, it’ll help us to stay away from attachments to materialistic.
Actually it is good to adopt a minimalist lifestyle as it reduces our desire to wanting everything. Being a minimalist we don’t need a big space to live. Being minimalist also reduces the waste that we need to get rid off. Being in the modern like now, if we want to adopt this minimalist lifestyle is not easy but need to to start slow and get use to it. Eventually we will get there.
Actually I found out that lesser things around the house or in the room make you feel more space and peace. Besides, it’s another way of training our mind to be get attached to certain material.
i love minimalism actually. The less we have the better we can manage ourselves. In actual fact, we don’t need so much of things and just imagine the amount of rubbish of unwanted stuffs being thrown to the landfills. If only we can cultivate this minimalism to the world then we potentially can save our mother earth from more harm.
I don’t really like it when there are too many things lying around. It takes up a lot of space, dust and wastage. I like it when everything is kept to a minimum. Spending so much time and money on material things is such a waste. I like to spring clean once in a few months as I get claustrophobic when things pile up and I always donate them to the less fortunate. It’s good not to be attached to too many things.
Minimalist living is about being intentional with what you choose to do … and how it impacts our way of living, thinking, and perspective on life. By adopting a minimalist lifestyle, we can throw out what we don’t need in order to focus on what we do need. Living a minimalist lifestyle is reducing what we do not need it . There is a few , life-changing benefits for us to live simple , less cleaning and stress, a more organized household and that’s where we could save some cash for the raining days. What we don’t usually realize is that when we reduce, we reduce a lot more than just stuff. Letting go of things we do not need and we will experience a freedom like never before….. a freedom from greed, debt, and overworking.
Thank you Rinpoche for this wonderful sharing.
I like this article about living in a minimalist style. Everyday we are being planted with ideas of getting more things, material, staying in bigger house, getting a bigger car and list goes on. It is never enough. The more we are being influence by all these possession, the more we have to work to get money. It is never enough to satisfy our wanting.
I like the idea of 90 day rule. It’s true that we sometimes don’t need such items but bought it due to advertisement influence. It’s important for us to de-clutter our belongings. When our living area is clean and tidy, our mind will follow suit. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article.
I truly agree to living as a minimalist. Only buy what we really need and not what we want and end up collecting rubbish later on. Less things in the house is also easier to clean and mop. It’s also much healthier for the mind and soul. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for sharing this enlightening advice to imrprove our lifestyle. ?????
Thank you Rinpoche and the blog team for sharing a short write up on this new age way of living. Minimalism to me is a very Buddhist way of living. In this way of living, one is required to remove extra things in our life which we do not require. Anyone that took up this new way of living will realise how much junk or unnecessary things that we keep around us or want to get daily.
In reality, we only need a few things to survive and all the extra stuff are luxury. In this era of degeneration, the environment that we live in that keep telling us that we have to constantly get more things. Getting more is better than losing and the more you get, the happier you are.
That is a very wrong way of thinking because it is proven to be not true. Some of the most miserable people in the world who are constantly in depression are among the most wealthy people. Contrary, people who live simply such as monks and nuns in the monastery or nunnery are the most cheerful and kind people in the world.