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6 EASTERN HORIZON | LEAD ARTICLE

How is simplicity connected to Buddhist path. Can you briefly of greed, hatred, and delusion is
the Buddha’s original teaching explain how this is possible common to all.
on how we can overcome our especially for lay people?
suffering? It is said that to lead a simple life
The key is to know what is meant we should completely remove the
When we develop mindfulness, by the Pāli term nekkhamma. This unnecessary. Does this include
we will see clearly in our own is typically translated into English giving up all our comforts in life
experience that greed, hatred, and as “renunciation,” which has many as part of the Buddhist emphasis
delusion generate complication. unfortunate associations, such as on letting go?
To be wrapped up in wanting, austerity, deprivation, or dourness.
not wanting, or confusion creates But the actual teaching from the Let’s be a little careful to distinguish
an entangled relationship to the Buddha is this idea of nekkhamma. simplicity from renunciation, in
present moment, which is part of case they are being equated in our
the suffering. The term nekkhamma is used in mind. I consider simplicity to be a
a variety of ways throughout the foundational value in creating a life
Consider also the activity called suttas. Looking at the whole range, centered around Dharma practice.
papañca, conceptual proliferation. we discover that it is linked to Of course, valuing simplicity is
Most often, this refers to the several beautiful qualities: Faith, broader that that – for instance,
complex thought trails we get ethics, happiness, and wisdom. many environmentalists who are
caught up in, but some teachers also These are qualities available to lay not Dharma practitioners also have
link it all the way down to subtle Buddhists as well as monastics. this value – but one important
projections that distort the stillness aspect of valuing simplicity is to
of meditation. Whenever the mind We also see in the suttas that support a Dharma life.
lets go of this complication, there is nekkhamma takes different forms
immediate ease, spaciousness, and along the path. It plays a role in the For some Dharma practitioners,
clarity. The mind of an arahant is initial turning away from worldly renunciation (or really, nekkhamma
nippapañca – without papañca. goals toward a life of Dharma. It – see above) is a salient feature of
can also refer to the process of their path, and hence the value of
In a teaching that the Buddha gave abandoning the hindrances in order simplicity is given a primary place.
to Mahapajapti Gotami (his aunt, to gather the mind in meditation. Simplicity of body, speech, and mind
who raised him as a baby – AN 8.53), And even the deeper release of forms a guiding principle.
he says that the direction of our grasping and ignorance can be called
practice goes toward “shedding, not nekkhamma. For this reason, I called Because nekkhamma is associated
accumulating; modesty, not self- it an underpinning to the entire path. with wisdom, it is something that is
aggrandizement; and contentment, to be done wisely – bringing benefit
not discontent.” If we find these There is also a specific meaning of to ourselves and others. It follows
things (and several others) emerging nekkhamma to literally leave the that not all acts of simplification, or
along our path, we are definitely home life and ordain. Only in this letting go, are actually nekkhamma.
practicing the Dhamma and moving narrow sense would it apply to
toward overcoming suffering. monastics but not laypeople. We need many supports to walk
the path. For some, this includes
In your book Full Simplicity, you More broadly, all Buddhist material ease and relational
mentioned renunciation is for practitioners are enjoined to live connections, at least for a while. It
both monastics and laypeople ethically, purify the mind, and is possible to let go of things too
as it provides a broad and deep practice what the Buddha taught. soon out of some kind of idealism,
underpinning to the entire The basic movement of letting go delusion, or aversion. If you find