The Benefits of Minimalist Living

Today, we’ll explore how simplifying your life can bring you clarity, calm, and a genuine sense of freedom. Minimalism also brings noticeable financial benefits. When we become more selective about what we bring into our lives, we avoid impulse purchases and unnecessary spending. Instead of chasing trends or filling emotional gaps with material things, we learn to appreciate what we already have.

Starting a minimalist lifestyle becomes easier when we focus on clear, simple actions. The first step is to declutter a small area. Choose a spot that feels manageable – a single drawer, one shelf, or your bedside table. The goal is to completely clear this area so you can see and feel the improvement immediately. The second step is to keep only what you use or truly value. The next essential step is to adopt mindful buying habits. Before making any purchase, pause and ask yourself: Do I really need this? Will I still use it a month from now? Do I already have something that serves the same purpose? Waiting 24 hours before deciding can also help curb impulse purchases. The final step is to establish simple daily routines that maintain a clear, calm space.

Our Beloved and Caring Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) encourages practical ways to simplify our living spaces, showing that minimalism promotes efficiency, sustainability, and ease of maintenance. “Simplify life, like, if you don’t need a big house anymore. As I told you already, what to decorate in your small house, very simple. Just a small bed, or big bed if two people. Because a small house, you don’t need to clean a lot also. Use less water to clean, less energy, electricity to vacuum. In my house, or in my mountain farm house, I use only like car vacuum. The vacuum for the car? That’s enough. There are some vacuums for the car, they equip also extra with some, like a brush. You can extend it a little bit, and that brush, you can vacuum your carpet or your floor. And then after that, simply just spray around with vinegar water, vinegar solution, 50/50 or 40/60. Just spray all over and then mop it. One time, finished. All clean, fresh; any smell's gone.”

The minimalist lifestyle is not just a modern trend – it has long been practiced by Enlightened Masters and other spiritual practitioners. For centuries, these spiritual teachers have embraced simplicity to cultivate clarity, focus, and inner peace. As Lord Milarepa (vegetarian), the distinguished Tibetan poet, said: “I have no desire for wealth or possessions, and so I have nothing. I do not experience the initial suffering of having to accumulate possessions, the intermediate suffering of having to guard and keep up possessions, nor the final suffering of losing the possessions.” By living with only what is necessary, they remove distractions and create space for reflection, mindfulness, and compassion.