1198 Words Essay on Simple Living and High Thinking

The adage, “Simple Living and High Thinking”, implies that cultivation of mind is compatible only with a simple and austere style of living. In other words, an austere mode of life is more conducive to higher reaches of thought and con¬templation.

In Indian context, it does not require much effort of imagination to under-stand the implications of this quotation. From the time of antiquity, India has been a home to an unbroken line of sages and Rishis who led a life of austerity and contem¬plation in their Ashrams located in the forests, on the banks of some holy rivers.

They spent their life meditating on the mysteries of nature, cultivating the qualities of head and heart and passing on their knowledge and skills to the royalty and the common people alike without charging any fees and feeling contended with whatever their pupils could give them in Guru Dakshina.

They lived in mud huts, kept a few cows for milk and cultivated a small piece of land for meeting their needs for food. Since their worldly cares were few and whatever these were could be taken care of by the king or the common householders, they could devote most of their time to studies of the scriptures and various branches of knowledge. That explains the richness of their thought and profundity of their philosophy left to posterity in the Upanishads and Shastras. These Rishis of the antiquity were embodiment of Simple Living and High Thinking.

Every act of man costs time and energy. Time spent in accumulating wealth is not available for cultivating the mind by reading or contemplation. What is our life, but the sum total of hours, days and years? Time once gone cannot be recalled. It is up to man to put it to any use he likes.

It is a common spectacle to see even very well- meaning people spending major part of their life in earning money. Many of them admit that money is a means to an end but they want to accumulate plenty of it so that they do not feel the want of it in their old age.

Quite often this foresight extends to the likely requirement of their coming generations too who, they feel, must be secured against any unforeseen contingency of misfortune and must have sufficient resources in the form of accumulated wealth and immovable property to fall back upon.

As they are not able to fix a limit upon their need for money, they keep on earning and accu¬mulating it till the very end of their life. In the process, they neglect imparting proper education and values to their children who more often than not squander the hardearned wealth of their fathers. Life should be lived to the utmost from moment to moment in the light of one’s belief. Living should not be postponed even during youth in the hope of a better old age.

Those preoccupied with the acquisition of material possessions find little time for the disinterested contemplation of beauties of nature. It is only a man fond of simple pleasures of life that would live in the countryside and feast on the beauties of rivers, lakes, roads and mountains.

Such a man not only finds a diversion in the company of nature from the hurries and worries of city life, but very often commemorates his experiences of natural sights and sounds in immortal verse which consoles and inspires generations of sensitive readers.

Thus we come across two great poetic minds of the Romantic era, Wordsworth and Coleridge, paying a prolonged visit to the lake Districts of England and collaborating to produce lyrical ballads in 1798 which heralded the birth of Romantic Poetry in English literature.

The urgency of following the adage ‘Simple Living and High Thinking’ has never been so evident as in the world of today when man has started drawing upon his scarce capital of environmental resources and the spectre of environmental degradation looms large in the immediate future.

If he is to survive and grow, he must slow down the rate of exploitation of waters of the rivers which sustain his agriculture and the plants in the forest which supply the building material and furniture for his luxurious life-style. He has to rein in his uncontrolled desires for lavish food, stylish clothes and cozy apartments because as Gandhi said, ‘Nature has plenty to satisfy man’s needs but not his greed’. Ever increasing wants of modern man if not checked in time will soon drain out all the natural resources of this earth.

A man of simplicity neither pampers his body with sumptuous food nor has mind with self-centered thoughts. He has time enough to think of his fellow men, of relieving their misery and adding some joy to their lives.

Devotion to the cause of humanity comes naturally to him. He finds the true fulfillment of his life in social service. Acharya Vinobha Bhave, moved by the stark poverty of the rural masses of India, initiated Bhoodan movement he travelled great distances on foot moving from village to village and called upon the big landlords to donate their surplus land to the landless people and bring solace to their life. V.P. Singh, the then Raja of Manda was greatly touched by Vinobha Bhave’s exhortations and donated a large chunk of his land in the Bhoodan movement. V.P. Singh thenceforward dedicated himself to the public service and went on to become Prime Minister of India in 1989.

Simple living, high Thinking is both desirable and essential in today’s context. It is desirable for securing a meaningful present for man and is essential for safeguarding the long-term interests of coming generations.

There are no free lunches in the world of nature. Every item of consumption has a cost. Higher level of consumption imposes heavier costs. Consumerism is taking a heavy toll of our bio-mass. Limited cultivable soil is losing its fertility due to over-exploitation. Fossil fuels, the source of motor spirits and power supply are decreasing at an alarming rate. Unless man curbs his desires and reduces his wants, our bio-mass may not be able to sustain the growing consumption of flora, fauna and mineral wealth of our planet.

High thinking is not compatible with ostentatious living. Once Gandhiji decided to work single-mindedly for the liberation of the country, he renounced all worldly ambitions. He gave up his lucrative legal practice.

He chose a loin-cloth for his dress. He took up his abode in Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad and thereafter lived a life of austerity. He spun khadi on the spinning wheel and wore it all his life. Austerity purifies the soul and strengthens one’s resolve to lead purposeful life.

From times immemorial, Indians have paid obeisance to men of learning who used to live a life of austerity in their Ashrams in the woods. Gandhi’s life style, therefore, inspired great respect among the masses. However engrossed common men may be in accumulat¬ing wealth for themselves, they nonetheless have high regard for men who live simple life and practice austerity. Gandhiji, therefore, became not only a leader of men but a Mahatma who was almost worshipped by the masses even during his life time.