The Art of Simple Living: 100 Daily Practices from a Zen Buddhist Monk for a Lifetime of Calm and Joy

by Shunmyō Masuno

Life requires time and effort. That is to say, when we eliminate time and effort, we eliminate life’s pleasures.

Namely, when you’re uncertain, simplicity is the best way to go.

Objects do not have merely one purpose. They can be used in myriad ways, depending upon the user’s imagination. How will you use an object? That is the aesthetic concept of mitate. There is abundance not in the accumulation of things, but in knowing how to use things well.

“First the parent dies, then the child dies, and at last the grandchild grows old and dies. That is the natural order. If your family is able to experience death in the natural order, you will have the greatest happiness.”