All throughout the world, the trend of a minimalist lifestyle is growing. Believed to have originated in either America or Japan, the definition of minimalism differs from person to person, but they all have the same general concept; the conscious decision to live and enjoy life with as little as possible.
The author of the article, “Three shirts, four pairs of trousers: meet Japan's 'hardcore' minimalists” claims that minimalism may not be a modern concept, but rather a “natural outgrowth” of Zen Buddhism and its “stripped-down worldview.” Zen Buddhism is a school of Buddhism that originated in China is strongly influenced by Taoism, a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with life. An example of Zen Buddhism is leaving empty space at a tea ceremony to allow a person’s own imagination to fill in that incomplete area. Buddhists make up 8% of the world, being the dominant religion many developing countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka, as well as the second most common religion in industrial countries, for example, Japan.
However, minimalism does not only hold religious value. These days, there is a big push in both American and international societies to lower or completely eliminate a person’s carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is historically defined as “the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, event, organisation, or product.” Minimalist Graham Hill, who travels the
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Sasaki sold his belongings, resulting in him keeping the money he would have spent on purchasing or refurbishing/rebuying the items in the aftermath of something such as an earthquake. Graham Hill claimed that minimalism is a cheaper lifestyle than the typical hoarding, justifying his claim with “By buying a space that was 420 square feet instead of 600 immediately I’m saving 200 grand. Smaller space is going to make for smaller utilities, save some more money
The Founders Club is one of Florida’s pre-eminent country club and golf communities. The Founders Club offers over 700 meticulously landscaped acres with 262 homes featuring golf, lake, or preserve views. Residents of the Founders Club enjoy the peace and serenity offered by a private community, yet gain easy access to some of the most popular dining, shopping and entertainment throughout Sarasota. The Founders Club offers signature amenities for each resident that includes a classic Robert Trent Jones constructed 18-hole golf course.
Document 1 speaks directly from the Buddhist culture, citing “The Four Noble Truths” and lying down the basic principles of achieving physical and spiritual enlightenment. The document displays the basic ideals that all Buddhists, in and out of China, believed. Furthermore, Zong Mi, a leading Buddhist scholar, compares the Buddha to the Chinese sages, Confucius and Laozi, as all deserving of respect since they all lead to the creation of an orderly society. However, Zong Mi’s position as a Buddhist scholar gives him bias towards wanting to defend
According to Elizabeth Owen, who frequently practices Buddhist teachings, “being calm, centered and compassionate is applicable to all human beings which potentially is the reason that people are attracted to the core beliefs of Buddhism. Peace and compassion are influential concepts which are achieved through Buddhist teachings in Australian society, where this provides an “antidote to the materialism and consumption which dominate the Western society Both the lack of need to appease gods or priests and the absence of adherence to dogmas and myths contribute to the foundations of Buddhism, where they are not so much “tenets of faith as they are those of perceptions held within our own mind According to Elizabeth Owen, “people are turning to Buddhism for its non-violent, peaceful and compassionate
Because the Chinese during the Tang dynasty liked to create statues, they created a statue of Buddha, which represents the blend of cultures with the religion because of the Chinese’s devotion to the religion. Zong Mi, a leading Buddhist scholar, described that “Confucius, Laozi and the Buddha were perfect sages.” and states that their teachings were similar and that “...they must be observed with respect.” (Doc 6). Confucianism, founded by Confucius, and Daoism (Taoism) founded by Laozi are philosophies that were all founded in China and was very popular to Chinese people. With the spread of Buddhism in China, Zong Mi wanted to compare the three philosophies together to where they blend with one another, so that Buddhism would be a religion that can be accepted into the Chinese
Religions have existed for millenniums, cultivation and sculpting the old world into what it is today. Each religion is unique in its own sense, meaning that each religion is its own mix, it’s own jam. Every one of these jams, or religions, have been spread across nations. Some jams are smooth like butter, finding easy acceptance and even easier assimilation, whereas some jams are chunky and laden with difficulties. Buddhism’s jam was one of interesting circumstance, containing a vary of smooth and chunky consistency.
Although Buddhism originated in the sixth century B.C.E, it quickly spread to China by the first century C.E. Buddhism was both accepted and adopted by many, but also opposed by just as many at the same time. Still some Chinese citizens chose to neither fully adopt or fully oppose the religion, but rather incorporated unique Chinese traditions into Buddhism and also created new traditions from it. Buddhism’s spread in China was met with many different responses. However, the mix of responses could be due to the fact that Buddhism’s arrival fell in the middle of a period of instability for China. Documents 2 and 3 are both in favor of Buddhism.
A famous Buddhist scholar during the 9th century named Zong Mi, wrote “ All three teachings lead to the creation of an orderly society and for this they must be observed with respect.” ( Doc 5, Mi) His writings were for the people of the Tang dynasty, who favored his opinion. He mentions society, which leads the reader to believe the religion is widespread and having a effect on society.
“If Buddhism is the greatest and most venerable of ways, why did the great sages of the past and Confucius not practice it?”(Doc. 3) this demonstrates the type of question asked to the scholar and expected to be answered in a manner that would accept the ways of Buddhism. Moreover, Zong Mi, leading Buddhist scholar, called Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism the perfect sages and in a way he defended Buddhism without criticizing Confucianism and Daoism.
“Why Bother” Michael Pollan’s essay “Why Bother” claims both sides of the argument of why people should take action to change their daily lives that will help the environment or if it is a wasted effort to try to change the things that have been done. Pollan repeatedly asks the reader a specific question throughout the essay: Why bother? Why bother slowing down global warming? Why bother walking to and from to make one’s self carbon footprint better? He asks these questions over and over to make the reader engage and think about the environment.
Buddhism instantly strikes the interest of nature and finding the underlying truth of it. In the 1950s, Buddhism is like a fresh breath of air being able to escape the life of the ordinary through communism and consumerism. Meanwhile escaping ordinary society,
Another practice is Feng Shui which is the study of creating elements that are aligned with the natural flow of the universe. Lao-Tzu was a Chinese philosopher and he founded the system of Daoism. Daoist follow Dao through WuWei which is complete detachment from competition and activism and choosing to live in harmony with nature instead. The use this philosophy instead of having any government or empires, they just have small self sufficient communities. In the life after death if immortality is not attained then the Tao will continue to evolve and manifest into different forms.
Hindu ecology makes us catch our breath and enter into a special movement with a state of mind of only gratitude and perfection. I believed this article was very useful for my
In Confucianism Ren and Li enable one to preserve the Dao, when an individual’s Benevolence and the proper manners or behavior pattern combine, a mystical power is produced with human and spiritual relations. Only through ritualized interactions with others and with the spirits can one realize one’s full potential as a human being. Daoism Dao is the primordial entity that exist in an undifferentiated state prior to the coming into being of the myriad things. Daoism evolved out of the same ancient Chinese religious mindset as Confucianism
Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel is a book that examines the connection between a spiritual mindset and a physical action. There are a lot of opinions as to what “Zen” is explicitly defined as; it seems to the author that Zen is the true detachment of desire and acceptance of the present as such. This idea is very difficult to understand, especially to western culture; Herrigel’s fascination with the concept stems from his romanticized view of the East Asian culture. His interest with the mysticism of Zen led him to Kenzo Awa, a Master in the art of Japanese archery, in the hopes of learning more about Zen Buddhist principles. The Zen notion of patience is focused on very early in the book, being one of the perfections necessary
It is a modern form of Buddhism that involves actively however non-violently in the social, economic, political, social, and ecological problems of society (King, The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism, 2005). In contrast, “Engaged Buddhism” has no single founder comparable to Taixu. Engaged Buddhism is a group of independent movements that came up in the 20th century in direct response to the crises in Asia (King, Engaged Buddhism and Humanistic Buddhism: A Comparison of Principles and Practices, 2009). However, the most iconic person representing Engaged Buddhism would be Thich Nhat Hanh, who led anti-war protests, rebuilt villages, resettled refugees, held peace talks internationally and published books during the Vietnam War in 1950s (King, The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism, 2005).