Part I
INTRODUCTION
"I believe that a simple and unassuming life is best for everyone,
best both for the body and the mind.",
Albert Einstein
What is a simple life? Why should anyone want to live simply? How do you live a simple life? I will explore these questions as I share the fifty year journey that led to my wife, Elizabeth and I to live with our dogs, cats and fishes next to a National Forest, planting trees and vegetables, raising sheep, goats, chickens and rabbits for the idea to produce the best cheese ever made. Join us on this journey as we decide what to leave in and what to leave out.
DISCIPLINE
"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power",
Lao Tzu
I was fortunate to learn self discipline early and it changed my life. In 1970 at the age of 16, I left my home and family in Corona del Mar, California, to attend my father's alma mater, Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington Virginia. Going to military college was not a popular decision at the time as protests were raging across the country against our presence in Vietnam, but I had promised my father that I would attend two years at VMI and he had promised me that he would thereafter pay for whatever college I wanted to attend. (A promise he did not keep as he passed away in the summer after my sophomore year.) When we arrived at VMI we got a haircut and a uniform. Whatever identity we had brought from home was taken away from us. We all looked the same and the incoming class was at the bottom of the pecking order. To be sure we got the point we were called "rats". That first semester at VMI was challenging both physically and mentally and I was questioning the decision I had made. I had never really applied myself in school, just doing enough to get by and that continued at VMI. I could hardly wait for Christmas break when I could return home and spend time with my friends. That reunion was disappointing and eye opening. Many of the kids I knew in high school had spent the months since graduation unemployed, some taking a few classes in junior college, and getting stoned. Those that were working were in dead end jobs. Seeing this caused me to reevaluate my own life and see the value of the path I had chosen. I returned to VMI with the commitment and determination to get the most out of my time there. After the evening meal, I would retreat to an empty classroom and study, seriously applying myself for the first time in my life. Overcoming the challenges I faced at VMI prepared me for the difficult times which were to come in my life and gave me the ability and confidence to overcome those problems as well. As the Greek historian and general Thucydides noted "Self control is the chief element in self respect and self-respect is the chief element in courage". The ability to focus and the discipline I learned at VMI enabled me to make and implement important decisions over the course of my life. I had set goals for my life and I realized that in order to achieve them I would have to exercise self control and live a disciplined life.
DESIRE
"If one’s life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness. Having few desires, feeling satisfied with what you have, is very vital, satisfaction with just enough food, clothing, and shelter to protect yourself from the elements.”,
The Dalai Lama
In my early teens I told my brother Bruce and his girlfriend Sharon (who became his wife of 46 years) that when I grew up I wanted to have a house at the beach and a house in the mountains. I believed that in order to be happy I needed to make a lot of money. Then I’d spend the money on this and that and I'd be happy. I had begun studying the bible in earnest at fourteen (14) and knew of Jesus' warning that "... it is hard for the rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mathew 19:23). That was a risk I was willing to take. After college and law school I pursued a profitable career and over time I experienced the truth referenced in the bible about the "deceitfulness of wealth" (Matthew 13:22). Elizabeth and I explored the world of luxury and found it wanting. The experiences we had were, for the most part, enjoyable, but did not last and left us wanting more. There was no permanent satisfaction and hence no peace. As Roman Senator, statesman, and philosopher Seneca explained "The founder of the universe, who assigned us the laws of life, provided that we should live well, but not in luxury. Everything needed for our well being is right before us, whereas what luxury requires is gathered by many miseries and anxieties." (Moral Letters 119.15b) I slowly learned that finding satisfaction with only what I needed simplified my life and brought happiness.
Acquiring money and spending it just didn't work as a way to be happy. To be happy in life I discovered I had to be able to control my desires. I first recognized the tyranny of desire after my freshman year in college. I was traveling in Europe and had picked up a copy of Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha." As I read about the life of the Buddha, it dawned on me that my ability to create desires was easily going to exceed my ability to satisfy them. I realized that if I did not control my body, my body would control me. My understanding of the following truth has grown over the years that with regard to bodily pleasures ''ever fed, they are never satisfied, and never fed, they are ever satisfied". (Paramahansa Yogananda) Putting limits on desire is a tremendous challenge but as Seneca observed, "No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don't have and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have. (Moral Letters 123.3) Over the years I have slowly learned that by thinking about the consequences of my desires I am able to focus my will power and energy on what is beneficial.
Part II
Part III
RANCHO de la QUESTA
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