How to Simplify Your Life | A Monk's Guide

[Music] good evening everyone and greetings to you all from thailand hope you are all safe and the topic today is how do you live a simple life each week for me is i try to bring in and introduce new concepts each week just a small one also to share with you different tools that you can utilize and implement into your life to help to improve it this topic for me is important because of the way our society and the way our world is working now in the modern times with capitalism with the things that we're involved in it can get very busy it can get very overwhelming so for me i just wanted to give you a different perspective for those who are wanting a more simple life so already if you have not seen i introduced you to the concept of minimalism but not the minimalism that many people are talking about but minimalism from the buddhist monk approach in the monastery also i shared a concept of how to live in alignment making sure that the things that you do the way that you speak how you act and how you live actually matches your values so again those are some additional tools for you to develop a more simple life in this video we're going to introduce a new concept and that is how to use things for its intended purpose many times when life gets tricky it gets a bit chaotic and we're not sure how to rebalance uh we're not sure how to i always hear this like i just want it simple all over again this is a bit too much and it's complicated and everything is interwoven and it can feel too heavy so one of the things i want to use is our training in the monastics so i understand in the outside world before myself coming to ordain as a buddhist monk at the time i was working as a licensed marriage and family therapist in malibu california working with drug treatment patients in a drug treatment center also on the side i had my own private practice called true nature counseling center i was also working as a professional dancer doing modern ballet hip-hop so i understand the stressors that are out there and with the profession that we choose with the people we hang out with the place that we live the culture and the society that we're part of it comes with a set of lifestyle and many times we can get carried away or many times we can get lost in it again not for everyone but for some people and this can be normal so when i came to the monastery one of the things for me that i want to share with all of you is how they train us and one of the standout part is how to use things for its intended purpose because in the outside world sometimes we just do things we use things we get involved in things and we don't even know what it's for in the beginning or we forget what it's for but with the monasteries everything is intentional and we're trying to go back to the basics and the basic trainings and with that we have to go to the foundation and when i talk about foundation i'm talking about when we use things what it's its original purpose and then also then to change our relationship with these things and let me give you some examples but everything we do like i said here in the monastery it's with a purpose and the purpose for us is to train our minds and when we're able to train our minds then we can develop wisdom and when one has wisdom then they can use that to teach oneself they can use that to see reality as it really is and when you can do that then it decreases your suffering and that's just a very simplistic explanation but already coming into the monastery one key thing to point out is when we are first ordained we wear the robes we take on the 227 precepts and in that moment for us is we're one day old we're a brand new baby so maybe in the physical world you're 20 30 40 50 years old but again in the spiritual world this is brand new and maybe you have that experience you're a ceo you have your own business you're successful but that's the outside world and when we come into the monastery they're trying to teach us a new language a new way of being and again guiding us to that inner world so with this then we have to develop a new relationship with the things that we're used to doing for example just eating when we're in the outside world and i'm speaking for myself back in my old life for me i was eating six times a day i was on a meal plan every two hours i would eat depending on if i was bulking or if i was cutting it would be around 1600 calories when i'm cutting and again this was for the purpose of the looks the vanity and i'll be honest because as a professional dancer as a person living in the lifestyle that i was living it was important and with that then my relationship with food began to change where i did not care about the nutritional value or at least it was not the priority but then the goal for me was to have the results of the appearance the vanity metrics so when we come to the monastery we learn that what is food for originally and what they teach us is that food is for sustaining of the body and that's it that's why we eat to sustain ourselves so we can be alive and in our world is when we are alive then we can have another day to practice ourself to improve ourself and to develop our mind so coming from a world where i was eating six times a day what i wanted the way i wanted to now learning how to use food for its intended purpose here we eat only two times a day so breakfast and lunch and then the rest of the time uh it's empty simply because in the monastery we don't need that much energy our focus is really on meditation and our meditative experience and practice so with this kind of lifestyle it's just not required so was it difficult in the beginning and my answer is yes it was very difficult in the beginning simply because i was used to the taste i craved hot foods i craved spicy foods i have different palettes and for me it was regarding preference i want this i want that i want coffee that happens to be starbucks because it tastes amazing not just regular coffee but the starbucks coffee that i'm used to and i want it cold with ice and with whipped cream so again these are the things that we're used to but coming here it was teaching ourself just to bare minimum just the bare essentials and then it teaches us how to just get the right amount the right amount for what and again the right amount to sustain herself to consider that if you get too much then you get tired and when you get tired and sleepy then it affects your meditation if you don't get enough food then you'll be hungry for the rest of the day so for us is it takes time to gauge what our body actually needs in a full day based off of your activity level how much food is the middle way for you to sustain yourself where you can still be effective and nourish your body to continue on for another day and that's what the monastery tries to teach us again just a simple example of a relationship back with food another one that i can share is regarding clothing clothing back home for me was having a walk-in closet having different outfits different colors different types of style for different seasons when it's cold or when it's hot when it's fall or when it's spring but here in the monastery is we just have two sets of robes one is the one i'm wearing right now and then the second one is hanging on a rack because i did laundry this morning and just for cleaning purposes it's hanging to dry and then we rotate it again so what we're wearing here is not for fashion it is not for status it's not because we're trying to match and orange is the new color for this season but that's not how that works for us is the robes clothing is simply to protect us from the outside elements from bugs from insects it helps to insulate us from the heat or it keeps us warm when it's a bit too cold so this is our relationship with clothing other ways that we're taught is just even with the bedroom what is the purpose of the bedroom and here is for sleep and sleep means we just have a simple mattress and when i say mattress i mean a blue thin yoga mat and also a net that is there to protect us from the mosquito for my blanket is this robe and then also the other set of robe the one that i was sharing with you earlier that is out to dry we fold that one wrap it up and then use it as our pillow so in this area where when we wake up we make our bed and then we're out for the remainder of the day but this room is not where we're here to have meetings this room is not our kitchen this room is not where i just lounge around but again is for sleep so when we use this room for its attendant purpose then ready when we come to this space our mind already knows what it's for it's time to sleep close your eyes do your evening routine and it's done and it's very nice and clean so these are some of the few examples that we do here in the monastery and again this is intentional living we're going back to the foundation and the basic premise of how to use things for its intended purpose so why am i sharing this and for me i'm sharing this because it can give you an example of how we train ourselves in the monastery secondly it can give you an overview that you can apply to your life if it gets a bit too complicated and when it gets too complicated then simplify go through your life and see am i using the things for its intended purpose and i find that when people do not use things for its intended purpose and they use it for other reasons then it gets complicated and if you're not mindful you can get lost in it and when you're lost in it and not mindfulness it can lead to degrading mental health your mental health can decline and if it gets more serious it can even lead to mental health disorders so for me is this is one option for you and a tool just to have in your back pocket if your life is working and there's no issue not not a problem but for you if your life is a bit too complicated and at any time you want to switch to reboot a little bit and come back to the basics try this now with this framework run through your life and see where can i make some tweaks or get back to the intended purpose here are some examples for anyone who is out there listening what is your relationship with social media and people always ask me when they come to thailand and they say venerable nick is social social media bad and for me it's neither it's not good nor bad because what is its intended purpose and the purpose of technology is really for us to use it to communicate to spread ideas and just use it for this intended purpose so without knowing that and using it for that specific reason then a lot of our youth are getting into trouble and experiencing a lot of suffering because then they use social media for validation social media is not for validation again that's not its intended purpose social media is not for the vanities and to acquire your status yes you can gain it yes it can come with it but again that's not its intended purpose and people keep getting in trouble for this and then they're hooked and then they're addicted and then now you're attached because why because it might be one reason is because you're using it for the wrong reasons you're using it for an inaccurate intent how about food for you is food to sustain your body is that what you eat it for or for you is food just for pleasure and for the taste is food for you to achieve a certain desired results is it for the abs is it to cut the weight so you can be skinny is it so you can look more pretty is it so you can gain more muscles i i mean it's different for each person but you have to explore your relationship for food and is it appropriate for your situation and what about your car and if we go back to the foundation a car is just a vehicle to get you from point a to point b and that is very simplistic but for some people then it gets to the extreme where you'll even put yourself in debt and you can't afford it instead of getting a car to get you from point a to point b you can even get a brand new car for fifteen thousand dollars twenty thousand dollars but instead we need a three hundred thousand dollar car so then what is it for is this a status thing is this a symbol thing are we trying to convey a lifestyle is it to please others is it to make you feel good i i don't know but again go through these lists and again if it works keep it if it doesn't work then go back to the internet purpose and then you can make new choices exercise what is your relationship with exercise for us is really to keep our body healthy we tie that in with light stretching because again we want to have flexibility and mobility so that we can improve our meditation exercise for us is just a tool to keep this physical body healthy and again why do we do that is because this is one part of us this is a key part of us and we need it in tip-top shape so we can sit longer so we can use this vehicle to do more good and then we can also purify our mind more some people out there then use exercise where it's not so healthy you're working out seven days a week and no rest to the point where it's burnt out you're exhausted and then it puts more pressure and strain on your own well-being and your mental health so again these are just different extremes your bedroom so what is your relationship to your bedroom and we did another video talking about this but is your bedroom a kitchen is your bedroom a social place is your bedroom your office and i get it in this quarantine time with the way the world is if you do not have an additional room yes again each person's situation is different but if you do have that additional space then explore and see am i using my bedroom to the fullest capacity and for its intended purpose friendship and what is your relationship with friends and for us here in the monastery we have a term called kalayanamitra and that is a good friend or a virtuous friend and this is a spiritual friends in our context and the intent and the purpose for us is to have a companion who is on the spiritual path with us when we fall off the track they help to encourage us and they help to support us and they help to keep us in line so then for your own set of friends does it fit that are you using it for its intended purpose or is this just again for um the status or the lifestyle or i'm not sure but again take a look at your specific situation so i share this as something to consider and again you everyone's situation is a bit different and depending on the different phases in your life the lifestyle that you engage in the kind of work that you do all of this will vary but it's just food for thought again if it helps you use it if it doesn't then you can discard it but my intent for this really was to just introduce the concept of using things for its intended purpose and when you can do this i just feel that it makes life so much simple and so much easy so give it a try and as always greetings to you all the way from thailand and i hope you're all safe [Music] you

Channel: Nick Keomahavong

Views: 95,999

Rating: 4.9724541 out of 5

Keywords: a day in the life of a monk, monk, monks, buddhist monk, life of a monk, monk life, the life of a monk, the daily life of a monk, daily life of a monk, a monk's life, buddhist monk life, how to life a simple life monk, how monks life a simple life, how to live intentionally monks, how monks live intentionally, intentional living with monks, buddhist monk living simple, minimalism with monks, buddhist monk and minimalism, live with purpose monk, how to simplify your life

Id: FlG9n3uBeak

Length: 21min 2sec (1262 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 03 2021