Minimalism and the Leaf in the Wind

   Tiankong Fashi, who will go to China soon to eventually become ordained, had compared himself to a "leaf in the wind". I loved the metaphor, and it suggests the notion of allowing things to unfold in the way they will, although I have to say that it takes a lot of courage to apply this to practice in daily life. I would have to say the principle behind it is that we use the concept to try to reduce self-attachment. That is, if I can at least treat myself like a leaf in the wind, I can learn to cooperate with causes and conditions rather than pretending that I am standing above them and overseeing or "orchestrating" them. This latter approach is more akin to playing god.

    I relate the concept of the leaf in the wind to spiritual and mental "minimalism"--the notion that spiritual practice may sometimes require taking inventory of our thoughts, values, beliefs, and underlying attitudes, to better appreciate where we are most attached and what is weighing us down. To be minimalist means to not have to go circuitous routes, but to take a much simpler approach to everyday challenges and stresses. Chan expresses this something like "rest when you are tired, eat when you are hungry" etc. According to this perspective, it's only our heavy beliefs in what we need that end up weighing us down. Once we are able to unburden ourselves of the heavy baggage of the mind, we can learn to be more practical and face every situation equally without a sense of a heavy self-identity. 

   This is to say, when we have a strong sense of self, we carry with us the emotional baggage that comes from trying to fulfill the sense of self. Whether it's from status or education, or how much money one has, we make suffering out of all of this when we imagine that there is a self we are protecting and maintaining by accumulating all of these things. If I no longer attach to such a self, then I no longer need to see myself as someone who accumulates so much in terms of status, success, accolades etc. Of course, this is not easy to do, but we can always ask ourselves the question: is any of this truly need, or is it just a want? For example, if I feel that my dignity is being undermined by someone, does this constitute a "need" (that is, the need to defend myself) or is it only a want? In fact, Buddhism talks about one Buddha who was so adamant about seeing Buddha nature in everyone that he endured all kinds of humiliation from those who mocked him or thought of him as a fool. What he demonstrated is that we don't even need to be admired or liked by others to function or to be of some benefit in the community. All we need is the sincerity of our practice and the faith in mind --we have Buddha mind, it's just that it needs to be a little bit uncovered from all the dust and accumulation of attitudes, beliefs and what not.