Simple Living & High Thinking


"It is too bad to be too good" 


Simple living and high thinking is great and very essential in life. Great men of the world have always preached that simple living and high thinking should be the golden principle of life. Most of the men in the annals of history have practiced this principle and achieved greatness in all its glory. All great saints like Mahatma Gandhi, Guru Nanak, Buddha, etc., who attained spiritual greatness and shook the world by their intellectual attainments are examples of this principle.

An American writer Thoreau who influenced Gandhiji most used to think that if people start to lead a simple life then most of the ills of society can be removed. But in the modern world, it is not possible. These days’ people believe in artificial and showy things.

This thinking, however, is not endorsed in practical life. As is well known Mahatma Gandhi was always dressed in dhoti and still moved the entire world by his dynamic thinking. Similarly, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Abraham Lincon, Einstein, and Bertrand Russel have proved that simple living is a better way of achieving greatness by service to society. Moreover, the life around us is so complicated that we cannot remain untouched with it.

A person leading a simple life is considered a fool these days. He cannot progress in life. The circumstances will lag him behind. He cannot compete with those who are leading a luxurious life. But it is not essential that only a man leading simple life can think high. A person leading a life in his own way can also think high.

There are other examples too, and a lot of them in human history, to prove the theory of simple living and high thinking. Guru Nanak Dev, Kabir, and Vinoba Bhave are other examples of this mode of life. These personalities led unsophisticated lives. Yet they became the idols of the people like philosophers, poets, and leaders. They exalted the thinking and living of common people with their strong convictions of truth, love for human beings, good of society and led the people to great heights and achievements not only in the spiritual field but also in worldly affairs.

It is true that simple living encourages high thinking and a man who practices both the things in his life leads a contented life. He is not lured by earthly things.