Get. Very. Simple. – An Easy Path to Happiness

Get. Very. Simple.

I once had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Huston Smith, the preeminent scholar of the world’s religions, who first came to the attention of the world when he brought a young Tibetan Buddhist Monk His Holiness, the Dalai Lama to America for the first time. Smith spoke about the continuing impact of religion on our world, most notably the strife in the Middle East over religious differences. He was at most joyous when he spoke about his own spiritual practices, which he described to us. Smith said, upon rising each day, he did Hatha yoga for some minutes, followed by reading a few pages of a sacred text, after which he meditated or prayed for at least five minutes. He would finish his morning ritual by doing a bit of yard work and some composting, which results in rich, ark soil, and a beautiful garden he greatly enjoys.

The entire audience smiled as they listened to this great and humble man describe the simple spiritual practices with which he began each day. These were Huston Smith’s personal morning rituals. I loved the irony that this premiere academic, who has such as deep understanding of all the religions rituals throughout history, had created such an uncomplicated practice for himself. I left the talk inspired to worry less and enjoy more. I saw the deep wisdom of simplicity. Huston Smith rarely appears in public but I never miss a chance to listen to him speak on any subject. I recently saw him again at San Francisco’s esteemed CIIS and heard the one detail he had left out of the previous discussion of morning practices, which I recognized as a simple but brilliant happiness habit. He was introduced that night be a dear old friend, who added this delightful detail he knew from their time as college roommates: Upon waking, Huston sits up ramrod straight in his bed, claps his hands together and says very loudly, It’s going to be a GREAT DAY.

What simple activities can you perform to add joy to your life?

Are there anydowner duties you can delete from your life?

Do you feel a longing forsimpler times in your life?

What can you do about it?

Is there a morninglife affirmation you can speak upon waking?