Simplicity & Stillness - Not Luxuries But Lifelines

Why Simplicity Matters When Life Is Unclear

When everything feels uncertain, complexity becomes heavy. Too many choices. Too many voices. Too many expectations - internal and external. Simplicity, in liminal space, is not about minimalism for its own sake. It is about reducing noise so something honest can be heard.

A person in this space may begin to simplify almost instinctively:

• May stop consuming outside sources and turn inward

• Let go of commitments that once made sense but now drain them

• Eat more simply, dress more comfortably, live more slowly

• Narrow their focus to what is essential today, not what might be required later

Simplicity here is not retreat - it is making room.

When life no longer gives clear direction, stripping back becomes a form of trust. Trust that clarity does not come from doing more, but from allowing less to distract.

What Stillness Looks Like in Real Life

Stillness is often misunderstood as doing nothing. In liminal space, stillness is something far more active and courageous.

Stillness means staying present without rushing resolution.

A person practicing stillness may:

• Sit without filling every silence

• Allow thoughts to rise and fall

• Resist the urge to explain themselves or justify their uncertainty

• Pause before making decisions that feel urgent but are not yet ripe

Stillness allows emotions to surface that were previously held at bay by busyness: sadness, relief, fear, tenderness, longing. This can be uncomfortable - but it is also how healing begins.

In stillness, a person stops asking, “What should I do next?” and starts listening for, “What is being asked of me now?”

The Small, Ordinary Practices That Carry People Through

In liminal space, grand plans often fail. What helps instead are small, repeatable acts that anchor a person to the present.

Simplicity and stillness often express themselves through humble practices:

• Making tea slowly and drinking it without distraction

• Writing without an agenda - just to empty the mind

• Spending time in nature without trying to interpret it

• Keeping the same gentle rhythm each day

• Choosing rest without needing to earn it

These acts may look insignificant, but they quietly restore a sense of safety and continuity when identity feels in flux.

Over time, these practices teach something important:

I can be here, even when I don’t know what comes next.

What Changes - Without Forcing Change

One of the paradoxes of liminal space is that nothing moves until nothing is forced.

When simplicity and stillness are honoured:

• Anxiety softens

• Self trust slowly returns

• Decisions begin to feel clearer - not louder, but calmer

• A person starts to sense what no longer belongs, and what might

This is not dramatic transformation. It is quiet realignment.

Often, clarity arrives not as a sudden insight, but as a gentle recognition: I know what I cannot go back to. I know what I need more of. I know what I am no longer willing to betray. That knowing is enough to begin again.

Stillness & Buddhism

Stillness as the ground of peace is a core Buddhist teaching.

In early Buddhism, samatha means calm, stillness, or tranquility of mind. It is cultivated through meditation and supports freedom from mental agitation.

Christina Feldman explains that stillness quiets habitual restlessness and rambling thouhts, allowing the mind to rest in ease and well being, which naturally gives rise to happiness and peace.

“When the agitation of the mind calms, the mind begins to rest in a deeper well being and ease.”

It leads to peace because

• Mental noise is a source of suffering

• Stillness weakens craving, aversion, and agitation

• Peace arises not by force, but by letting the mind settle

Stillness is the heart of the Buddha’s teaching.

Zen and contemplative Buddhism

A Dharma talk from the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives describes stillness as central, not optional, to Buddhist practice.

Rev. Master Vivian Gruenenfelder states that everything else the Buddha taught derives from stillness, and that stillness is supported by solitude, silence, and simplicity.

“Stillness is the womb of enlightenment… everything else the Buddha taught derives from the practice of Stillness.”

It’s important to clarify that stillness does not mean inactivity or withdrawal from life. It means an inner steadiness that can exist even during activity.

Simplicity and the end of suffering (Non attachment)

The Dhammapada (early Buddhist scripture) repeatedly teaches that suffering comes from confusing the essential with the non essential and from attachment to excess.

Verses emphasize:

• Contentment over accumulation

• Moderation over indulgence

• Simplicity of mind as protection from suffering

“Those who know the essential to be essential… arrive at the essential.”

Why simplicity leads to peace

• Fewer attachments = fewer disappointments

• A simpler life reduces craving, the root of suffering

• Peace is found in contentment, not acquisition

Simplicity as clarity of mind (Dhammapada 368)

A later reflection on Dhammapada verse 368 highlights the direct link between calm simplicity and insight. This teaching explains that when distractions and complexity fall away, clarity and peace naturally arise, rather than being forced through effort.

“Settle the mind, simplify your surroundings, and clarity will naturally arise.”

Mindfulness and stillness

The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta describes mindfulness as a direct path to the ending of suffering.

By attending simply and steadily to:

• the body

• feelings

• the mind

• mental phenomena

the practitioner develops calm, concentration, and equanimity, all of which support inner peace

Here, simplicity is not aesthetic - it is methodological: staying with what is present, without adding complexity.

Zen Buddhism: simplicity as a way of being

Zen Buddhism emphasises direct experience, minimalism, and present moment awareness. Zen teachings consistently describe simplicity as removing what is unnecessary so reality can be seen clearly, leading to peace and balance.

“Zen finds clarity not in abundance, but in the absence of excess.”

This is why Zen culture values:

• uncluttered spaces

• ordinary activities (walking, eating) done with full attention

• “just sitting”

- all are expressions of peace through simplicity.

In Buddhism, stillness and simplicity are not escapes from life, but direct paths to peace. Stillness quiets the mind’s agitation, while simplicity reduces attachment and distraction. Together, they allow clarity, contentment, and inner freedom to arise naturally rather than being pursued.