Diogenes: A Man with Only 3 Possessions
Diogenes was a follower of Antisthenes, who in turn, was a follower of Plato and Socrates (to give some historical background). He believed in the ancient Greek philosophy of Cynicism which stated that the only necessity of happiness was virtue. Cynicism also seemed to be a precursor for Buddhism, in that both believe the root of unhappiness is desire, and the continual following and pursuing of desires (wikipedia).
Because of this belief, Diogenes had only three possessions: his walking stick, a robe to cloth himself, and a barrel to sleep in. There is a story about him and Alexander the Great. Alexander stumbled upon Diogenes while he was taking in the sun. Alexander asked if it were true that Diogenes had no desires. Diogenes said that he only wanted one thing, and then asked Alexander to move to the side so that he could continue enjoying the rays of the sun.
After this encounter, Alexander said that if he were to be anyone else on the Earth, he would want to be Diogenes. (Merrill)
I think the main difference between this approach and at least my humble understandings of current western Buddhism, is that in Buddhism, you should not have to get rid of all of your possessions to remove desires. In fact, just because you have nothing doesn't mean you still don't lust for possessions. In the end, I guess no path is more correct. Both schools of thought are attempting to pursue happiness, and in this world of wealth, exploitation, power, and complication, the pursuit of happiness is one of the few true paths still worth pursuing.
In any case, this guy tops me by about 98 possessions :-) and currently a philosopher is doing the same thing for a week.
Because of this belief, Diogenes had only three possessions: his walking stick, a robe to cloth himself, and a barrel to sleep in. There is a story about him and Alexander the Great. Alexander stumbled upon Diogenes while he was taking in the sun. Alexander asked if it were true that Diogenes had no desires. Diogenes said that he only wanted one thing, and then asked Alexander to move to the side so that he could continue enjoying the rays of the sun.
After this encounter, Alexander said that if he were to be anyone else on the Earth, he would want to be Diogenes. (Merrill)
I think the main difference between this approach and at least my humble understandings of current western Buddhism, is that in Buddhism, you should not have to get rid of all of your possessions to remove desires. In fact, just because you have nothing doesn't mean you still don't lust for possessions. In the end, I guess no path is more correct. Both schools of thought are attempting to pursue happiness, and in this world of wealth, exploitation, power, and complication, the pursuit of happiness is one of the few true paths still worth pursuing.
In any case, this guy tops me by about 98 possessions :-) and currently a philosopher is doing the same thing for a week.
Labels: Buddhism, diogenes, minimalism, minimalism simple living, philosophy, socrates
posted by elliott at 1:05 PM
1 Comments:
Hey, I love your page, and we have a common interest in buddhism and cynicism. I wanted to leave one comment though about the chronology implied by casting cynicism as a precursor to buddhism. If we place the origins of cynicism with Antisthenes (444-365 bc), then buddhism is actually the precursor as siddartha had attained enlightenment, awakening as a buddha, in 528bc. Additionally, there is some scholarship which tries to suggest a direct link between the cynics and the ascetics of what came to be india--that they in fact learned from each other.
Its a quibble, but, to my mind, an important one as it corrects a common attitude about the cultural superiority of greece in world history, and its place as the so-called birthplace of "the west" (Not, of course, that you imply this directly or intentionally).
Anyways, I love your blog and I'm happy you have inspired so many people to question their attitude towards accumulation.
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