Editing Simple living (section)

===Religious and spiritual===
A number of religious and spiritual traditions encourage simple living.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite journal|first=Helena|last=Echlin|date=December 2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vekDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA92|title=Be Happier With Less|journal=Yoga Journal|page=92}}
|2={{cite journal|first=W. Bradford|last=Swift|date=July–August 1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fekDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA81|journal=Yoga Journal|title=Living Simply in a Complex World|page=81}}
}}</ref> Early examples include the [[Śramaṇa]] traditions of [[Iron Age in India|Iron Age India]] and biblical [[Nazirite]]s. These traditions were heavily influenced by both national cultures and religious ethics.<ref name="shi">{{cite book|last=Shi|first=David|title=The Simple Life|publisher=University of Georgia Press|year=2001}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2023}} Simplicity was one of the primary concepts espoused by Lao Tzu, the founder of [[Taoism]]. This is most embodied in the principles of [[Pu (Taoism)|Pu]] and [[Ziran]].<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Tao Te Ching |last= |first=}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2023}} Confucius has been quoted numerous times as promoting simple living.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gain Insight and Awareness With These 47 Confucius Quotes |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/best-confucius-quotes-2833291 |website=ThoughtCo |access-date=7 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Analects |last= |first=}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Gautama Buddha espoused simple living as a central virtue of [[Buddhism]]. The [[Four Noble Truths]] advocate detachment from desire as the path to ending suffering and attaining [[Nirvana (Buddhism)|Nirvana]].<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Dhammapada |last= |first=}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2023}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mark |first1=Joshua J. |title=Four Noble Truths |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Four_Noble_Truths/ |website=World History Encyclopedia |access-date=7 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Jesus]] is said to have lived a simple life. He is said to have encouraged his [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]] "to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics".<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|6:8–9|ESV}}: [[English Standard Version]]</ref> He also told his disciples that they cannot serve God and money at the same time, and explained that God is capable of providing them with the essentials for life (food and clothing), so long as they "seek his kingdom first".<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|6:24–33|ESV}}</ref> [[The Apostle Paul]] taught that people should be content with food and clothing, and that the desire to be rich is the cause of many kinds of evils.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Timothy|6:6–10|ESV}}</ref>

Many other notable religious individuals, such as [[Benedict of Nursia]], [[Francis of Assisi]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Slocock|first=N.|date=May 2004|url=http://www.tssf.org.uk/attachments/article/219/Living_a_Life_of_Simplicity.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727121313/http://www.tssf.org.uk/attachments/article/219/Living_a_Life_of_Simplicity.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-27|title='Living a Life of Simplicity?' A Response to Francis of Assisi by Adrian House}}</ref> [[Leo Tolstoy]], [[Rabindranath Tagore]], [[Albert Schweitzer]], and [[Mahatma Gandhi]], have claimed that spiritual inspiration led them to a simple living lifestyle.<ref name="shi"/>{{page needed|date=September 2023}}

[[File:Preziosi - Derviş cerşetor.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ottoman Turks|Ottoman]] [[Dervish]] portrayed by [[Amedeo Preziosi]], 1860s circa, [[Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României]]]]
[[Sufism]] in the [[Muslim world]] emerged and grew as a mystical, somewhat hidden tradition in the mainstream [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and [[Shia Islam|Shia]] [[Islamic schools and branches|denominations]] of [[Islam]].<ref name="Cook 2015">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Cook |author-first=David |author-link=David Cook (historian) |date=May 2015 |title=Mysticism in Sufi Islam |url=https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-51 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.51 |isbn=9780199340378 |doi-access= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128012740/http://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-51 |archive-date=28 November 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=4 January 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Sufism grew particularly in the frontier areas of [[Muslim world|Islamic states]],<ref name="Cook 2015"/><ref name="Findley 2005">{{cite book |last=Findley |first=Carter Vaughn |author-link=Carter V. Findley |year=2005 |chapter=Islam and Empire from the Seljuks through the Mongols |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToAjDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA56|chapter-url-access=subscription |title=The Turks in World History |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=56–66 |isbn=9780195177268 |oclc=54529318}}</ref> where the asceticism of its [[fakir]]s and [[dervish]]es appealed to populations already used to the monastic traditions of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Christianity]].<ref name=hanson104>{{cite book |last=Hanson |first=Eric O. |title=Religion and Politics in the International System Today |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wz4nCOMd8ucC&pg=PA102 |year=2006 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=102–104 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511616457 |isbn=978-0-521-85245-6}}</ref><ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|author=Shahzad Bashir|title=Sufi Bodies: Religion and Society in Medieval Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArurAgAAQBAJ|url-access=subscription |year=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-14491-9 |pages=9–11, 58–67 }}
|2={{cite book|author=Antony Black|title=The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hd1vAAAAQBAJ |url-access=subscription|year=2011|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-8878-4 |pages=241–242}} }}</ref> Sufis were influential and successful in [[Spread of Islam|spreading Islam]] between the 10th and 19th centuries.<ref name="Cook 2015"/> Some scholars have argued that Sufi Muslim ascetics and mystics played a decisive role in converting the [[Turkic peoples]] to Islam, mainly because of the similarities between the extreme, ascetic Sufis ([[fakir]]s and [[dervish]]es) and the [[Shamanism|Shamans]] of the [[Tengrism|traditional Turco-Mongol religion]].<ref name="Findley 2005"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Amitai-Preiss |first=Reuven |date=January 1999 |title=Sufis and Shamans: Some Remarks on the Islamization of the Mongols in the Ilkhanate |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=27–46 |doi=10.1163/1568520991445605 |issn=1568-5209 |jstor=3632297}}</ref>

[[Plain people]] typically belonged to Christian groups that practised lifestyles that excluded forms of [[wealth]] or [[technology]] for religious or philosophical reasons. Such Christian groups include the [[Shakers]], [[Old Order Mennonite|Mennonites]], [[Amish]], [[Hutterites]], [[Amana Colonies]], [[Bruderhof Communities|Bruderhof]],<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{Cite news|first=Pete|last=Ascosi|date=2016-08-25|url=https://christlife.org/blog/learning-from-the-bruderhof-an-intentional-christian-community|title=Learning from the Bruderhof: An Intentional Christian Community|work=ChristLife|access-date=2017-05-23|language=en}}
|2={{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/inside-the-bruderhof|title=Inside The Bruderhofe|website=BBC Media Centre|date=2019-07-09|access-date=2019-07-19}} }}</ref> [[Old German Baptist Brethren]], [[Harmony Society]], and some [[Quakers]]. A Quaker belief called ''[[Testimony of simplicity]]'' states that a person ought to live her or his life simply. Some tropes about complete exclusion of technology in these groups may not be accurate though. The Amish and other groups do use some modern technology, after assessing its impact on the community.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@dallincrump/what-the-amish-are-teaching-me-about-how-to-use-technology-aa8bd1816260|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801091934/https://medium.com/@dallincrump/what-the-amish-are-teaching-me-about-how-to-use-technology-aa8bd1816260|archive-date=2019-08-01|title=What the Amish are Teaching Me about How to Use Technology|last=Crump|first=Dallin|date=2018-08-22|website=Medium|language=en|access-date=2019-08-01}}
|2={{Cite web|last=Novak|first=Kim|url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/07/20/unknown-christian-community-in-sussex-lives-without-electricity-possessions-or-debt-10431308/|title=Unknown Christian community in Sussex lives without electricity or possessions|date=2019-07-20|website=Metro|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-01}}
}}</ref>

The 18th-century [[French Enlightenment]] philosopher [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] strongly praised the simple way of life in many of his writings, especially in two books: ''Discourse on the Arts and Sciences'' (1750) and ''Discourse on Inequality'' (1754).<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Peter Marshall (author, born 1946)|last=Marshall|first=Peter|title=[[Nature's Web: Rethinking Our Place on Earth]]|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|year=1996|pages=235, 239–244}}</ref>