You Can Be Happy Without A Ferrari (and Without Becoming A Monk)

Ryünosuke Koike, author of Happy Without a Ferrari, studied Education and Information Sciences before becoming a monk at the Jado Shinshu school. Author of a large number of books, he has sold more than a million copies in Japan alone. In our country, Duomo Ediciones has translated Happy without a Ferrari, whose original title is Manual for learning to be poor .

More than inviting poverty in a literal sense, it proposes a humble life composed of few things, which is reached by unmasking the mechanisms of desire. He is currently prior of the Fourth Tsukuyomi Temple in Kamakura, where he lives in a nearly empty room. Having detached himself from his computer, he answered our questions by hand and faxed them to his agent.

He claims to have chosen a “rich” life as a poor man. It is not that he behaves poorly, because he does not feel that he is missing anything or is forced to buy the cheapest things he can find. In fact, you don’t have to skimp precisely because you want almost nothing : you can afford to buy the few things you need without regard to price, paying particular attention to quality.

The Buddhist monk and writer Ryünosuke Koike argues that having many things confuses the mood, because it forces us to think about them even if we do not use them. Just owning them causes a kind of mental background noise. He tries to own few also in order to be able to live free of financial worries.

Avoid using money – whether you have it or not – and encourage everyone to experience the benefits of “not having,” the feeling of happiness that you only experience if you manage not to think about money. Because – as it reminds us – we can also have fun, eat and move around without it! With a small sum and by reducing the amount of things that are desired, it is possible to satisfy all wishes.

“Why did you choose to lead a ‘poor life’?
“Getting rid of useless things was a liberation for me.” Little by little I began to stop being a slave to the material. I realized that I was no longer so stingy with money. After all, it is just a human invention that can be exchanged for things.

“What does this” poor life “consist of, in general terms?
“It makes me feel free from the tyranny of modern capitalism, which is one of the many factors in the current spiritual disaster.” It makes me feel sovereign over myself, not a slave to something or someone.

“What belongings do you have?”
“I have much less stuff than when I wrote the book Happy Without a Ferrari eight years ago.” I only keep two kimonos for each of the four seasons of the year and, as for electronic devices, I have a fax to communicate, a dishwasher and a small refrigerator. That is all. There is hardly anything in my room. I have gotten rid of the mobile phone, almost all the clothes that I had accumulated and even the computer, which until then I had considered necessary but now I no longer feel that it is necessary for me.

“I dropped my cell phone in the toilet and I didn’t feel the urge to get it back”

“So you’ve finally resolved the question you said you had in your book about the convenience of continuing to have a mobile phone.”
-Yes. I dropped it into the toilet and I didn’t feel the urge to repair it, but a kind of relief that I could free myself from always being connected with someone. Having a time when you are not connected with anyone is pleasant and gives a lot of peace, really.

“What has been most difficult for you to do without?”
“From the fax.” But when in the future I stop writing books, I will also do without him.

“What has improved in your life?”
“I feel more comfortable in my room and it is also easier for me to concentrate on work, because I have nothing around me to distract me.”

—What happens when there is hardly any money available and “poor life” is not a choice?
“Well, then that life is oppressive and not at all pleasant.” But the more things we own, the more worries increase.

How do you manage to live with your back to money and at the same time earn enough to live and even more?
—If you detach yourself from the material and money, your power of concentration increases, so that your creativity improves and you can work without stress. The result is that your income grows, while your expenses are reduced because the desire to buy material things is not as strong as before.

“Is it more difficult to lead a simple life when you have children?”
“It costs more, no doubt.” In that case, it is important to talk with the family and come to an agreement on how to live together.

“What led you to write the book?”
—I wanted to propose “another” way of living in today’s capitalist world.

—What would you advise readers to start simplifying your own life?
“Very simple: let them start by getting rid of all the things they haven’t used in the last year.”