The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace. A

So spoke the wanderer known as Peace Pilgrim, a woman who gave away all possessions and walked across a nation with nothing but trust in the goodness of others: “The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace. A persistent simplification will create an inner and outer well-being that places harmony in one’s life.” Her words are not idle reflections, but the distilled wisdom of one who lived them fully. They are not abstractions, but teachings forged in the fires of renunciation, endurance, and unshakable faith.

The heart of her wisdom is this: the more a soul clings to clutter—of possessions, of ambitions, of endless desires—the farther it drifts from peace. For the mind weighed down by excess cannot rest. The hands always reaching cannot find contentment. But when one embraces simplification, stripping away what is unnecessary, the spirit grows light. It finds stillness, like a lake untroubled by wind. It finds clarity, like a mountain sky after the storm. This is why she speaks of harmony: for simplification aligns the inner and the outer life, so that they move together without contradiction.

The ancients, too, bore witness to this truth. Recall Diogenes the Cynic, who lived in a barrel and owned only a cloak, a staff, and a cup—until even the cup he cast away, after seeing a boy drink from his hands. To the rulers of his time, he seemed mad, but to seekers of wisdom, he was a prophet of freedom. For Diogenes, as for Peace Pilgrim, the way to inner peace was through the shedding of burdens. A man with little to lose fears little, and one who desires little is already rich.

We see this wisdom in history’s great teachers. Buddha, born a prince amidst luxury, left behind the palace to sit beneath the Bodhi tree. He discovered that the path to enlightenment was not through endless accumulation, but through the renunciation of craving. Similarly, St. Francis of Assisi, who abandoned wealth to live among the poor, found in simplicity a joy and harmony that gold could never provide. In their footsteps walked Peace Pilgrim, proving in modern times that the ancient way still holds power.

The meaning, then, is not that one must abandon all possessions, but that one must abandon enslavement to them. Simplification is not mere poverty—it is clarity. It is the art of discerning what is essential and letting the rest fall away. It is choosing depth over breadth, meaning over distraction, being over having. The one who practices it persistently, as she teaches, will find both inner serenity and outer balance.

For us who dwell in a world of noise and endless craving, her words are a call to courage. To simplify is to resist the tide of excess, to stand firm in a society that urges us always to want more. It is to look within and ask: What truly matters? What truly nourishes me? What can I release without loss to my soul? In answering these questions, we begin the pilgrimage to inner peace.

Practically, this means clearing both our homes and our hearts. Give away what you do not use, so that others may be blessed. Say no to commitments that drain without purpose. Turn off the distractions that steal your hours, and fill them instead with silence, with reflection, with love. Simplify speech by speaking truth, simplify thought by practicing gratitude, simplify action by aligning it with your deepest values. Step by step, this persistent simplification creates not emptiness, but fullness—a fullness of peace, of clarity, of harmony.

Thus, Peace Pilgrim’s words shine like a lantern for weary souls: “The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace.” Let us take this teaching into our lives. For in simplifying, we do not lose—we gain. We gain freedom, we gain clarity, we gain the harmony of a life no longer divided. And in that harmony, we find at last the treasure all the world seeks: the still and radiant flame of true peace.