Real life is simple

"What we discover when we start to see in a simpler way, when we start to accept the complexities of life, when we don't try to control life as a phenomenon, is that life is a wonderful thing. When we live simply, life offers us more: it offers us more health, more freedom of choice and, above all, it offers us more meaning."

Koho Mello in Simplicity as a path TEDxPelourinho

What is Simple School?

It's a space for sharing about a simple lifestyle and also a space for systemic therapeutic and quality of life consultancy.

In order to structure our understanding and practice of a simpler lifestyle, we can adopt a very brief model, based on general areas of human action: Energy, Space-Time and Relationships. In each area, we can analyze our possibilities on a physical, emotional and mental/conceptual level.

Energy

True growth is the demonstrated ability of a society to transfer ever greater amounts of energy and attention from the material aspect of life to the non-material aspect.

More about energy →

Space-time

The effects of our relationship with space and time are inevitable and noticeable in our existence. As human beings, there's no denying that one day we were born, but we are continually growing older.

More about Space-time →

Relationships

Our identities are formed from our relationships, in a process of simultaneous and interdependent emergence. Any role we play in existence only manifests itself through a relational process.

More on relationships →

Law of Progressive Simplification

 "True growth is the demonstrated capacity of a society to transfer ever greater amounts of energy and attention from the material aspect of life to the non-material aspect, and thus to evolve in culture, potential for compassion, sense of community, and democratic strength."

Arnold Toynbee, A Study of History, vol.1 - (New York: Oxford University Press, 1947, p.198).

Jorge Koho Mello

Brazilian, 61, has dedicated himself to developing and testing a social economy system based on Buddhist ethics and the principles of the book "Small is Beautiful" by E. F. Schumacher. He works as a consultant in systemic therapy and quality of life. He currently lives in Zürich (Switzerland), where he coordinates the activities of the Zürich Zen Center, a Soto Zen Buddhist Practice Center, which offers formal Practices and is active in Engaged Social Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue.

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"Life is what we make of it. Journeys are the travelers. What we see is not what we see, but what we are."

Fernando Pessoa

Blog

Posts on voluntary simplicity, mental health, how to uncomplicate life, etc.

Caminho de montanha iluminado ao amanhecer, simbolizando transformação e maestria

Overcoming obstacles to mastery

20 August 2026

A resistência a qualquer tipo de mudança é um fator natural, independente do aspecto qualitativo da mudança que ocorre. Essa característica dos sistemas de auto-regulação chama-se homeostase, e se manifesta em todos os níveis através de sistemas de retroalimentação (feedback).

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Access – Simplifying: how and why?

Gravação Sobre o encontro O primeiro encontro de uma série dedicada às metodologias e aos referenciais da Simplicidade Voluntária. Integrando práticas de consciência corporal, meditação e meios hábeis para agir

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10 August 2026

What can I do in the face of crises?

This is a question that comes up frequently. I feel that the most important thing is to reframe the question: “…how can I see crises in a different light?” From a perspective that takes into account the

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15 June 2026
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Energy

The greatest possible simplification would be to say that everything is energy, in various frequencies of manifestation. However, this approach would not eliminate the need to deal objectively with very practical issues in order to maintain existence at an optimum level of health and wholeness.

For example, we could consider "Energy" from the point of view of nutrition, and see how it would be possible to optimize our nutritional choices on a physical, emotional and mental level, both from a quantitative point of view - how much we consume - and a qualitative point of view - what we consume.

If we aspire to a more quality and meaningful existence, we must be willing to take an honest look at the results we are getting from our choices. If we see that these results are not satisfactory, it is our right - and we should consider it our existential duty - to act to change this situation.
We will probably realize that we are acting under constraints that limit our freedom to choose. In this case, the most effective way will be to make our actions more conscious, in order to overcome the habits generated by conditioning.

Structural changes of this size will only be viable and lasting if they respect our personal rhythm and our current circumstances, i.e. the steps must be in line with our ability to keep moving in the desired direction.

In this sense, it's important to remember that our capacity for action increases simply because we perceive the different options available to us and if we use them with discernment. To do this, it is important to have access to qualified information about these possibilities. Providing this access is one of our objectives on this website.

Space-Time

The effects of our relationship with Space and Time are inevitable and easily perceptible in our existence. In our life process as human beings, there is no denying that we are born one day, we are continuously aging, we eventually deal with imbalances in the form of illnesses, and we will certainly die.

Although these facts are undeniable, our perception of them is relative, depending on many variables. Likewise, we also have relative freedom as to how we respond to these perceptions. Thus, we can become more aware and make more rewarding choices about how we relate to our situation - where I am in the world - and priorities - what I do with the time I have.

In short, the space-time aspects of existence remind us of human finitude and relative smallness. If we must accept that we are all - whatever our role or social status - inexorably subject to the events of birth, illness, old age and death, it is also true that we can choose to respond in a healthier and more integral way to the transformations that occur throughout the seasons of life.

Since, by nature's logic, what is inevitable cannot be an evil in itself, it is smart to learn ways to modulate our response to these facts of existence. In this sense, a simpler lifestyle makes it possible to have a fuller, healthier and happier everyday life, with less waste of resources of any kind.
For example, we can consider our relationship with our movements and breaks, on a physical, emotional and mental level. Our species has radically changed its behavior patterns in a short period of time in history. We now live in a society focused on results. In a way, it has become imperative to go faster and further, even if we don't reflect on where we are going. Our schedules are overloaded, but we hardly do anything that brings us genuine joy. We move our bodies less and less, but we are almost always tired, lacking vitality.

In terms of the use of natural resources, our species consumes more than ever, and in an unbalanced way. While many suffer from hunger, many others suffer from overeating. Nowadays, we have access to an incalculable amount of information that we can't even process in the form of knowledge, which in a way hinders the emergence of the wisdom that comes primarily from experience, and only secondarily from virtual experiences.

In this line of reflection, we will certainly come to question our patterns of using space and time. And this will merit extensive consideration, given the complexity of its causes and effects, and the potential for transformation that exists in apparently trivial actions, both on an individual and collective level. Our aspiration here is to collaborate in the dissemination of qualified practices and information on these aspects.

Relationships

Our identities are formed from our relationships, in a process of simultaneous and interdependent cosseting. Any role we play in existence is only manifested through a relational process, in which we develop and express ourselves as people through interactions with the other, with otherness, with that element that serves as a mirror for us.

As our perceptions of reality are self-referential, they willinevitably be incomplete, partial, right from the start. As Fernando Pessoa says in his poem, "...what we see is not what we see, but what we are." In this way, the relational dimension of our existence can be a source of great contentment and richness, as it reveals to us other visions of the world, other ways of looking at facts and their effects.
In a proposal to simplify life we must consider the possibility of relating to other beings and to events in a more authentic way. As we free ourselves from the need to meet or see our expectations fulfilled, our level of frustration decreases considerably. This doesn't mean giving up on enjoying the process of improvement, whether our own or that of another being. But it does mean enjoying this process as a journey, seeing the result as a goal, a means, and not as an end in itself.

In practice, simplifying the relational dimension of our existence has to do with reconnecting, first and foremost, with our own wholeness. It has already been said that we are whole beings who feel incomplete. Because of this, many misunderstandings in the field of relationships can be resolved by clarifying which aspects of our deficiencies or incompleteness can be met by returning to our own wholeness.