We are investing into an alternate social order, where prosperity is measured by Simple Living and High Thinking.

The Mandala gives a bird's-eye view of the School of Simple Living method: the life domains we rebuild, the phases of transformation we move through, and the principles that keep Simple Living rooted in High Thinking.

"The valiant defence of those who are unjustly attacked or protect the weak from the exploitation by the strong, … to make every one and all so strong that he would not need any outside protection nor will be exploited by any one else."
— Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

What comes now is not a rant. It is a calm evaluation of the status quo and the impetus for what has developed into a framework for empowerment and purposeful creation.

Before we go to the solution, let's look at the problem first…

The pattern we live inside

Humans are competing about natural resources to amass monetary wealth and material possessions. Modern life, characterised by hedonism, has enabled humans pervasively to run in a rat-race. Following a system dictated by a materialistic world order, constant anxiety is the norm — and it seems that this is the only way to live life.

What it costs us

• Family & attention. Our children are trained for a life of dependency. Our attention is captured by screens. Our connection with ourselves and others tends to be more superficial. Our families are weakened by pressure, fear and constant noise. Our children grow up with pressure to function and fear of not earning.
• Food. Our food systems are fragile. Our food is loaded with pesticides and other toxic stuff. Natural, “normal” food has become a luxury which can only be bought with a currency that is no longer a safe asset.
• Money. Money is being printed at an insane speed, raising debt to mere numbers on a screen. The financial system is not sustainable anymore. Retirement at 55 was introduced. Now it’s moving closer to 70 years.

The world is growing increasingly complex and chaotic. The growing unrest and uncertain times suggest that there is danger at every step in a materially focused world.

Well, the people who claim to lead society often have no real plan for restoring health, freedom, meaning or human dignity.

So it is up to us to build the world we want to live in. No one else will do it for us.

The way out is personal

Now, what is the solution? It depends. On you.

It is very individual — where you are in your life and where you want to go. Though one thing can be said generally: the more independent you are in terms of finances, food, education and health, the less entangled you are in all of the above.

In association with nature, producing your own food, it is possible to solve the economic problem of the modern banking system and save your children from toxic schooling.

I’m not saying this is the easiest path to choose. Ask my wife. :)

I support you to spend fewer years — or even decades — figuring out your Simple Living gameplan, and especially how to tailor it to your unique life circumstances, principles and belief system.

I suggest equipping yourself with leadership tools, techniques and principles that empower you to be the best version of yourself: a free and independent life where you follow the laws of nature and God.

Simple Living & High Thinking is the heart of the method — the two movements that give the Mandala its meaning and direction.

With Simple Living & High Thinking, the School of Simple Living creates an environment where the seeds of transformation can take root, mature naturally, and blossom into lived change.

Our workshops are designed as practical spaces for that process: places to pause, look honestly, reconnect with what is real, and take the next step toward a freer, simpler, more meaningful life.

Our mission is to help individuals, families and communities become capable again.

• Capable of growing food.
• Capable of thinking independently.
• Capable of educating children with wisdom.
• Capable of building local economies.
• Capable of communicating truthfully.
• Capable of protecting what is sacred.
• Capable of living with nature instead of against it.

We help people move from passive dependence toward responsible independence and healthy interdependence.

A healthy society needs different contributions. Some people are called to teach, guide and preserve wisdom. Some are called to lead, protect and organize. Some are called to produce, build, farm, trade and steward resources. Some are called to serve, craft, repair, support and make life function.

The Quick VPTI DharmaFinder (Free) helps you discover your current pattern of consciousness and your natural contribution style — so you can take a more aligned next step.

It is not about putting you into a fixed identity. It is about helping you see where your energy, values, skills, responsibilities and deeper calling may align.

School of Simple Living is not just a school. It is a training ground for actively building skills to be less dependent on systems that do not share our values — anything material and without being ruled by fear.

Through courses, workshops, community, retreats and practical training, School of Simple Living helps people move from theory into action.

The Mandala is not meant to remain a concept. In the Simple Living & High Thinking Course, participants use it to map their current life system, identify dependencies, clarify direction, practice communication, simplify what drains energy, and implement one concrete impact project.

Every person begins where life is asking for attention. Some begin with food. Some with family. Some with money. Some with work. Some with spiritual practice. The framework is structured, but the path is personal.

The Simple Living & High Thinking Framework did not start as theory. It grew out of a real exit from the corporate hamsterwheel into family, land, service and spiritual practice.