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How much space do we need?

How much space does a person need to be happy? Does more space makes the resident happy? Is the relationship between size of living space and well-being subjective?


In the US, American multi-millionaire astrophysicist and inventor Steven T Huff owns a 72,215-sq ft house in Missouri; spread over five stories, the chateau has 14 baths and 13 bedrooms.


In Japan, because of space constraint, many people live in 182 sq ft micro homes. As the Japan Times puts it: ‘A desk and computer chair dominate a third of the room. A reading pillow is propped up against one of the walls, but there isn’t enough space for a man to stretch out his body. A clothesline rope stretches between two wall sconces for him to dry his laundry, and his kitchen is equipped with a small sink and a single induction cooktop.’


While in western cultures, palatial homes represents wealth, which in turn  lead to good health and happiness, for the Japanese, consciously seeking a minimalist living comes from the Zen philosophy that one does not need more than basic necessities. There is a Zen saying -- Tatte hanjo nete ichijo, meaning ‘You don't need more than half a tatami mat to stand and a full mat to sleep.’ These Japanese homes look like office cubicle. How much space does a person need to be happy? Does more space makes the resident happy?


Divine Life Society’s Swami Krishnananda says, “We belong to two realms of being, the phenomenal and the noumenal. The phenomenality of our life consists in our limitation to the conditions of space, time, and causation. We think of everything in terms length, breadth, and height. This is the quantitative assessment of the things of the world. Everything is a quantity – it has some substance, and it is measurable in terms of length, breadth, and height. This is one of the conditions to which our mind is subject. You cannot think of anything without attributing to it a quantity, some shape, which is a characteristic of our involvement in spatial characteristics. The mental involvement in space, whatever it be, compels us to think in terms of quantity – length, breadth, and height. This is the specialty of space.”


A 2019 research report from Brigham Young University, Utah, shows that the more positive we feel about our homes, the healthier our interactions in the home can be. The researchers found that increases in physical space per person did correspond to happier families. But what truly surprised them was how families perceived that physical space – the amount of space per person, and whether it felt too crowded or distant – had a much greater impact on their relationships.


Space is a mental construct. When you have tasted contentment, you transcend time and space. Whether you live in a palace, studio apartment or are sharing a small room with five other people, if you are contended and are aware of the impermanence of being, it does not matter.


 

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