Taming the mind and Homelessness In the Buddha's teachings we learn how to see things as a product of our own mind, for example, if you "fall in love" everything happens in your own mind, the other person is nothing but an external stimulus, so in theory if we tam our mind we can live in this world without suffering wordly consequences of attachments and desires.

Even with this deep knowledge, in Buddhism we are encouraged to abandon desires, wealth and go to homeless life (for monks!). So the question is: Is it impossible to tame the mind completely? Is that an utopia? Because if one could tame his mind completely, there would be no need to abandon things as the way he relates to them would be completely free and deattached.

If material things have the potential to create problems, does it mean a full tamed mind is impossible?
In Zen we are not taught to abandon things. Instead we are taught to let go of our attachment to things. The key here is that it is not the things themselves that make us suffer, but it is our attachment to these things that make us suffer. Eliminating the things themselves is different than learning to liberate yourself from your own attachment to these things.

Three men sit in a lions den waiting to be eaten by a hungry lion. The first man hides in the corner trembling in fear of the lion. The second man stands strong ready to face the lion and kill it. The third man is liberated from attachments and is not in fear of the lion, nor does he want to kill the lion. In the present moment the third man is filled with joy and happiness for he is alive.

Abandoning things, is like the man trying to get rid of the lion. At first it may seem like the best choice, but there is a middle way between the first two men.