After seeing most of his life savings allegedly swiped by his former manager, songwriter Leonard Cohen says he now prefers the simple life -- with a little help from Buddhism.

"I don't feel deprived in any sense. I like a room with just a table and a chair and a bed ... that's my idea of beauty. I think simplicity is really voluptuous," Cohen told CTV's Canada AM Monday, a week after he was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters' Hall of Fame.

The Montreal native said his family has also greatly helped his peace of mind, particularly as he faces a new life back in the public eye while trying to regain financial stability and move through court proceedings in Los Angeles.

"My son said something wonderful to me," Cohen said. "He said, 'listen, Dad… You do what you have to do, but don't do it for us because we've had a good life and we can take care of ourselves.

"Parents can wait their whole lives before they hear something like from one of their children and I heard it from both my children."

The 71-year-old said he did not realize his nest egg was slowly disappearing because he is not interested in money. His ordeal started when he learned $5 million, which he'd planned to retire on, had been nearly wiped out.

Cohen alleges his manager of 17 years bled his personal savings and investment accounts dry during the time he spent living in a Buddhist monastery -- the Mount Baldy Zen Center in Los Angeles.

"I never looked at a financial statement, I never looked at a royalty statement," he told AM.  

"I completely trusted the people who were supposed to be doing that. It (was)… a preference to live simply."

Now, on the advice of new manager Sam Feldman, Cohen is back in the public eye and ready to release a series of songs he has worked on over the past few years. He said that despite forcing him into such a radical lifestyle shift, he isn't angry about what happened.

"I don't know why I'm not. There's something amusing about it, too," said the warm but contemplative Cohen. "I think because the wipe-out was so thorough, it was astonishingly thorough, you know. In fact, there was almost nothing left.

"At a certain point, that background of anxiety and anguish lifted."

Cohen and five of his songs were inducted into the Hall of Fame on Feb. 5, in a ceremony where he was honoured by fellow musicians k.d. lang, Bruce Cockburn and Gordon Lightfoot.

His new material will be published in the coming months, and his girlfriend, Hawaiian-born singer Anjani Thomas, will release a CD featuring her singing lyrics penned by Cohen on May 2.