I had this quote for years, in Russian, and recently decided to verify and find it in English. I traced it to and bought The Mirror Ink by Jorge Luis Borges. And guess what, the quote is not his, he is quoting also 😊 Here it is in English, finally:
Richard Francis Burton
The best bit about working in a place which offers online therapy is that we, as employees, can get therapy for free as a benefit. So I am now officially in therapy and, oh man, why have I not done it before. We go to hygienists to keep our teeth clean. Why don’t we (excl. US where therapy is normalised) do the same for our brains?
Continue reading
“Let me know that you are always present,
in every atom of my life.
Let me keep surrendering my self
until I am utterly transparent.
Let my words be rooted in honesty
and my thoughts be lost in your light,
Unnamable God, my essence,
my origin, my life-blood, my home.”
— Psalm 19, from A Book of Psalms, Selected & Adapted from the Hebrew by Stephen Mitchell
…the Soul depends on the Ego’s drama for its teachings. Honor your Ego as the conduit of learning for the Soul.
Ram Dass, Still Here
Remain still and listen.
Things and people come. I listen. I do what needs to be done.
The dramas and the traumas come. I listen. I bring myself back to breath.
Love your breath, says Ram Dass.
I listen some more. Then I do nothing.
I stopped being impatient with myself.
“To understand nothing takes time”.
Serenity and love are my priority.
Keeping my heart open is work in progress.
Step back from the process – it keeps unfolding, it does itself.
It does not need me. I play no role. I change nothing.
Be still, be no one, want no thing, go nowhere.
Then wait some more. Become silence. Become breath.
Stop thinking and hear the lenses changing. Click. Click. Click.
Nothing has changed, yet everything is different.
Yesterday I went to a local parade as part of the art festival where we marched through town wearing all black making noise with pots, pans, music instruments, and then burned all of our negativity and bad stuff of the past two years in a massive fire. It felt cathartic. Here is a video of “fireflies” from the big fire for you to do the same. Mentally throw all bad stuff that happened to you lately into it. Burn all negativity away. Here is to more good than bad, to more light than darkness.
If you are looking for the next tv show to watch, have you watched K dramas yet? I can’t believe it took me so long but I finally forayed into the genre. And what an introduction! I’ve just spent 3 days of my staycation watching Vincenzo on Netflix.
Before this I had no idea one could combine Sopranos, Crazy Rich Asians and Scrubs, throw in elements of a soap opera, add an all Korean cast (the men actors are 🔥, ladies), an unexpectedly action rich, tightly written plot full of twists and somehow produce a hilarious, yet tragic, drama? dramedy? What…
Continue reading
This week I’ve launched a newsletter for the mental health/ online therapy social enterprise I work for (you can subscribe here), planned a staycation for next week (if I can’t travel, I will eat out), started therapy, yes, finally, got Stephen Levine’s book and decided to live the next 12 months as the last year of my life.
Continue reading
Making time for joy, prioritising it is very important. Life often becomes dull, grey and joyless if we don’t prioritise moments when we do something that excites, expands us, helps us feel alive.
This is self-centred joy. Nothing wrong with it as long as it does not harm anyone or lead to anyone’s suffering. Pure joy is necessary to nurture the soul.
In Buddhism they talk about mudita, the joy for others, appreciative joy. Now this is an interesting one to add to the list. How are you doing with mudita? Have you experienced it lately? Next time you scroll through the social media or hear a friend’s good news, is this something you could remember about and practice and see how it makes you feel?
For a second, I again was a child, lying on the ground under the cherry trees, staring at the summer sun winking at me through the green canopy of the leaves…
I’ve had an awful flu this past week (not covid, I got tested). Let’s put it this way, I will not take for granted being able to lie horizontally and breathe at the same time. I got infected because I got frivolous with mask wearing (I am double jabbed for covid). The mask goes back on and the flu jab is to be scheduled asap!
When we are sick, priorities come into clear focus and life is simplified. I was grateful for my family, my cat and my friends. I rejoiced when I found energy again to do the most basic of tasks. And something I learned during lockdowns – always have some sort of event booked, even if it’s a small online gathering, so you have something to look forward to.
I’ve been pondering recently how I am still so full of anger, righteousness, drawn to and driven by drama (the dharma of drama!), how easily I get triggered. Meditation practice and studying Buddhism helped become much more aware but not to the point that I am always successful at taking the pause between the trigger and the reaction.
Then I discover the teachings of Shin Buddhism which teaches us to awaken by embracing the suffering inherent in the day to day life. Here are interesting quotes from Taitetsu Unno’s Into the valley:
Continue reading“It [Shin Buddhism] challenges people to discover the ultimate meaning of life in the abyss of the darkness of ignorance.”
“…liberation is made available to us not because we are wise but because we are ignorant, limited, imperfect, and finite.”
“…one must struggle with oneself in the midst of all kinds of entanglements in society.”
“…the self-awakening to the immersion in the swamp of anger, jealousy, insecurity, fear, addiction, arrogance, hypocrisy.”
“As James Hillman points out, “The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.”
I love a good reframe. This one is a powerful perspective shifter.
Nomad of the Universe 