A piece of wisdom from
April 14, 2020 · Tuesday
The quote
“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
— Dalai Lama · Tonglen
The concept
Sisu
The Finnish word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone.
Two hundred days of darkness a year. Forty below in winter. Russia next door. The Finns had to invent a word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone, and they named it sisu. Sisu is not grit. Not resilience. Not courage.…
A practice for today
Walk one slow block today and observe the lesson of Sisu. The Finnish word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone.
From the Bhagavad Gita
Verse 2.20
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः। अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥
“The soul is never born, nor does it die. It has not come into being, will not come into being, and will not cease to be. Unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying, primeval — it is not slain when the body is slain.”
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