Be grateful to everyone

" The slogan: 'Be grateful to everyone' is about making peace with the aspects of ourselves that we have rejected. Through doing that, we also make peace with the people we dislike.

More to the point, being around people we dislike is often a catalyst for making friends with ourselves. Thus 'Be grateful to everyone.' "

(Pema Chodron, "START WHERE YOU ARE, HOW TO ACCEPT

YOURSELF AND OTHERS'', 2003)

Action in Hong Kong

''At 15 years old, Yannus is too young to drive a car or buy a beer. But he says he is willing to give his life in the ''final battle'' for Hong Kong. 'Maybe I will die for this  movement,' he says, at the edge of one of the pitched battles that demonstrations have frequently become over the past eight months. As protesters beside him pour Molotov cocktails, the teenager straps a motorcycle helmet to hide his face from cameras and facial recognition software. Like every protester TIME spoke with, Yannus gave a pseudonym out of concern for his safety. But in his pocket he keeps a handwritten will addressed to his parents and friends.'I ready' he says tapping it.''

 

(For the Umbrella Movement of 2014, in Hong Kong, 'Time' Magazine. Editor Laignee Barron) 

Sex and Nirvana

''Shakyamuni Buddha before he passed away told his disciples that if there was another passion like sex he would not have attained enlightenment!''

(Lust for Enlightenment: Buddhism and Sex 

  by John Stevens, Shambala 1990)

The end of (yet) another era?

"After 2008, rather than punishing banks or imposing radical reforms, most governments worked to save them. Banks were bailed out and debts were written off or purchased by the state. Under the 'Troubled Asset Relief Program' of 2010, the US government authorized $700 billion to stabilize banks. In Britain, over $500 million was spent purchasing shares in banks to prop them. Even the oldest surviving bank in the world, Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi  di Siena (founded in 1472), built up huge losses investing in risky financial products. As a result, the Italian government had to spend more than 4 billion EURO rescuing the bank in 2016."

(''IS CAPITALISM WORKING? A primer for the 21st century''    by Jacob Field, Thames & Hudson publisher)

Λόγια του αλχημιστή φιλοσόφου Ναγκαρτζούνα (150-250 μ.Χ.)

Όταν ένας αδαής και αφώτιστος

παριστάνει ότι είναι σίντι*,

είναι σαν έναν ληστή

που προσπαθεί να ανατρέψει τον βασιλιά.

Όταν ένας φωτισμένος υποδύεται τον τρελό,

είναι σαν ένας δυνατός ελέφαντας

που είναι παγιδευμένος στον βούρκο. 

''Τά Λιοντάρια του Βούδα'', εκδόσεις Dharma 2013

*εκείνος που φέρεται να έχει υπερφυσικές ιδιότητες μέσω της ασκήσεως

'Αυτό που βλέπω εδώ δεν είναι αληθινό'

''Είναι βέβαιο ότι ως το σημείο αυτό δεν κατάφερα να διαφωτίσω την εκτύλιξη των γεγονότων, συνεπώς θα περιοριστώ στο να πω εν τέλει ότι όλη αυτή η φαινομενικά θολή ψυχική κατάσταση, την οποία μπορεί κανείς δύσκολα να περιγράψει, επιλύεται ευθύς αν δεχθούμε ότι πάνω στην Ακρόπολη είχα ή μπορεί να είχα, τούτη την αίσθηση: Αυτό που βλέπω εδώ δεν είναι αληθινό. Τήν αίθηση αυτή την ονομάζουμε 'αίσθηση αποξένωσης'.''

(''Sigmund Freud, Eine Erinnerungsstörung auf der Akropolis'', Agra Publications 2021, μετάφραση από τα Γερμανικά, Σοφία Λεωνίδη)