On May 23, 2019 I acted as photographer and panelist, presenting my final paper from Pali Texts. The next day, I was a greeter, photographer, and impromptu usher, standing in my heels the entire graduation ceremony. The next morning, I had to finish packing, cleaning, and moving out of my dorm, going straight to Berkeley. ? I keep remembering how quickly time, events, and suffering passes. I continue to reference a scene in Miyazaki's film, Spirited Away, where Haku casts a spell, blowing flower petals from his fingertips, masking Chihiro's presence on the bridge. Just as a flame is extinguished from a candle--in a single puff of air--it seems like everything that I lamented or toiled over has passed. ? This year has been really difficult for me in terms of health, interpersonal relationships, and wrestling with my own mind. But as I mentioned before, I'm saying this as the storm has passed; the storms continue to come and continue to pass. Very recently I made another choice to return agency to myself, exercising discernment and seeing where it takes me. A question that arose from reading the texts was: How do I know what I'm doing is the right thing? Well, through the effects. "Just because you're doing the right thing doesn't mean that it won't hurt." ? To weathering the storms, and growing from the rainwater and sunshine in every moment. ☀️ ?: Stan Shoptaugh
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." ? Saw many roses my last day in Berkeley, and goodness gracious they smelled so sweet! Hope these could add a little color to your day! ? #roses #olympus
Buddhist Text Translation Society (BTTS)
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