A piece of wisdom from
September 14, 2023 · Thursday
The quote
“The beauty of a craft lies not in its perfection, but in the honesty of the hand that made it and the use that wears it.”
— Soetsu Yanagi · Wabi-Sabi
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
Before bed tonight, name one thing where the lesson of Sisu. The Finnish word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone.
From the Bhagavad Gita
Verse 4.8
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्। धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे॥
“For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and to re-establish dharma, I am born age after age.”
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