A piece of wisdom from
June 23, 2024 · Sunday
The quote
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
— Marcus Aurelius · Fear
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 2.56
दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः। वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थितधीर्मुनिरुच्यते॥
“He whose mind is undisturbed in sorrow, who craves no pleasure, and from whom attachment, fear, and anger have departed — he is called a sage of steady wisdom.”
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