#sanskirt

[welcometoteyvat]

thinking about it again and my favorite sumeru subregion is probably the girdle of the sands (newest one, released 3.6) just because of the heaps and heaps of zoroastrianism refs and iranian mythology sprinkled all over the place it’s absolutely so cool. also sorush. 

[moon--meeks]

hello i have the geology flavor of autism an am so so normal about honkai star rail an have not stoped thinking about the myriad celestia trailer so im going to make a thread of fun facts about the gems/minerals each of the stone hearts are named after topaz: ❥ topaz is naturally colorless but gets its color from elemental impurites ❥ the word topaz comes from the greek word Τοπαζος (topazos) ❥topaz is most commonly used in jewelry ❥ its the state gemstone of Utah! Aventurine: ❥ Aventurine is a form of quartzite ❥ the word Aventurine comes from the italian word a ventura meaning by chance ❥ its a mineral! not a gem! ❥ green aventurine is the most common Jade: ❥ Jade is actually the common term two diffrent minerals, nephrite an jadeite. ❥ nephrite is usually darker than jadeite due to it haveing more amphibole an jadeite having more pyroxene ❥ the word jade comes from the french l'ejade meaning kidney area Sugilite: ❥ imma be honest i havent heard of this mineral before the trailer droped an thats probably because its very new as it was discovered in 1944! ❥ sugilite was discovered by Kenichi Sugi who it was named after ❥ most sugilite is purple or pink Agate: ❥ Agate is the common term for the banded variety of chalcedony ❥ the word comes from the ancient greek word for the dirllo river, Achates where it is said to first be discovered ❥ Agate is formed from lava an volcanic rocks Pearl: ❥Pearl is not a mineral as it comes from living creatures making it an organic material ❥ pearls are made of the same thing shells (an tums!), calcium carbonate ❥ natural pearls were most commonly found in the persian gulf Sapphire: ❥ Sapphire is the blue variety of corundum, the second hardest mineral on the mohs hardness scale ❥ the word comes from the greek word σάπφειρος (sappheiros) but back then was talking about lapis lazuli ❥ Sapphire is one of the minerals used on sand paper! Amber: ❥ not a mineral, it is fossilized tree resin so it is organic material ❥ 90% of the worlds Amber is located in Lithuania ❥ the word comes from the arabic word anbar Opal: ❥ Opal is a mineraloid because its naturally occuring but doesnt have the crystaline structure of other minerals ❥ the word opal comes from the sanskirt word upala meaning jewel ❥ Opal is the national gemstone of australia Obsidian: ❥ Obsidian is classified as a rock since it is formed rapidly cooling lava ❥ this baby is VERY sharp it was used in paleolithic times to make cutting an hunting blades and was used as surgical tools ❥ the word comes from the latin lapis obsidianus

[weolucbasu]

*me casually handing Joker Out a note with my college's email address, because Filofaks students could be a useful resource when writing songs*

In light of JO coming to the Netherlands. Joker Out song in Dutch with Kris singing when

[livingmydreamlife5555]

MHA dr #4

Name: Jasmine Usagiyama (Sister of Miruko)

Birthday: January 24th

Height: 5'4" or maybe 5'2" somewhere inbetween

Appearance: So since I'm the sister of Miruko, I also have bunny ears. Rumi has white hair and red eyes, and I have blonde hair and blue eyes with pink and purple flecks. My hair is going to be slightly curly and long. I also have long eyelashes, just like my older sister.

Voice claim: I didn't really claim any specific voice, but I just have a soft and pretty voice that's beautiful.

Background: This one isn't all that intricate but since I have a famous sister, when I was born in Japan, me and my mom moved to America for safety reasons since my sister is really good at making more enemies. I stayed and did school in America all the way up until highschool and then I came to Japan to go to UA. Since I was quite hidden, it would take a little while before people figure out. But I guess we do look similar 🤷🏾‍♀️

Quirk: now this one is more intriguing 😼. I have the same bunny quirk like my older sister, but I also can do...MAGIC!! Once I turn four, I unlock a magic sentient book that stays with me as my quirk kinda. I named the second part mana manipulation. I can do magic spells that are offensive, defensive, and support. There are all types of spells there. I'll explain more in the Extra info.

Extra info-

My spells are written in actual ancient languages. (Ex- Gaelic, Tamil, Sanskirt etc.) So my whole book is actually written in all those types of languages. I have to learn them on my own too. So, I'm pretty smart in this reality.

The languages correspond to different elements. For example, all elemental spells are written in Gaelic. Earth spells can also be additionally written in Tamil and sanskirt. I couldn't script for all the languages, but the universe will figure that out.

So anytime I summon my magic book, it can levitate on its own and it understands what I say. Only I can understand what it says. Once it becomes more powerful, it could speak out loud too. We have inside jokes that only we can understand 😚

I can do basic spells, like making people 10% stronger, a fireball spell, lightning spell, healing spells. Just mostly basic wizard spells. There will be more intricate spells, but that's once I get more powerful.

I also trained in Taekwondo, Muy Thai, Capoiera, Wushu, and Karate.

My eyes glow purple and pink and the tips of my hair turn purple and pink when I use my magic.

I have to have enough mana to use my spells so I also do mana training.

The magic part is from my mom's side and the Mutant part is from my dad's side

Edit- also all the spells are even written backwards. If midoriya even asks for any info, imma make sure I confuse him 😐☝🏾(don't want him being all in my business sorry not sorry)

This is another intricate quirk type so do ask any questions. I'm a certified yapper 💯. That's the last of my official MHA drs that I have planned out. Do expect more, cause once I see an interesting power, I make a script for my hero academia.

-Honey out 🍯🍯🍯

[totheidiot]

this is so random-and no pressure to answer if you don't want to!-but can i ask how you pronounce your name?

is it like "air" or "aardvark" or "apple" or something else?

(i've also got an A name that can be pronounced a few different ways, it drives me absolutely nuts sometimes lol)

MOUSE HII !!! thank you for this question !!!!! so

i am pretty sure the name arian is sanskirt, like its alternate spellings are ariyan or aryan and all of that. i am actually not even sure what the correct way to pronounce it is?? when i first picked that name for myself, it was pronounced uh-ree-un because first and foremost, my nickname has always been ari, like uh-ree so i just added the -an to it to make it longer because three letters seemed so short for a name. but the thing is, the only people i am out to and the only people who use my name are online so they don't know hindi or bangla and we communicate in english. i'll notice that they pronounce it like air-ee-en and so, i switched to that pronunciation when i introduce myself to someone online. but my internal monologue and thoughts are all in bangla and the uh-ree-un just sounds better with a bengali accent so really - the real and correct pronunciation is uh-ree-un but i feel like english speakers might find the -un sound difficult so. pronounce it however you want really !!

[triviareads]

My thoughts on Wild Jasmine by Bertrice Small: an INSANE book; there's like six(?) love interests, 3 children, and the O'Malley clan is so hot that even great-grandma Skye can still get it

There is.... A Moment where Jasmine is about to expire from grief over losing her husband so her priest uncle and steward(?) conspire to lightly(?) drug her and have Hottie Local Irishman have sex with her WHILE SHE THINKS IT'S HER DEAD HUSBAND all so she can regain the will to live?!?!?!

AND IT WORKS! She's also preggo from that one encounter and tbh based on the amount of the amount of seed described, I should have known 💀

ALSO Jasmine herself is the daughter of the Emperor Akbar and a white lady he took as his consort except it turned out her Scottish husband wasn't actually dead and Akbar, noble man that he is, wanted her to go back to her actual husband so he had her drugged and carried away onto a ship

It definitely straddles the line between historical fiction and historical romance; it's historical fiction with good sex basically lolol

Do I think it's entirely historically accurate? Well, I wouldn't be able to judge but it's clear Bertrice has done her research, and what's more important to me than even the historically accurate *vibes*, especially when writing an Eastern culture, is the respect. And overall, I actually do think Bertrice treats Mughal Indian culture with respect. There is never any pearl-clutching narratively about the Akbar's forty wives or his zenana (harem), and Bertrice portrays the culture of religious tolerance he fostered

I can't say the same for other books in this series where heroines are kidnapped and sold into harems, and the premises alone sound like they are going to portray the worst of the various cultures of the East and Middle East.

My impression of Bertrice is that she doesn't shy away from the harsher realities of the era, regardless of whether it's in the East or West. There are multiple barely-pubescent girls being married off in her books (I skimmed the first parts of Skye O'Malley and This Heart of Mine), and they are having sex shortly after. Sometimes it's sex the heroine enjoys, sometimes it isn't. Wild Jasmine has eroticized incest and underage sex as per the modern definition.

It was an interesting choice to use Sanskirt for genitalia (lingham and yoni).

anyway I'll probably be buying the book— I've missed epic historicals and this book actually didn't disappoint

[kyxworld]

who’s ‘Maya’? Is it a blog or a person?(It doesn't matter, but Y’know)

maya means illusion in sanskirt😭💀

[thoughtfulfangirling]

It was a while ago now, but I saw a video presumably from BookTok, where a reader was saying how they enjoy thinking about how different books talk to each other. It seemed like a neat concept, but I didn't really think too far into it despite having literally done it for a professor's book. In my defense, I had to find articles relating to the same/similar materials as my professor was even if they weren't aiming to say the same or opposite things.

But this year, several of my books have seemed to speak to one another in various ways - obviously unintentionally or unknowingly.

The first thread is a pretty thin one. You Made a Fool out of Death with your Beauty has a prominent theme of grief and overcoming it. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek features a lot of grief, but more prominently, going into it as the protagonist loses a little boy she befriended, a regular client, and has several more major losses (even if not death exactly) throughout the book she has to figure out how to navigate. So that story is more of moving from the thread of coming out of grief and the later moving into it.

Then The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek spoke loudly to me in concert with Meru. I talked about it more in depth here before I'd gotten deep into Meru. The gist of it is that the protagonist of TBWOTC has a disability that would only really be considered a disability because of how society treats her as a result of genes that make her look different. This hinders her life at every turn, denying her opportunities. Meru sees its protagonist provided a huge opportunity and honor because of her particular disability. The other protagonist of Meru gets disabled partway through the book and is offered a chance to inhabit a new body entirely to get out of being disabled. Doing so would have used important time though and is denied without hesitation despite the disability having massive effects on what ze is capable of.

Meru is a sci fi set far into the distant future where one of the core beliefs of society is that all things, even inanimate things, deserve a certain level of dignity and worth. As a result, they are very careful about where they get resources and what affects their actions have on the environment around them. Though half the sentient beings live in space, even there permanent structures are very rare as such things affect the world around it and can get in the way of things nature orbit/state/etc. (This is why our protagonist with Leukemia is given her rare opportunity. The planet discovered has a higher level of oxygen, and humans are not allowed to terraform other planets out of respect for the planet. She is sent to see if she can live there with her genes being more likely to suit the planet than the planet needing to suit humans.)

I read then Watching the Tree, which is written by an Asian America who emigrated to the US from China. She is writing about philosophies and concepts Westerners might find value in considering or adopting or just hearing about. In it, she talks about Zen Buddhism, where everything is sacred. This had more of a focus on all life being sacred and spends a while talking about how varying levels of vegetarianism is common in China as a result of this belief saturating the culture, but she does mention that it includes even things like rocks and soil. Meru uses a heavily Indian (Sanskirt) culture as the dominant (at least human) culture, so it was neat to see the values in the sci fi fiction before then reading about a philosophy mentioned to stem directly from an Indian belief system (Buddhism. It became Zen Buddhism in China it appears). (The section on written language in China spoke heavily to the first book I read of 2023, Four Treasures of the Sky. I guess it should have been obvious to me, but I never thought about it, how Hanzi (I believe), a pictographic written language, is not at all phonetic and therefore Cantonese, Mandarin, etc can all use the same written language but not at all be the same. It absolutely makes sense that such characters would carry more weight.)

The Watching Tree also discusses some differences of languages between English and those spoken in China. Yen Mah mentions how our words are categorized nicely into things like nouns, verbs, adverbs, etc. In her book, she mentions how just about any word in Cantonese (I believe that's the language she spoke growing up?) can take the place of any of those spots. A word that we would think of as a noun can take the place of a verb and vice versa. She also mentions how there is no 'to be' and that a line like "To be, or not to be" does not translate neatly between the two languages. It is more like to say 'to exist or not exist.' All of which I think Ocean Vuong may be trying to convey in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous when writing dialogue for the protagonist's Vietnamese family members who do not know English. I can't say with any certainty whatsoever if Vietnamese languages follow these sort of semantics, but the dialogue often sounded broken to me as an English speaker even when it was clear they had to be speaking to each other in their native tongues. I could be misinterpreting, and maybe they were showing that they were speaking in English, but it's neat to think there was an attempt to focus the translations how they speak to each other as opposed to suiting an English speaking audience.

And I just finished On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous today! So I guess we'll see what the rest of the year brings me in terms of books that speak to each other! There may be a small seed already between the history of the characters in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous as being products of the war in Vietnam and the politics being talked about in Last of the Romanovs, but if so, I can't quite articulate it yet!

It'll be an interesting reading year!

[writernopal]

Happy WBW! Sorry for such a late ask!!

What languages are spoken in your fictional world(s) aside from English/the common tongue/etc.?

Happy (late) WBW, Ella! don't worry im responding to my asks late too lol

I have so many languages, and I blame the Lizardfolk because I went NUTS giving each social stratum its own dialect, so I won't list them all, but here are a few! (Under a cut bc again v long)

Common

I know you said aside from this one but I'm putting it in anyway BECAUSE, it does not sound like English. It actually sounds like Old Spanish, so most people in AASOAF would have Spanish-ish accents if they spoke our English.

Spoken by: Main cast of AASOAF and most of Oepus.

Anatolian

Official language of the House of War of the Holtep Empire. Sounds a little like Bulgarian.

Spoken by: The Starlight Walkers (aka, crew of the Angel's Lyre), Wilkes, Axtapor {all speak Halto (major clan) variant}

Hamatian

Official language of the House of Dreams of the Holtep Empire. Sounds a little like Sanskirt.

Spoken by: Axtapor and the rest of Clan Oxlo {all speak Halto/Meddia(minor clan)/Lajo variants}

Tlaxlian

Official language of the House of Law of the Holtep Empire. Sounds a little like Greek.

Spoken by: Wilkes {Halto/Meddia/Lajo}, Axtapor {Halto/Lajo}, Jace {Lajo (lower class) variant}, Rapheus {Lajo/Meddia variant}

Narenese

Language spoken on the island of Naren, sounds like a guttural version of French.

Spoken by: Mariel

Satolish

Ancient language of krakens, sounds like Old Norse.

Spoken by: Fay, Satoyev, Saviyesaih

Yevya

Language of deep forest Elves, sounds like Nahuatl.

Spoken by: Magdalene, Sartor

Handspeak

Oepus' equivalent of sign language!

Spoken/Signed by: Mariel

[cornerhorner]

Notes on renunciation: weight-loss as buddhist spiritual practice

The buddha had a surprising amount of things to say about food. He also had a lot to say about the other sense pleasures that can be directly applicable to eating. The buddha’s main teaching was how to end suffering, and one of the chief causes of suffering is our attachment to sense pleasures. In fact, he singled out the three poisons that keep us trapped in a cycle of suffering as greed, hatred, and delusion where greed (“raga” in sanskirt) also means attachment to sense pleasure. For the purposes of this book, the term might as well be gluttony. The opposite of raga is non-attachment, renunciation, or relinquishment. This is one of the qualities a buddhist must cultivate in order to be free from suffering. The Buddha developed an entire suite of spiritual exercises to help us cultivate non-attachment. If you have an unhealthy attachment to food, this is a hindrance in your spiritual path that must be overcome. If you aren’t able to overcome cake and ice cream, how will you overcome more powerful cravings? Renunciation of attachment to sense pleasure is an integral part of your spiritual practice. Your struggle with weight loss is the struggle for liberation.

Desire is the cause of dukkha. So to end dukhha we must end desire. These are simply the second and third noble truths. Sense pleasures, including food, are some of the strongest desires we experience, and must be relinquished. The fourth noble truth tells us that to end desire, we must follow the eightfold path. Put another way, the entire eighfold path is a series of spiritual exercises tailored to overcoming attachments and desires.

right understanding

- bikkhu bodhi explains that “The tool the buddha holds out to free the mind from desire is understanding. Real renunciation is not a matter of compelling ourselves to give up things still inwardly cherished, but of changing our perspective on them so that they no longer bind us. When we understand the nature of desire, when we investigate it closely with keen attention, desire falls away by itself, without the need for struggle. To understand desire in such a way that we can loosen its hold, we need to see that desire is invariably bound up with dukkha. What is needed to alter perception is “wise consideration.” look into the hidden undertones to our actions, exploring their results, evaluating the worthiness of our goals. When desire is scrutinized closely, we find that it is shadowed by dukkha. Desire and dukkha are inseparable concomitants. Contemplating the dukkha inherent in desire is one way to incline the mind to renunciation.”

The buddha also had a lot of metaphors for illustrating the danger of sense pleasures. One of my favorite is “suppose there were a charcoal pit deeper than a man’s height full of glowing coals. Then a man came who wanted to live and not die, and two strong men seized him by both arms and dragged him towards that charcoal pit. What do you think? Would that man twist his body this way and that? “Yes, because that man knows that if he falls into that pit, he will incur death or deadly suffering because of that” so too, a noble disciple considers thus: sensual pleasures have been compared to a charcoal pit by the blessed one; they provide much suffering and much despair, while the danger in them is great” having seen this as it actually is with proper wisdom, clinging to the material things of the world utterly ceases without remainder.

right intention/reslution/resolve

- Again bikkhu bodhi explains that ”Another way [to free the mind from desire] is to contemplate directly the benefits flowing from renunciation. Renunciation promotes the accomplishment of all three stages of the threefold training: it purifies conduct, aids in concentration, and nourishes the seed of wisdom. The entire course of practice from start to finish can in fact be seen as an evolving process of renunciation culminating in nirvana as the ultimate stage of relinquishment - the relinquishing of all foundations of existence. When we methodically contemplate the dangers of desire and the benefits of renunciation, gradually we steer our mind away from the domination of desire. Attachments are shed like the leaves of a tree, naturally and spontaneously. The changes do not come suddenly, but when there is persistent practice, there is no doubt that they will come. Through repeated contemplation, one thought knocks away the other, the intention of renunciation dislodges the intention of desire.” emphasis mine.

Everyone is familiar with the five precepts of buddhism to abstain from, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, harsh speech, and intoxicants. These five precepts were presented to lay followers for the purpose of “cleansing of the sullied mind through expedient means.” But buddhist monks have other precepts they must adhere to. If you are reading this book, and you need your mind cleansed from gluttony and the lust for food, I invite you to follow the sixth precept to abstain from taking food at the wrong time (after noon), and to be moderate in eating.

“Bikkhus, I eat at a single session. By doing so I am free from illness and affliction, and I enjoy lightness, strength and a comfortable abiding. Come, bikkhus, eat at a single session. By doing so, you too will be free from illness and affliction, and you will enjoy lightness, strength, and a comfortable abiding.” in another sutta he also says ““Mendicants, I abstain from eating at night. Doing so, I find that I am healthy and well, nimble and strong, and living comfortably. You too should abstain from eating at night.”

One meal a day has become a popular way of eating lately for weightloss purposes, but another great benefit of it is that is helps cultivate non attachment to food, it encourages you to make more wholesome choices since you know it will be your only meal, and it heightens your mindfulness as you have your meal, but also during the times that you are fasted. Interestingly, eating only once also gives you more energy. Overeating makes you sluggish and bloated, but one meal a day keeps you light and sharp.

“and how is a noble disciple moderate in eating? Here, reflecting wisely, a noble disciple takes food neither for amusement nor for intoxication for the sake of physical beauty and attractiveness, but only for endurance and continuance of this body, for ending discomfort, and for assisting the holy life, considering: “thus I shall terminate old feelings [of gluttony] without arising new feelings and I shall be healthy and blameless and I shall live in comfort.” That is how a noble disciple is moderate in eating. “

Another recommendation for the way to eat food is to eat it “without being tied to it, infatuated with it, and utterly committed to it, seeing the danger in it and understanding the escape from it.” The escape from it being the subduing of passion and desire for them.

Unfortunately, knowing what wholesome food is and what is not isn’t always easy. Conversations around nutrition are extremely politicized. As a member of the obesity medicine association, what has struck me the most is that even the top experts in the field seem divided into different paradigms. For now, we can only use our best wisdom, and the knowledge we have available to choose the most wholesome foods. For doing that, I found the book “two meals a day” by mark sisson to be very helpful. He singles out three foods are particularly unwholesome and to be avoided. We might call these the three poisons of nutrition. These are sugar, grains, and refined industrial seed oils.

Before moving on, a few things need to be acknowledged. First, some people will often decry these recommendations as “restrictive,” but the correct understanding of them is as “selective,” not “restrictive.” You are being selective and choosing to avoid unwholesome food, and nourish your body with wholesome alternatives. Others might admonish you for singling out any foods and insist that you can eat anything in moderation. But the buddha encouraged us to “see danger in the slightest fault” and to “think not lightly of unwholesome actions, saying ‘it will not come to me,’ drop by drop the water pot is filled. Likewise, the fool, gathering it little by little. Fill himself with demerit.” Just as you shouldn’t have greed, hatred, and delusion “in moderation,” but seek to replace them with non attachment, loving-kindness, and wisdom, so too you should not have unwholesome foods “in moderation,” but seek to replace them with wholesome foods.

Here is a meditation I have modified slightly to suit our needs “with the support of non gluttony, eating sugar, refined grains and seed oils is to be abandoned: here a noble disciple considers thus: ‘i am practicing the way of abandoning and cutting off those fetters because of which I might eat this junk. If I were to eat those things, I would blame myself for doing so; the wise, having investigated, would censure me for doing so. But eating this junk is itself a fetter and a hindrance. And while taints vexation and fever might arise through eating this, there are no tains, vexation, or fever for one who abstains from eating sugar, refined grains, and seed oils. “

The intention we are trying to cultivate is renunciation/relinquishment/non-attachment: “Subdue greed for sensual pleasures, and see renunciation as safety.”

In the book “siddhatta” by herman hess, the titular character says

“When you throw a rock into the water, it will speed on the fastest course to the bottom of the water. This is how it is when Siddhartha has a goal, a resolution. Siddhartha does nothing, he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he passes through the things of the world like a rock through water, without doing anything, without stirring; he is drawn, he lets himself fall. His goal attracts him, because he doesn't let anything enter his soul which might oppose the goal. This is what Siddhartha has learned among the Samanas. This is what fools call magic and which they think is effected by demons. Nothing is effected by demons, there are no demons. Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast.”

Now THAT is an example of right resolve.

Karma, right effort and right mindfulness

Karma is the idea that our actions have consequences. It also entails the fact that you can change your situation by transforming your actions. Your body and mind are changed in the course of, and as a result of your conscious effort in changing your actions. If you have spent the majority of your life with a sedentary lifestyle and making poor eating choices, the consequences, the karmic fruit, will be being overweight and out of shape. But if, moving forward, you make the effort to eat wholesome foods and lift weights, the karmic fruit of that will be a happier, healthier you.

Professor Mark muesse gives a metaphor where he compares karmic action with lifting weights. The basic premise of karma is that “the way we are now is the consequence of the ways we have thought and acted up to this point. We have been conditioned by ourselves and by others. The term conditioning is useful here: The same way you go to the gym for strength or aerobic conditioning, each time you lift weights or walk a treadmill, your body reacts in a way that it’s easier to do the same thing a few dayas later. The more you train, the easier these actions become, until they almost seem effortless. Gradually, over time, habitual strength and aerobic conditioning can transform your body. The same process happens with the mind. Habitual thinking significantly determines that we think, feel and perceive. The more we entertain a particular thought, or a particular kind of thought, the more our minds are prone to generate thoughts of than nature. We have a small, but extremely important capacity to redirect our minds in ways that allow us to re-condition it.”

in his book “Karma,” traleg kyabgon writes, “Karmic theory is supposed to encourage us to think “I can become the person I want to be and not dwell on what I already am.” Karmic theory is meant to encourage us to become even more determined to improve ourselves and move forward. “

Earlier I chose the word “wholesome” to describe food intentionally. The buddha often used the word “kusala” to describe actions. That word is normally translated as “skillfull” or “wholesome.” In the past, I’ve always gravitated toward “skillfull” because I felt the world “wholesome” was loaded with particular political and religious connotations. But just like some foods are wholesome in that they are good for your body and mind, so too, some actions are wholesome in that they are good for your body and mind. Skillful is also a great translation. Something is skillful when it promotes welfare and happiness of you and others and more specifically, when it furthers your goals of reducing raga, hatred and delusion, and promoting relinquishment, loving-kindness and wisdom. One benefit of translating it as skillful is precisely that it shows it is a skill, and so it can be practiced, developed and cultivated. Please keep both meanings in mind as we use these words interchangeably moving forward.

Righ effort consists in abandoning unwholesome desires and cultivating wholesome ones. in order to abandon unwholsome desires buddha lists these ways of removing distracting thoughts

When you give attention to a sign, and owing to that sign there arise unskillfull thoughts connected with desire, hate and delusion, he should:

give attention to some other sign connected with what is skillfull

Examine the danger in those thoughts thus “these thoughts are unskillfull, reprehensible and result in suffering”

Try to forget these thoughts, don’t give any attention to them

Give attention to stilling the thought formation of these thoughts just as a man walking fast might consider, “why and I walking fast? What if I walk slowly? Or stand? Or sit? Or lie down?”

With his teeth clenched, he should beat down, constrain, and crush mind with mind.

Here is another practice recommended by the buddha:

“When a thought of i’ll will, greed (gluttony) or thought or harm arose in me I thought thus: “This bad thought has arisen in me. This leads to my own affliction, to other’s affliction and to the affliction of both. It obstructs wisdom and causes difficulties and leads away from nirvana. “ Whenever a thought of gluttony, ill will, or a thought of harming arose in me, I abandoned it, removed it, did away wit it. Whatever a person frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of his mind. Guard unskillfull thoughts like a farmer guards his cows by constantly tapping and poking them with a stick to check and curb them.

if a thought of renunciation, benevolence, or harmlessness arose in me, I understood thus: “This good thought has arisen in me. This does not lead to my own afflcition, or to the affliction of others, or to the affliction of both. it aids wisdom, does not cause difficulties, and leads to nirvana.” So I steadied my mind internally, quieted it, unified it and concentrated it. There was need only for me to be mindful that those states were there. “

like a seed, in order for us to develop wholesome states of mind, we need to create the right conditions for them to grow, and nurture them along the way. The way to creating these conditions is through right action and right mindfulness of that action. Simply by abstaining from unwholesome and immoderate ways of eating, we can start to create the right conditions for our development.

“when you wish to do an action with the body, you should reflect upon that action thus, ‘would this action that I wish to do with the body lead to my own affliction or the the affliction of thers, or to the affliction of both? Is it an unskillfull action with painful consequences and painful results?’ then you definitely should not do thact action with the body.”

This suggestion might seem completely obvious, almost trivially so. But how many of us still smoke, drink, eat sugary junk food and give into cravings mindlessly? How many of us actually take the time to mindfully examine our actions, the intentions behind those actions and the consequences of those actions?

joseph goldstein once said ““If you heard these word the right way, you could get enlightened: the buddha talks about everything we experience, (sights, smells, ect) is the terrible bait of this world. Moment after moment experiences are arising and it’s as if each of them has a hook and we’re fish. Do we bite or do we not bite and just swim freely in the ocean?” The point of meditation is to gain some control of the mind, to see through the forces that drive us. And drive us nuts.

The last practice I’ll recommend is to guard the sense doors:

“How does one guard the sense doors? Herein, a monk, having tasted a taste, does not seize upon its (delusive) appearance as a whole, nor on its details. If his sense of taste were uncontrolled, covetousness, grief and other evil, unwholesome states would flow into him. Therefore he practices for the sake of its control, he watches over the sense of taste, he enters upon its control. Having heard a sound, smelt an odor, seen a sight, felt a touch… cognized a mental object, he does not seize upon its (delusive) appearance as a whole…. He enters upon its control.

There are tastes perceptible by the tongue, which are desirable, lovely, pleasing, agreeable, associated woth desire, arousing lust. If the monk does not delight in them, is not attached to them, does not welcome them, then in him thus not delighting in them, not being attached to them, not welcoming them, delight (in these forms) ceases, if delight is absent, there is no bondage. There are sounds perceptible by the ear…. Odors perceptible by the mind…. Sights perceptible by the eye… If delight is absent, there is no bondage.”

As we’ve seen, “The entire course of [buddhist] practice from start to finish can in fact be seen as an evolving process of renunciation.” The eightfold path is a series of spiritual exercices to help us in this process. The buddha went so far as to recommend that we eat only one meal a day, and only before noon. Even the idea of karma itself is meant to encourage us to put in the effort to relinquish unwholesome thoughts and actions, and cultivate wholesome ones. In the dhammapadda, the buddha tells us that “health is the greatest gift” (204) and urges us to be vigilant and see “great danger in the slightest fault” and “protect what has been won.” The struggle for weightloss isn’t just a part of the path to freedom, it is the path. As I said in the begining, Your struggle with weight loss is the struggle for liberation.

Lastly, I will leave you with some words of encouragement from the buddha:

“Abandon what is unskillful, monks. It is possible to abandon what is unskillful. If it were not possible to abandon what is unskillful, I would not say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' But because it is possible to abandon what is unskillful, I say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.'

"Develop what is skillful, monks. It is possible to develop what is skillful. If it were not possible to develop what is skillful, I would not say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' But because it is possible to develop what is skillful, I say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.'

King pasenadi asked the buddha once day wethere there was one thing which could accomplish the ends of both this world and the next. Yes, said the buddha: diligence. Diligence can win you longevity, health, beauty, heaven, birth in a food family, and pleasures of the senses. So on that note here are a few verses on diligence and heedfulness:

Get up!

Sit up!

What’s your need for sleep?

And what sleep is there for the afflicted,

pierced by the arrow,

oppressed?

Get up!

Sit up!

Train firmly for the sake of peace.

Don’t let the king of death,

—seeing you heedless—

deceive you,

bring you under his sway.

Cross over the attachment

to which human & heavenly beings

remain, desiring,

tied.

Don’t let the moment pass by.

Those for whom the moment is past

grieve, consigned to hell.

Heedlessness is

dust, dust

comes from heedlessness,

has heedlessness

on its heels.

Through heedfulness & clear knowing

you’d remove

your own arrow.

[allamericansbitch]

and karm is a sanskirt word and nobody pronounces it like it should be pronounced 😭 it's like even native hindi speakers are saying karma just because westerners are

aw wait that makes me said

[globusinfocomlimited]

Mastering a Foreign Language: 51 Tips to Accelerate Your Language Learning Journey

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Learning a foreign language is an enriching endeavour that opens doors to new cultures, enhances cognitive abilities, and fosters connections with people around the world. While the journey may seem daunting, with dedication and effective strategies, anyone can achieve proficiency in a new language. Here are 51 tips to help you navigate and expedite your language learning process:

Set clear goals: Define why you want to learn the language and what level of proficiency you aim to achieve.

Choose the right language: Consider factors such as usefulness, personal interest, and accessibility.

Immerse yourself: Surround yourself with the language through movies, music, books, and conversations.

Start with the basics: Master the foundational elements such as greetings, numbers, and common phrases.

Practice regularly: Consistency is key to language learning success.

Create a study schedule: Allocate dedicated time each day for language practice.

Use flashcards: Anki, Quizlet, or physical flashcards can help reinforce vocabulary.

Find a language partner: Practice speaking with native speakers or fellow learners.

Join language exchange groups: Platforms like Tandem or HelloTalk facilitate language exchange.

Listen actively: Tune into podcasts, audiobooks, or radio stations in your target language.

Repeat out loud: Mimic native speakers to improve pronunciation and fluency.

Watch with subtitles: Start with subtitles in your native language, then switch to subtitles in the target language.

Learn from mistakes: Embrace errors as opportunities for growth.

Use language learning apps/software/digital language labs: Duolingo, Babbel, & Rosetta Stone offer interactive lessons. Also, learn in classroom with digital language lab available in schools.

There are companies in India that offers the integration of language lab for schools. Globus Infocom Limited is such company that offers comprehensive solution along with the recently launched language learning software-Bhasha Learnia.

Write regularly: Keep a journal or engage in writing exercises to practice grammar and vocabulary.

Set realistic expectations: Understand that language learning is a gradual process.

Break it down: Focus on mastering one skill at a time, whether it's speaking, listening, reading, or writing.

Celebrate milestones: Acknowledge and reward your progress along the way.

Incorporate the language into daily life: Label household items, talk to your friends, change your phone's language settings, or think in the target language.

Learn about culture: Understanding cultural nuances enhances language comprehension and communication.

Use mnemonics: Create associations or visualizations to remember words and phrases.

Practice with tongue twisters: Challenge yourself with tongue twisters to improve pronunciation and diction.

Set challenges: Aim to learn a certain number of words or phrases each day or week.

Find resources tailored to your learning style: Whether you're a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner, adapt your study materials accordingly.

Take breaks: Rest and recharge to prevent burnout and maintain motivation.

Explore diverse accents: Exposure to different accents improves listening comprehension.

Learn cognates: Identify and leverage words with similar roots in your native language.

Create a language learning playlist: Compile songs in your target language to practice listening skills.

Use language learning communities: Engage with online forums, Facebook groups, or Reddit communities for support and advice.

Focus on high-frequency words: Prioritize learning words commonly used in everyday conversation.

Read aloud: Practice pronunciation and intonation by reading texts aloud.

Set up language challenges: Challenge yourself to complete tasks or hold conversations entirely in the target language.

Utilize memory techniques: Use mnemonic devices, spaced repetition, or memory palaces to retain information.

Review regularly: Schedule regular review sessions to reinforce language learning and prevent forgetting.

Keep it fun: Incorporate games, puzzles, or quizzes into your language learning routine.

Experiment with different resources: Explore textbooks, online courses, YouTube channels, and language exchange platforms.

Seek feedback: Solicit feedback from native speakers or language tutors to improve your skills.

Diversify your sources: Expose yourself to a variety of accents, dialects, and registers.

Set aside dedicated study time: Create a distraction-free environment for focused language practice.

Stay motivated: Remind yourself of your goals and the benefits of language proficiency.

Track your progress: Use apps, software, digital language labs, journals, or spreadsheets to monitor your advancement.

Review past lessons: Regularly revisit previous material to reinforce learning and fill gaps in understanding.

Experiment with different methods: Try immersion programs, language classes, or self-study approaches to find what works best for you.

Stay patient: Understand that progress may be gradual, but every small step counts.

Embrace the learning process: Enjoy the journey of discovery and growth that comes with learning a new language.

Engage with authentic materials: Read newspapers, watch movies, or listen to podcasts in the target language to expose yourself to real-world usage.

Seek cultural experiences: Attend cultural events, festivals, or language meetups to deepen your understanding and connection to the language.

Take advantage of free resources: Utilize online courses, language learning blogs, and YouTube tutorials to supplement your studies.

Review grammar regularly: Solidify your understanding of grammar rules through practice exercises and drills.

Set up rewards: Treat yourself to small rewards for reaching milestones or completing language learning tasks.

Never give up: Stay persistent and resilient, even in the face of challenges or setbacks.

In conclusion, learning a foreign language is a rewarding attempt that requires dedication, persistence, and effective strategies. By incorporating these 51 tips into your language learning journey, you can accelerate your progress and achieve proficiency in your target language. Remember, every step forward brings you closer to fluency and a deeper connection to the world around you. So, seize the opportunity and embark on the adventure of mastering a foreign language today!

[reneeswing]

Once Upon a Time in Bali

In 2022, I spent my December in the island of Bali, Indonesia. For a person coming from cold and dark Europe, Archipelago’s warm and humid air cures my depressive PTSD and shields me from another round of influenza outbreak at home. People might have been familiar with the generic scenery of Southeast Asia, especially as this edge of the world have been subjected to the Kingdom of the Netherlands for centuries: white sandy beaches shape up the heaven on earth, and there is always abundance of palm trees. What Europeans once considered an exotic colonial excursion, remains exotic; now it transforms itself into a recreational refuge for the same group of beneficiaries. Better yet, it may well be one last Utopian sanctuary for people who become wanderlust in their own universe. So you would imagine seeing girls in their swimming suits lying on those white beaches, and boys showing off their chiselled abs on their surfing boards. 

What you don’t see in Bali from those tourist pictures? 

But of course, Bali has more than one faces; and it is those out-of-extraordinary faces that are worth probing, gazing at and pondering over. In Bali, only at the southern tip of the island, on the side of Indian Ocean, are there white sandy beaches. On a good north part, Balinese beaches are signified by black sands, these are volcanic ashes from sacred Mountain Agung and Mountain Batu. As Islam to Java and Sumatra, Hinduism is the paramount religion in Bali. Among other Gods, they worship the famous Shiva and Ganesha. Balinese women always wear garments covering their shoulders and knees. As islanders, of course they go swimming in the ocean, but barely would you see them lying on the beach in bikini’s.

Every morning, you wake up with the aroma of the incense. Opening the door, you’ll find an Hindu offering: Canang Sari placed at your doorstep. As you try catching the silhouette of the smoke, the ladies has already prayed for the blessings of their household. They might be pious in religious believes, but local Balinese do not practice yoga. In the yoga town as famous as Ubud, it is flooded with foreigners. The expats chant Sanskirt in their stretch yoga paints, order ginger shot with chia seeds pudding, sometimes even complain the servants behind the bar could not understand their English, while the locals are hidden in the plain sights of those heaven-like utopian yoga studios.  Even though struggling at understand those complicated orders, they still carry the most beautiful grin and purest kindness on their faces. 

What I am doing in Bali?

My trip to Bali has a mission: my volunteer project at North Bali Reef Conservation, restoring the coral reef that was damaged by manmade excavation. As I set off the journey and plunge myself into the fishing village in North Bali, the image of Bali emerges into vivid faces. Through the interaction with these vivid faces, my Balinese memory is immersed in the warmth and care that I have not been experienced for many years.

Tianyar, is the destination, a village with broken roads, where children at age of 11 have already learnt to ride a scooter. Roosters never stop crowing and dogs bark around the clock. It is in Tianyar, I got to know that Geckos also chirp, and they are one of the most chatty bunch. But after all, what impresses me the most is still the people: the fishermen, the kids and the volunteers from all over the world.

In Tianyar, fishermen know how to dive and they work with international volunteers to restore damaged coral reefs. On the project, I joined the local crew to build artificial reef structures using cement, then we dove to place the reef structures onto the barren seabed, 10 meters under the sea level spreading around 1km. When the artificial reefs were placed and piled, hopefully nature would run its course: microbes and corals grow back and fishes lay eggs onto the structures, hence the ecosystem would restore to its healthy state gradually as it used to be. For merely 1km of distance, it has taken the project 5 years of time for the restoration work. 8000 structures have been built and the number is still counting; there remains a lot of works to do, miles to go before we sleep. When cruising the area under the water, I could see obvious changes to the previously damaged seabed. Head-sized brain corals have grown on these artificial reefs, fluorescent fishes flap around and with us. Seeing these positive natural responses, I was so convinced that all the hard works were worthwhile.  

The volunteers are a curious pack of people coming from all around the world. Interestingly, many people I met during my tenure were Europeans. I might have run away from Europe during the holiday season, but I didn’t escape Europeans. Yet, they are also not quite the same as those back at home. Most of them are Gen Z kids doing their gap year, on their first out-of-Europe trip since Corona. Some have spent months in Asia, or even exclusively on this project. Surely young kids are not the only character in this group. I’ve met corporate executives who once solo travelled through Siberia on motorcycles, social workers and other professionals in their 40s, who have decided starting their life adventure all over again. No matter how old they are, I’ve witnessed pure form of altruism from these people, and their immense love for the ocean. Their eyes sparkled, when they talked about the marine animals in the ocean. They were also caring and reliable. When we went under water for deployment mission, we became guardians to one another, we were buddies. Should there be any issues with the diving equipment, we counted on each other to be the safety net. 

The nature is loving, but it is also ruthless. The ocean is never tamed and doesn’t always pick its moment to accommodate our work. Sometimes, during deployment, we were not even able to stay properly buoyant, because the waves and currents went in every direction. So we had to monitor everyone in our proximity. To this day, I still remember the massive current during my first deployment, the visibility was low as the sands were all stirred up. I was practically a balloon out of control, as I failed to maintain my buoyancy. Whoever passing by me, tried to calm me down, using sign language to guide me make proper adjustment to my setting. Thanks to them, I went through my first mission and went back to shore safely with the team. I figured if you could trust a person under the water, big chance you could trust them in life. Those kids, though decade junior to my age, they are my trustworthy diving buddies down there in the ocean.

The breeze rustles from the ocean, this is how I will remember about everything in Tianyar: underneath the water in turquoise colour, the sound and the colour, everything is distorted to its own form. With the bubbles coming from every exhale, I was immersed in the state of serenity.   

Yayasan the school and the children

Local NGO also established an after school for the children in the village. Volunteers come here to be English teachers in this school named Yayasan. Classes are held everyday between 3 and 5 pm, kids’ age ranges from 6 all the way to 16 years old. Whenever I wrapped up my work in the afternoon, I would join the teacher squad to help with teaching, sometimes also dancing with the kids. 

The last week during my stay, the weather became extremely rough, non-stop rain on top of feisty gusts. The wind and the choppy water flushed all the plastic wastes to the shore. Seeing the ugly truth, nobody would be unimpressed by the pain that we human have inflicted on the ocean. Camiel and Chloe, two volunteers I have befriended here. I helped them create a curriculum on plastic ocean. After school, we also organised the class to collect plastic wastes on the beach. By showing the damages first hand, we tried to demonstrate to the local kids how non-degradable plastic goods were hazardous to marine animals and to our own health.

Bali, as beautiful as a heaven on earth, the islanders are also rather reckless with excess use and disposal of plastics. In the remote villages like Tianyar, wastes and recycles are not collected centrally. Instead, villagers burn everything in their garbage including plastics, which results in an unpleasant odour in the air daily, or plastic carcass lifelessly lying on the roadsides. Though teaching the kids about plastic damages, We weren’t sure how much we could change the villagers’ behaviour immediately. Through the lessons and the beach tour, we hoped to plant a seed in the kids’ mind and the changes might come from within. 

Every Thursday afternoon is when Yayasan kids say goodbye to the teachers who finish up their volunteer journey and leave soon. there is a series of performance on the school playground by the children to show their appreciation to their teachers. They have all learnt some pop music choreographies, among which the most popular one is Shakira’s Waka Waka. Almost every boy and girl know the move and love dancing to the music. Some girls would also perform traditional Balinese dances. Balinese dance is one of the most precious cultural heritages from the island. By the way, for people who are new to Balinese culture, if you must know one thing or two about Bali, you cannot miss out the Kecak dance by the cliff of Uluwatu at the sunset. It is intriguing, bewildering yet powerful. Seeing Yayasan girls dancing, Even though they do not perform with the same level of sophistication, I was equally smitten by their authenticity; especially the movement of their fingers and gazes, as if they have learnt to dance before they could walk. After the school performance, children would swarm toward their teachers for hugs and tears, a scene that always brought me to tears. Most of the gifts were sweet treats which you could imagine, the children have been saving up from their daily rations, no matter how much people from west would have thought of them as unhealthy snacks for toddlers and teenagers. 

My favourite chef and life in the camp

All the volunteers living together in the camp, the Booboo House, consists of simple bungalows and bunkbeds. The camp is divided into teachers squad and marine squad, with each has its own chef and crew. I was part of the marine squad, God knows how much I loved this name; it sounded as if we were the tougher bunch. 7 o’clock every day, our chefs and the family come to the camp and start their morning routine. Enter Yanti and Mongu, together with two lovely kids, Tantri and Ranga, some of my favourite people in the camp. Not only because they always served us with delicious Balinese dishes and saved food for me even when I was back in the camp very late, also because Yanti and I shared our secrete affection for Korean dramas. One day, when no volunteers playing western music on the speaker, Yanti put out her music collection and voila, BTS was in the house. We found each other in our love for Korean actor: Hyun Bin, who was also considered the country’s national treasure in Korea. Ever since, the bond became stronger. Even after I finished up my project and left the camp, Yanti still texted me and wished me eventually find my Mr. Hyun Bin in real life. Isn’t that a beautiful ambition? lol… 

If you think the nights in the village is quiet, you are mistaken. As the night falls, the choir of roosters start their performance. When I lied in my bungalow, I could easily tell 5 of them were in the vicinity, while the other 20 were lining up in three layers, uncoordinatedly chanting. They were never alone making the sound. Even with my most whimsical imagination, a karaoke bar would have been the last possible thing to expect in Tianyar. But they do exist. Near the street entrance to Booboo house, there is a club/ karaoke bar. Regardless which day of the week, music travelled far to our camp and it just lasted. Thinking Tianyar a faraway place, I completely underestimated the villagers’ passion for party.  There were also dogs who woke up before the sun did. They started chasing around each other and never kept it to themselves. So the first few nights were hard for me to fall asleep. Everything happened all at once, like the music notes coming from the same Philharmonic. However, curious thing happened: I integrated really well; one week later, I slept like a log every night ever since. Well, I figure that’s how we human adapt to our environment. 

My third week in the camp, Christmas was around the corner. Although pine tree is nowhere to be found on the island, we do have abundant palm trees. One particular sunny Thursday afternoon leading up to Christmas, all the volunteers worked together to prepare for the celebration. We built an odd-looking yet extremely creative Christmas tree out of palm tree leaves. Without having fancy Christmas balls, we used the same big leaves making origami ornament, from flowers to birds, from stars to ingots. Finally on Christmas day, Maria Carey was singing “all I want for Christmas” around the camp, we got to enjoy a three-course meal with chocolate mousse as dessert (of course made by our favorite chefs with love), followed by secrete Santa for gift exchange, funny group dances and handmade gingerbread contest.

This has been the best of times, and the most memorable Christmas for my years of wanderlust. Till today, I still miss the taste of that lush chocolate mousse.  

The morning glow and the grin on Fisherman’s face

Did I tell you Tianyar is a fisherman’s village? This also means we got to board the fish boat and chase for the sunrise. It was 5:30 in the morning, the crescent moon was still hanging high up in the north. The fisherman set the engine and we began to sail eastbound. As we proceeded, the sky start glowing into a pallet with rich colours, from navy blue to violet, then turned into a whole spectrum of warm orange, like a burning fire. “The sun is on the rise, we have to speed up”, said our fisherman. 

Our fisher man is called Wayan, evidently he is the oldest son in his family. Aren’t you curious how I got to know it? Here is a bit Balinese name 101. In traditional Balinese families, there are only four names. The name of the first born is Wayan or Putu, the next down the line is Made, followed by Nyoman, and then Ketut. If the family has more than 4 children, then the 5th one will become Wayan II, and so on so forth. To this day, most Balinese people still keep this tradition, like our fisherman. Please meet Wayan. Sitting face to face with him, I could see this purple glow on Wayan’s face; there was a grin too. Morning breeze coming with the salty taste, the water splashed while the engine slithering the waves. He got this, this was his stage, all the lime lights are centred on him. As my thought travelled, the scenery just reached its climax. Wayan stood up which rocked the boat slightly, and he pointed to direction far ahead, “look look, lumba-lumba”. He gesturing forward with excitement, we were all confused and couldn’t comprehend his words that could be either Bahasa or Balinese. Until in a split second, we saw a pod of dolphins hopping out of the water joyfully. On this golden canvas, Mountain Agung quietly stayed in the background for those beautiful mammals jumping in loops one after another. We were the luckiest, blessed to see this marvel in harmony; all the cheering was in the air. My feet dipping in the warm sea, I was overwhelmed by the love of nature in December Bali.

Time to go back to shore, everyone was in a good mood. Wayan was also chanting with us; but he was not so stunned by my proud photoshoot capturing the sun, the mountain and the dolphins in one frame. In the end, he sees this scenery almost daily, this has always been part of his life.

It is an interesting riddle, isn’t it? For me, this was a hard-earned moment of tranquillity, I had to work a full time job and fly thousands of miles to see it. Whereas for Wayan, our fishermen, they might not have the “middle-class” comfort in life, but they get to relish this view every day or whenever they feel like it. Up to whom to tell which life is better? We don’t know better.

Time to visit the Temple

The New Year’s Eve was around the corner, it was my cue to finish the project and leave Tianyar. Meanwhile, it was also the three-day count-down to the biggest celebration in Bali: Galungan and Kuningan, according to the islanders’ Pawukon calendar. This is a 7-day religious festival when Balinese people pay tribute to their passed ancestors, who are believed to return home and bless their people. Penjor, curvy bamboo poles decorated with offerings and tassels stand on the sides of every street across the island, imitating a ladder rising from the earth to connect with the celestial heaven. 

Balinese families have so much to prepare for the ceremonies, making offerings, praying in the temples, cleansing with sacred water and tomorrow do it all over again. During the season, their days started from 3 am, when I heard chanting coming from village temples, smelled the burning incense slipping through the edge of my door. Time for me to visit the Hindu temples, and I wanted to do it in style. 10 o’clock in the morning, the sun could not wait to show off its sparkle brightness, one would get toasted if exposed under it for longer than 5 minutes. But no real Balinese shied away, everyone on the street wore traditional sarong, women with matching lace kebaya while men were suited with painted kamben shirts and hairbands, called Udeng. The wax dyeing technique in this part of the Archipelago could trace back centuries ago, it owns its world-renowned name called “Batik”. To this day, international artists are still intrigued and inspired by its intricate craftsmanship. 

I myself was all dressed up in traditional sarong, because my driver, Santri has kindly agreed to secretly smuggle me into the temple in his village. Well, with my tanned skin complexion resulted from marine work, I might blend in just fine, even pass as a local, as long as I didn’t answer any questions or spit any word. Santri’s mother and the family were all there to greet me. Very soon, some uncle from the village gave me this scanning look; then he turned around to chat with Santri. They both ended up giggling in the language that I had minimal knowledge of. But I was not completely oblivious. Judging by the boy’s sudden facial blushing, I figured the uncle has mistaken me as Santri’s betrothed. It must have been an innocent joke, but I also didn’t see anyone denying it, whereas I was just incapable of doing so. Well, as long as it got me into the temple, I didn’t mind a bit of theatrics. I just had to wing it.

The temple consists of sacred shrines in bright colours, all dedicated to Hindu Gods and the villagers’ ancestors. Surrounded by bamboo Penjors, the central piece of the terrace was piled with offerings from pious believers. Women and men all in uniform sarong, they gathered to perform the ritual and pray for a good year to come. On one side of the temple terrace, I saw some piglets and chickens wearing red ribbons, were strapped to the poles. Santri told me those farm animals would be sacrificed at the end of the ritual. It went without saying, I was extremely interested in both the religious and secular aspects of Galungan. In the meantime, I respected their ancient traditions, to the extent that I couldn’t agree with the backward aspect that animals were still slaughtered in religious rituals today.

Eventually I figured this was part of the journey. As much as I was amazed by the cultural originality, there might also be something that I detested of. With all the conspicuous temple colours and a mixed feeling, I wrapped up my temple visit on the eve of Galungan. 

The local entrepreneurs and friendly faces

Bali is a place for a vibrant entrepreneur community. My time in Bali makes me realise one thing, one thing that business school forgot to teach me: a business is a business. It doesn’t always have to be disruptive or blue ocean for a business to succeed. During my time here, I met so many local entrepreneurs full of passion for their brand. My encounter with them was exceptionally inspiring.

Pithecanthropus is a Balinese brand that sells garments and textile products. The brand is also dedicated to preserve ancient wax dyeing technique and aesthetic culture of Indigenous ethnicities. The owner is a gentleman named Bobby, who founded Pithecanthropus 25 years ago. He and the team have been cruising every corner of the Archipelago searching for cultural artefacts from the villages and the tribes. For instance, They are trying to preserve the iconic dyeing method: Batik, originated in Java and thrived in Bali. In their shop, I found a good collection of sarongs, the motif on which are the remake of the antiquate Batik techniques; there were also the cap stamps, made of coppers with intricate motif designs, and arrays of antique textiles collected around the islands.

During my trip, I ran into the premiere of their private textile exhibition from 19th century southern Sumatra, called Muara. The exhibition was held in an ancient wooden mansion that Bobby shipped from Sumatra and re-erected brick by brick. When Balinese sun beaming through the tainted glasses in this 18th century house, my train of thought followed those artefacts going back in time. The textiles on display were embodiment of an era when the islands and the surrounding water bodies became the integral outpost of various trading routes, those arrays of patterns and colours testified the rise and fall of the sultanates and colonists, witnessed the ebbs and flows of both religious and secular societies. In yesteryear, merchants bartered spices for Chinese gold threads; craftsman then applied them boldly on the garments to demonstrate prosperity. In contrast, indigo colours were broadly used in inland implying moderacy. The name of the exhibition “Muara” meant ‘delta’; it suggested, the ornate textiles symbolised a terrain where all those ancient cultural relics converged, the Japanese, the Chinese, the Dutch, as well the Indians and the Arabs. 

Throughout my visit in the gallery, I was accompanied by a lovely lady, Tania. Fluent in English, she showed me her passion and aesthetic taste in Indonesian diverse culture. A college student majoring in nutrition and dietetics, she studies at the largest university in Bali: Udayana University. She worked at the exhibition as a part-time narrator during her holiday break from school. After my visit, we also spoke about her study in nutrition. I confided with her my observation that in Bali, there seemed lack of healthy snacks in the supermarkets and toko’s (local shops) for children; and she shared with me how she would like to use her knowledge making social changes in the future. 

Room4Dessert, hidden in the uphill north of Ubud, is the kitchen that once won the world’s Best Pastry Chef Award. But this was a knowledge for me in the hindsight. When everyone else arrived in a scooter or taxi, I walked. And that night, I managed to squeeze into the last solo seat, when everyone else made a reservation 2 months ahead. What could I say, I was a lucky bunny. All the guests were foreign looking, whereas most of the restaurant staff were of friendly local faces. As I only intended to take a Cappuccino and one piece of cake in this ‘patisserie’, I was completely oblivious that the restaurant only served a 12-course set menu of desserts. 12 desserts instead of one piece of cake? Just as I debated my decision, a sudden rainfall stormed to the street and I had to stay. In retrospect, I was glad that the timely rain made the decision for me, as there was always room for dessert. 

Being a solo guest, I was led to sit at the bar together with two other strangers. The trio began to exchange gauche pleasantry. The restaurant bar had a semi-open-air setting, with one open side facing its own organic garden. Considering Bali’s tropical climate, it was not uncommon. The rain continued to rage, while the wind joined the party, began to blow the humidity toward people at the bar. The space was full of sounds, the water, the wind, the cling-clang sound in the open kitchen and the subtle music edging between Jazz and something else. I was distracted by the orchestra, when a Caucasian looking guy came and greeted me. “I kinda like the big storm, it is beautiful, isn’t it?” This man with convincing tone was Will Goldfarb, the mind behind Room4Dessert. The pastry chef and the founder, together with Room4Dessert, they featured in Netflix’s series Chef’s Table in 2018. Wow, I bumped into some a famous place. 

The entire dinner was an immersive experience. I was fully concentrated on the waiter’s introduction of each course: the ingredients harvested from the very organic garden, and their interesting combination, the plate setting and the handmade placemat underneath them, all reflected the team’s creativity: juxtaposing, putting elements together for originality. The three solo guests, who were total strangers, turned into three musketeers bound by this gastronomic enlightenment.

Later when the rain got gentler, I was led to tour around the organic garden, my tour guid was also my concierge of the night, Ayu, a lovely lady from Bali, who also invited me to come back and visit their even larger organic farm behind the restaurant. 

The next day, the sun shined bright again, I went back to visit the farm with the garden manager, Felicia. Unlike Ayu, Felicia comes from Java Island. Aspired to be a pastry chef, she left home and started working in Bali during Covid. However at Room4Dessert, she wasn’t hired as a pastry chef, instead, she is now managing the business around the organic farm. While strolling around the farms, she was telling me all the fun facts about this place, how to distinguish lemongrass from citronella, what is her favourite nutty ingredient called Kenari. And I returned the favour by telling her in West, how the concept of organic farms has turned into a prevalent social movement, as people desperately looked for sustainability solutions.

I often believe people find their path in the strangest way. This is how life usually turns out to be: an ambitious pastry apprentice, becomes a versatile principal managing an organic farm.

All the inspiring local businesses, all those lovely story-telling faces. It was such an easy thing to connect with them. Now almost 2 months later, those flashbacks of remembrance keep me warm. As I duck in the cold European winter, I am especially craving for the Balinese friendliness like nowhere else. 

The earthquake and the stray dog in Uluwatu 

To conclude my journey to Bali, I also couldn’t miss out some of the less appealing experiences. Chapter 0: Earthquakes. Three days into my camp life in Tianyar, we were enjoying our leisure time after work. All of a sudden, I felt a very strong tremor from underground. Before I realised it was a real earthquake, the local staff dropped everything in hands, raised both arms in the air and started praying, murmuring words that I couldn’t make sense. This amazing island, called Bali, it is also under all sorts of seismic hazards, from earthquake, to tsunami, then to volcanic eruption. Most of the volunteers have never had any direct earthquake experience, except for my friend, Jillian, who lives in Tokyo Japan and helped us to make sense of everything when the tremor started. Luckily after a few noticeable shocks, the quake stopped. The locals went to check the sea level. Since the camp literally was situated on the beach, they wanted to eliminate the probability of tsunami, the strong indicator of which was the sea vacuumed away from the shore.

After the initial shock, people with experiences tried to provide solace to us, explained that tsunami would only be triggered if the earthquake lasted for a significant period of time. And this one was just the earth releasing its pressure routinely. In case there was a tsunami alert in time, we would have had at least 2 hours to run toward the higher altitude, which was around 5km away from us.

The news came out a few hours later: it was a magnitude 5.6 quake where the epicentre was in the middle of Bali Sea, 20km north to our village. Well, although a routine tremor, it did render some of us no longer an earthquake virgin.

Enticed by the Kecak dance performance on the cliff, I had a short stay in Uluwatu, a beach town along Indian Ocean, famous for its rock caves and surfing culture.

Sunday morning, as I was climbing down the cave leading to Suluban beach, an emaciated dog caught my eyes. She was scavenging for the Canang offerings, while an old man came over helping her open up the plastic wraps around the foods. This gentleman owns a warung (local eatery) near the beach. He started telling me that he has spotted many stray dogs lately. During past two years of lockdown, as many foreigners relocated to Bali temporarily, they also adopted dogs to keep them company. Now that the world went back to norms, those foreigners left; and unfortunately, their pets were abandoned. This dog has been lingering on the beach for days. Struggled to find enough food, she became extremely skinny. As we spoke, she kept looking up at the ladders to the beach, as if she was hoping her master would have come back for her. Tears poured out my eyes when I saw her gaze into the air. I joined the old man looking for fresh water for the dog. Garbage lied around in the cave, including a deserted coconut shell, but no drinkable water at sight. It occurred to me I still got half bottle of water in my bag. I took it out and poured the water into a container in front of her, she began to voraciously devouring the water.

Bali, just like every other beautiful things in this world, its existence is undeniably sublime, but it also carries cruelty in its true colour. And for me that very last bit included makes it an unforgettable journey to bookend my 2022.

C’est fini.

[rapmonkive]

When you can't get off but then you see a book in Sanskirt on the shelf.

then sit naked on chairs and talk about how they never call.

Oppenheimer 2023 | Christopher Nolan

[mysticalblizzardcolor]

Lakshmi | Lalita Tripura Sundari | Sanskrit Mantra | Stand in the Light ...

[cognitiveconsciousness]

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