I enjoyed reading the honesty of what you took away from this experience. I think a lot of people go into spiritual journeys expecting something beyond grand, an emotional breakthrough or a 180 in career, and for me, it's tempting to question how much of that grand outcome is due to wishful thinking. I enjoyed reading this because I know the mentality from which you're coming from and how your outcome makes sense to you.
i thought the most beautiful part of your writing was how you described Chokyi "He had a widespread following, wide cheeks, and the crows’ feet of someone who has spent most of his life smiling." to think that someone lived their life spending the most of their time smiling is really sweet. if people described me like that i think that's all that really matters.
"My opinions shifted by the day, making an unreliable narrator out of myself. Hopes of unchanging clarity dashed by unrelenting change." — love this description
"“What gives?” He replied that I’d likely been so unaware on the first day that I hadn’t even realized how distracted I was." — this is true, we probably fail to realize how much our minds are clouded even on days where we think they're more empty, until we really try to empty our minds
I enjoyed reading the honesty of what you took away from this experience. I think a lot of people go into spiritual journeys expecting something beyond grand, an emotional breakthrough or a 180 in career, and for me, it's tempting to question how much of that grand outcome is due to wishful thinking. I enjoyed reading this because I know the mentality from which you're coming from and how your outcome makes sense to you.
i thought the most beautiful part of your writing was how you described Chokyi "He had a widespread following, wide cheeks, and the crows’ feet of someone who has spent most of his life smiling." to think that someone lived their life spending the most of their time smiling is really sweet. if people described me like that i think that's all that really matters.
This is the most beautiful piece of writing I have read in a while. Thank you for letting us into your journey and world with so much honesty🩵
"My opinions shifted by the day, making an unreliable narrator out of myself. Hopes of unchanging clarity dashed by unrelenting change." — love this description
"“What gives?” He replied that I’d likely been so unaware on the first day that I hadn’t even realized how distracted I was." — this is true, we probably fail to realize how much our minds are clouded even on days where we think they're more empty, until we really try to empty our minds
If we arrived at 5:31AM, he’d bark, “Late!” — truly reflects Japanese values haha