The book that started it all...

This is the book that started it all.

Little known fact- I am a buddhist. This book was my first exploration of buddhism back in AP/IB English in High School. It opened my eyes to this particular story of Siddartha, a novelization of his journey to awakening. My meditation practice grew from this. Meditation at such and early age, I was definitely fumbling around with the practice but it eventually refined into a space of self-discovery, growth and insight. As I continue to grow my meditation practice, from taking my refuge vows this past December, or leaning into the beautiful practices of @tracee_stanley ‘s meditation training, this book is such a centering peice of my perspective and voice.

I love this quote from Siddhartha in the book:

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙄 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙎𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜--𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙣, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙢𝙖𝙣, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙪𝙨𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙣, 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.

A beautiful reminder that we are all we need. We have everything inside already. We just need to turn that awareness inward. That’s the process. That’s the work.

That’s the real awakening.