NATURE, MINDFULNESS, ARTS, LOVE AND CARE:
TOOLS FOR OUR SELF-HEALING
Claudia, Brazil
I had moved from Brazil to Australia and I was feeling quite lost when I sat in front of my computer with the intention to find something that could help me to soften the void I was feeling inside me. I didn’t have much clarity of what I was looking for, so randomly I surfed on the internet and a website of a Tibetan Buddhism nunnery caught my attention. This nunnery was founded by the admirable Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo but at that moment I had no clue who she was. Nevertheless, I kept scrutinizing her website and at some point I spotted the name of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists organization. These 2 words, “engaged” and “Buddhists” together hooked me immediately. From here it was easy to find the Awakening Leadership Training website. While reading the content of the course a wave of excitement arose in me, however it didn’t last long as I soon discovered that the 2017 program was almost finishing.

Without being put down by the initial frustration of having missed almost the entire course, in January 2018 I arrived in Thailand to attend the last module of the program. The course setting was well beyond my expectations. When I saw myself surrounded by coconut trees, in the middle of a peaceful (tourist free!) beach, listening the whisper of the wind and enchanted by the infinity of the sea, I thought: Wooww!! Despite my wonder about the location, I was about to perceive another ambience, an intriguing one. As I gradually got to know the participants of the course, I notice that the long term students had a different “vibe”. I couldn’t really grasp what was going on but they seemed to be radiant, strong, and I felt a very consistent bond between them, a sense of complicity. With curiosity and a bit of jealousy I kept observing them for a while. But before I knew it my attention was completely immersed in my own journey.
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