Joy

    Last week I met a friend. She looked upset and unhappy.

      To the question ‘How are you?’, she anxiously listed the troubles of her life.

     Today I met her again. She was calm and joyful.

     - Did something good happen to you? - I asked.

     - Yes, - she answered, - my sister died. She was eighty-nine. For several weeks in a row, she was in terrible pain. It was unbearable.

Her joy did not surprise me. I have already seen this in Thailand, a Buddhist country [1]. Buddhists believe that death is not the end, but the path to rebirth, to a new life, so you should rejoice.

1. Buddhism in Thailand II

https://galinapop.blogspot.com/2010/03/buddhism-in-thailand-ii.html

Pадость

На прошлой неделе я встретила одну мою знакомую.

Oна выглядела расстроенной и несчастной.

На вопрос ‘Как дела ?’ она, волнуясь, перечислила неприятности её жизни.

    Сегодня я встретила её опять. Она была спокойной и радостной.

 —У Вас случилось что-то хорошee? —спросила я.  

— Да, — oтветила она, — умерла моя Сестра. Eй было 89 лет. Несколько недель подряд у нее были сильные боли. Мучилась бедняжка. 

Её радость не удивила меня. Я это уже видела в Таиланде, Буддистской стране [1]. Буддисты считают, что смерть не конец, а путь к возрождению, к новой жизни, поэтому надо радоваться.

1.     1. Buddhism in Thailand II

https://galinapop.blogspot.com/2010/03/buddhism-in-thailand-ii.html

 

Mardi Gras in Columbia, MO

A few years ago, I was in Florida on the coast. There were student holidays and the whole beach was filled with young people. Guys with a lot of bright plastic beads around their necks walked along the beach. The guys usually approached a girls and said: “Show your boobs!” Some girls lifted their bras for a moment and then immediately lowered them. Then the guy took off a string of beads from his neck and hung it around the girl's neck.

Today I went to yoga class. Since it was working time, there were only Senior Ladies in the class. Before the start, a man of our age entered the classroom with a lot of beads around his neck and hung beads on all the Ladies. However, he did not say to any of us: “Show your boobs!”

My neighbor said that today is Mardi gras, and giving beads is a tradition.