Budi

I give you this as my Christmas present. Read it and think about it. I hope it will make your life better and happier. 

These are stećak standing stones from The Balkans. They are found in Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia. 

And this is an an "alleged" inscription from one of stećak standing stones from Hercegovina. I have found it on the Wikipedia web page about medieval standing stones epitaphs. The reason why I said "alleged" is because I have no way of verifying whether it really is or isn't genuine medieval tombstone inscription. So all I can do is trust the source (for now) and then go and check it later.  

But the reason why I am writing this post is actually the content of the message. Here it is:

"Here I lie on my own noble land. My name is Vlk (Wolf) the son of Hum. Take what I am going to tell you, but don't trust me.  You are you and I am I so our truths don't have to be the same. When you are like me, take stock of your life just like I did. 

Don't hope that what is yet to come is going to last for ever, but also don't feel regret for what has passed. Most people have small knowledge and big expectations. They will therefore always accuse yesterday for what is going to happen to them tomorrow. You should love the moment you are in and the lips that kiss you. 

Later on your bones will, like mine now, peacefully sleep under a heavy stone. Don't knock down my tombstone, let it stand as it stands now. If you don't understand what I am telling you now, maybe some son of your son will understand me one day. 

I lied here on an accursed day in the year 1209."

Talking about Buddhist mindfulness...Be in now. That is all there is... 

The man lying under the stone was not a Buddhist. He was just "budan". In Serbian the word "budi" is an imperative of "to be". It is a command or a suggestion to live in now, to exist in the present. And the word "budan" means "awaken", the one who "is" here and now....

So the man whose epitaph "allegedly" this is, understood the big secret of now. But when did he get this understanding? On his death bed? Or was he lucky to gain this understanding earlier? Maybe this is a message, genuine or not, that is intended to wake us up before we reach that moment of no return and help us live the rest of our lives "awake", which is the only way to truly live...

If you don't understand what I mean, maybe you should read this book: "The power of now" by Eckhart Tolle. It is the best explanation of what mindfulness is I have ever come across. Maybe then you will understand. But if you don't, don't throw the book away. Give it to your children and maybe some child of your child will understand it one day...

And take what I just wrote in this post, but don't trust. See for yourself...


Here is the original in Serbian:

"A se lezim rad na svojini plemenitoj. Ime mi Vlk ot Humske zemje sin. Ono tsto tcu ti rejti ti privati al nejmoj mi vjerovati. Tij si ti, ja sam ja pa nam ni istine ne moraju biti iste. Kad budnes ko ja svedi svoj ratcun tko tsto svedoh ja svoj.

Ne najdaj se da tce biti vjetcno ono tsto tce tek dojti, al ni ne zali za onijem tsto je projslo. Vetcina ljudi ima malo znanje a velka otcekivanja. Oni tce zato uvijek optuzivati jutce za ono tsto tce im se dejsiti sijutra. Ti voli trenutak u tkome jesi i usne koje te jube.

Kasnje tce ti kostji ko sada moje mirno snivati ispod terzka kamena. Ne prevali mi biljega mojega, pusti ga da stoji kako stoji. Ako me ne razumijes sada ti mozda me razumjedne tvojega sina neki sin.

V proklet dan legoh v godini 1209."