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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Emma - Lopen Ani Pema Deki

Good morning.

I was recently asked to speak about ‘spiritual wellbeing’ – it seems an obvious idea to ask a Buddhist nun but it really made me think of what it might be and what it means to me. After all, we hear a lot about wellbeing these days – physical wellbeing, emotional, mental, even digital wellbeing to name a few. Was spiritual wellbeing merely a good mix of all of them perhaps leading to a general feeling of alright-ness?

Due to the amount of time I spend in Bhutan the country famous for its policy of Gross National Happiness its perhaps a good place to start with the data that shows people with a religious faith show higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction. Why might this be?

Perhaps it is because religious and spiritual paths often seek to make a positive difference in the life of others and the planet and take comfort in a perspective larger than what can merely be seen or spoken of.

So, I am going to define spiritual well-being as a vast mind-heart capable of knowing that there is more to existence than what can be seen or touched. An openness of mind, a state of curiosity and a capacity to trust, accept and let all the positive potential of a human shine through.

I try to feed my spiritual well-being with texts, meditations and positive interactions with others. Otherwise it is likely to become dry, like a hardened yak skin - as they say in Bhutan. Nurturing spiritual wellbeing instead is said to make the mind-heart of a person soft like a sheep’s skin.

‘May all beings be at peace and may this begin with us’