Monday, July 27, 2026

Narrow is a Fragile Heart: Western nun


Episode 62: A Narrow Heart is a Fragile Heart | How to Stop Feeling So Alone
 
(Handful OfLeaves) Handful of Leaves Podcast. Support British Bhutanese Vajrayana Buddhist nun Ani Pema Deki's charity fundraiser: openingyourhearttobhutan.com.
"Opening Your Heart to Bhutan" is a registered UK charity, whose work is providing education, medicine, and shelter to children facing the greatest challenges in Bhutan.

In this episode, Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) — a former London investment banker who left after a near-death experience in Jakarta (Indonesia) to ordain as a Buddhist nun high in the Himalayas of Bhutan — explores what it means to widen the heart and become truly unbreakable.

She contrasts fleeting, manufactured happiness with the effortless joy that arises from practice, explains how small acts of kindness build resilience, and reflects on faith, karma, and why some people in Bhutan seem less vulnerable to life's ups and downs.

Perfect for listeners curious about practical spirituality, courage, and living with greater purpose.

Key Takeaways:
  • 🧭 Choose Liberation, Not Comfort — Why training the mind matters, and how practice aims for freedom from samsara rather than temporary ease.
  • 💫 Real Joy vs. Manufactured Bliss — The difference between practice-born joy (stable, effortless) and short-lived worldly pleasures.
  • 🤝 Small Acts, Big Heart — Two-minute kindnesses, widening our circle of care, and the role of faith/teacher in sustaining practice.
⏱Timestamps:
  • (00:00) – Introduction to Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade), former banker turned Buddhist nun
  • (01:00) – The challenge of practicing Dharma in a busy modern life
  • (02:31) – Are we seeking comfort in samsara or liberation?
  • (02:51) – What happiness really means from a Buddhist perspective
  • (03:40) – Joy and bliss: natural results of Dharma practice vs. worldly joy
  • (05:28) – Reflections on Bhutan and why happiness can’t be measured easily
  • (06:20) – Mental resilience and faith in Bhutanese life
  • (07:17) – Small daily acts of kindness in a busy life
  • (07:53) – Expanding motivation beyond yourself and loved ones
  • (08:52) – Why bother about anyone else besides your loved ones?
  • (09:20) – Why widening your heart supports resilience
  • (10:24) – The Bodhisattva path: stretching beyond your comfort zone
  • (11:14) – How British Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade) became a Buddhist and later a Buddhist nun
  • (11:40) – Meeting her teacher in Bhutan
  • (12:24) – Moments of clarity and deep spiritual connection
  • (14:27) – Karma and how Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Ven. Emma Slade)’s path ripened in Bhutan
  • (15:18) – Sneak preview of Part 2
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: 👤 Lopen Ani Pema Deki (Venerable Emma Slade) was born in Kent, England, and was educated at Cambridge University and the University of London, where she gained a First-Class degree. She is a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and worked in Fund Management in London, New York, and Hong Kong. A deep-seated yearning to enquire into the deeper aspects of humanity arose following a life-changing business trip to Jakarta, where she was held hostage at gunpoint. She resigned from her financial career and began exploring yoga and meditation and methods of wellbeing with the ultimate aim of turning a traumatic episode into wisdom and conditions for thriving. She qualified as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher in 2003 and, over the last 19 years, has run numerous yoga workshops and retreats. ​ Her interest in Buddhism as a science of the mind strengthened after meeting a Buddhist lama (teacher) on her first visit to Bhutan in 2011.

This crucial chance meeting led to her studying Buddhism with this lama and, eventually, led to her becoming the first and only Western woman to be ordained in the last Himalayan [Buddhist] Kingdom of Bhutan as a Buddhist nun. #OpeningYourHeart #BuddhistWisdom #MindfulLiving #FaithAndPractice
Resources:
Special thanks to sponsors:
Buddhist Youth Network, Lim Soon Kiat, Alvin Chan, Tan Key Seng, Soh Hwee Hoon, Geraldine Tay, Venerable You Guang, Wilson Ng, Diga, Joyce, Tan Jia Yee, Joanne, Suñña, Shuo Mei, Arif, Bernice, Wee Teck, Andrew Yam, Kan Rong Hui, Wei Li Quek, Shirley Shen, Ezra, Joanne Chan, Hsien Li Siaw, Gillian Ang, Wang Shiow Mei, Ong Chye Chye, Melvin, Yoke Kuen, Nai Kai Lee, Amelia Toh, Hannah Law, Shin Hui Chong, Dennis Lee
🎬 Editor: Hong Jiayi ✍️ Transcribers: Cheryl Cheah, Tan Si Jing, Bernice Bay 🎨 Visuals and Sound: Anton Thorne, Tan Pei Shan, Ang You Shan 📱 Get connected: Telegram: bit.ly/hol-telegram. Instagram: bit.ly/hol-instagram-podcast. Facebook bit.ly/hol-facebook-podcast. Spotify spoti.fi/3w2jfQ1.
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Surf's up! Triple threat: wavy, hot, humid


Fat Happy Zen monk Budai can surf
Why do waves go so well with Buddhism? There's something about sex, sand, and suffering -- which one meets with while reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the beach. But becoming a greater surfer has much more to do with wu wei (the ease of effortless flow), wushu (martial arts), and applying Taoist principles like yin and yang to Zen (jhana) Buddhist practice, which involves mindful in-the-moment awareness and radical acceptance of what is.

Southland facing a triple threat of heat, humidity, and high surf
Temperatures topping 100 inland raise fire risk
Rong-Gong Lin II (July 21, 2026, Los Angeles); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Super Girl Surf Fest 2026
Southern California will face a triple threat this week of dangerous heat, muggy weather and, along the coast, hazardous high waves. It may be better for surfing, but it will be risky for all beachgoers who get near the water.

"We're looking at an at least several days -- if not longer -- heat event, which can really be concerning," said meteorologist Robbie Munroe of the National Weather Service's Oxnard office. Hollywood may catch fire on the Sunset Strip from all the tourists dripping sunblock.

Prepare: World Surf League 2026
From Tuesday through next Monday, temperatures could hit 109 in Paso Robles, 108 in Lancaster, 106 in Canoga Park, 102 in Santa Clarita, 99 in Covina, 92 in DTLA, and 87 in Long Beach.

Officials warned of elevated fire danger across large swaths of SoCal starting Tuesday, with a high risk of fast-moving and "plume dominated" fires driven by heat and instability. Such blazes have large vertical growth and can spread rapidly even when not driven by the wind. More: latimes.com
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With no "self," there are only conditions.
Wisdom Quarterly's new book on going with the flow while out to sea among brutal sharks, cancerous sun, chapping wind, and rich territorial surf punks suffering from localism and getting into fights about it.

Why do waves go so well with Buddhist practice? There's something about "sex, sand, and suffering" -- which one meets with while reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy safely on the beach. But it has much more to do with wu wei, wushu, and applying Taoist principles to Zen practice.

Ancient surfboard from 1600s found in Hawaii
For instance, when out on a wave about to ride, instead of "doing," try "allowing." Go with the flow. Rather than interfering or trying to cut against the grain, embody radical acceptance of what is and ride it out. That's what Wisdom Quarterly's resident Meditation Teacher Seven says is a far better approach than struggling to dominate.

In surfing as in life, prepare for the gnarly.
Let the waves dominate so that the only thing to do is allow, allow, allow. Then in this allowing, suddenly it becomes effortless and intuitive, perfectly obvious and impossible to explain with words.

People do sometimes try to express it in words, but it all becomes a jumble of oohs and ahhs like surf slang or Himalayan shoestring spiritual seekers on ayahuasca down in the jungles of the Amazon with shamans Michael Harner.
  • Natives knew plant medicines
    As a graduate student in the 1950s, Michael Harner undertook field research on the culture of the Jívaro (Shuar) Natives of the Amazon in Ecuador [5] as he began to pursue a career as an ethnologist. His UC Berkeley doctoral dissertation (1963) became the basis for his book, The Jívaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls [6]. In 1960-1961 he reported that he became a participant-observer by experimenting with the powerful plant medicine ayahuasca with the Conibo of the Peruvian Amazon [5]. He wrote about in the articles "The Sound of Rushing Water" (1968)[7] and "The Role of Hallucinogenic Plants in European Witchcraft" (1973)[8]. Dr. Harner, Ph.D. returned to the Native Jívaro in 1964, 1969, and 1973, at which time he learned the use of the psychoactive entheogen maikua (Datura brugmansia, jimsonweed) [5]. More
Dr. Michael Harner: shamans know their plants
There's a similar feeling to be had by skateboarding or hang gliding, BASE jumping or surviving the pit (slam dancing to a favorite song at a concert). Surfing seems very safe by comparison. It all becomes instinctive and beyond thinking. It's a good place to be just for that moment, rising above the turmoil of the mind or diving into the silence of the heart. Rumi would understand. The historical Buddha pointed out the detailed Path to it.

What is surfing?

I'dunno, Bro, looks pretty gnarly. Let's just tan.
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual surfer (or two) uses a carefully modified wood, fiberglass, or polyurethane board to "ride" on the face, the forward section, of a swelling wave of water. This swell usually carries said surfer toward shore or to a watery death by drowning for not respecting Mother Nature enough. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found on ocean shores. But they can also be found as standing waves in the open ocean, artificial simulators, lakes, rivers in the form of a tidal bore, or wave pools (and also in a physics experiment when a tide pool is sent back to sea). More
What's going on in the SoCal water?

Giant LA all drains into Santa Monica Bay
A few weeks ago, LA and OC beaches were being subjected to king tides, riptides, with dangerous surfing conditions for experts only. The cause this time seems to be a tropical storm elsewhere disrupting the height and frequency of waves. Surfers may love it as they avoid great white sharks, but others will find it hard to take a dip or swim. Localism is, of course, a greater danger as human sharks with a sense of entitlement circle strangers and drive them out. Expect swells, tubular conditions at The Wedge and elsewhere. Warning: Water may be a little contaminated due to crumbling infrastructure. Sharks are a tiny worry compared to the microscopic contaminants and plastic particle debris. Enjoy.
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End of System of a Down: sold souls?

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All cars to get kill switch (whistleblower)



Dissidents shall report to Sector 7 for elimination
Imagine drive down the road listening to Kenya Grace "Strangers" and the A.I. algorithm decides your car needs to be killed with an autonomous kill switch so that it can't move unless the State allows it.

Congress is pushing a mandate to make a law so that robots can better control a disorderly human population, some of whom drive and others of which consume intoxicants, and a few who do both at the same time.

Citizen Massie, report to Sect. 7! Trump orders it
These organic savages cannot be allowed to harm our children and society. The Computer Overlords have spoken and soon all new cars will have to have an expensive mandatory way to stop any new car on the road.

WANTED for bothering Trump
Think of the order it will bring as it ends all DUIs and troublesome drivers who choose not to stop when ordered, not sufficiently insured, in possession of late library books, smoking drugs not prescribed by their supervisors, or have a low social credit rating, or are otherwise wanted for suspected thoughtcrimes against the State, or anything else.

Orwell's fevered dreams are finally coming about better than he could have ever imagined. All hail the Overlords! - All hail!


(Let's Be Clear with Ana Kasparian) WTF is the "automobile kill switch" Congress is pushing, as exposed by good Libertarian troublemaker-whistleblower Thomas Massie?
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Megyn Kelly is horrible ('This F*ck*n Guy")


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Jewish Brit exposes America (Borat)


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Andy Tate's dating advice for Barron

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Friday, July 24, 2026

Merging Israeli IDF with USA: Section 219

Perfectly articulated: withdraw genocidal military aid 🔥 - Ana Kasparian slams Jenna‼️
The first Jewish U.S. President Trump
(Military.com) The House is preparing to vote on the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with Section 219 (formerly called Section 224) still embedded in the roughly $1.1 trillion bill.

The House approved the rule governing debate on H.R. 8800 by a 214-211 vote Tuesday, July 21, 2026. The vote allowed the chamber to proceed with the NDAA but excluded the amendment from [heroic and maligned peace warriors] Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (Democrat-California) that would have removed Section 219.

USA could withdraw support for Israel?

I helped Israel. I blackmailed Trump
Lawmakers will not receive a separate vote on the bipartisan [both side, Republicans and Democrats] amendment that sought to remove the section, a proposal to expand U.S.-Israel defense technology cooperation that has garnered strong rebukes in certain political and defense circles.

The House expects to hold a recorded vote on the complete NDAA on Wednesday.

Bibi: I'm Polish from Chicago, and this is all going to plan just like we planned at the CIA.
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What Section 219 would do
I may be a Neo-Nazi, but I'm not Anti-Semitic. I love me my Zionist Israel and King Bibi!
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Your Majesty, welcome to the USA-DOW! - Pete
Section 219 would direct Defense [Trump's Department of War] Secretary [Pete Hegseth] to designate a Pentagon “executive agent” to oversee the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative. That official would coordinate bilateral defense research, development, testing, evaluation, and industrial cooperation [as in the Christion Zionist military-industrial complex].

The proposal originated as the bipartisan and bicameral United States-Israel FUTURES Act, introduced in the House by Reps. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) and [Black military man turned politician] Don Davis (D-N.C.) with companion legislation from Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) More:
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There is NO more racism in the USA, none

MindSquire gave internet racists some instant karma
Dave Chappelle on race in America

Ron Taylor ain't never seen no racism
(Spotlight by Laugh Society) We grew up watching racist-sexist movies and TV (Ron Taylor)


"I don't see color," "I got Black friends"

Implicit bias differs from explicit racism
Where do American kids get these racist and sexist ideas? Ku Klux Klan, Georgia, 1948)
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Nazis borrowed many U.S. ideas
Most American racism is not overt like young white males famously display behind the safety of computer monitors, trolling others from their middle class bedrooms. It's implicit, which means it is often hidden to us. We don't realize what we're doing. It's like when satirical Sacha Baron Cohen (as Borat and as Bruno) interviewed white frat boys in their Winnebago and on the beach in Florida for Spring Break.

Frat boys with Bruno on Spring Break

DEFINITION: An implicit bias stereotype is the pre-reflective attribution of particular qualities by an individual to a member of some social out group [1]. "Those people are all like that." This color skin equals that set of behaviors.

It is an unconscious bias that stems from a natural human tendency to divide the social world into groups [2].

"John Wayne was a Nazi"?
(M.D.C.) Was the famous television cowboy Mr. John Wayne a racist?

Whipping (flogging) a slave to teach him
Implicit stereotypes are shaped by experience and based on learned associations between particular qualities and social categories, including race and gender [3], leading to racism and sexism or gender role stereotypes of how people are "supposed" to be.

Slavery in the 13 colonies, 1770s
Perceptions and behaviors can be influenced by the implicit stereotypes we hold, even if we are unaware we are holding such stereotypes [4].

Implicit bias is an aspect of implicit social cognition, the social phenomenon that our perceptions, attitudes, and stereotypes can operate prior to conscious intention or endorsement [5]. We may have taken it on from our family of origin or circle of friends, associates, and media figures.

It don't hurt 'em; they can't feel
It's real. The existence of implicit bias is supported by scientific articles in psychological literature [6]. The term implicit stereotype was first defined by psychologists Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald in 1995 [7].

Implicit stereotypes (unconscious associations held by individuals) can influence behavior even when they contradict our consciously endorsed beliefs. This effect is particularly observable in real-world contexts such as judgments of fame and hiring processes [7, 8]. More

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