Earlier today I placed this little Milarepa statue at the base of my nettle patch, which seemed to really please the nettles.

Milarepa, considered one of the more important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, was said to have sustained himself solely on the nettles growing outside of his cave, which eventually turned his skin green. That green skin is an easy way to identify him in thankga paintings.

“All meditation must begin with arousing deep compassion. Whatever one does must emerge from an attitude of love and benefitting others.”

“Strong and healthy, who thinks of sickness until it strikes like lightning? Preoccupied with the world, who thinks of death until it arrives like thunder?

“One should see that all appearance is like mist and fog.”
— Milarepa