"Enlightenment is the highest form of fun."

Tonight I had the pleasure of sitting amongst warm-hearted strangers to watch an amazing documentary with the director himself. Refuge directed by John Halpern follows Western Civilization's movement to finding refuge and enlightenment in the Buddhist culture. The film features personal interviews with Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, the Dalai Lama and more as they discuss their personal journey through this cultural transformation.

I am so inspired by John's film that I wanted to share it with you. Buddhism is such a beautiful philosophy. It is not a religion nor is it a cult. It is simply a way of life. As a Midwest girl turned New Yorker, I have noticed how we like to stay in our little bubbles. We get so caught up in our daily grind that we are allowing some of life's most beautiful moments pass us by. It is no longer a matter of "I should live in the present" - it is that we NEED to be present and mindful to appreciate all of life's inhales and exhales.

The story of Siddhartha is all about finding the "meaning of existence".  Siddhartha, like ourselves, lived in a world of fantasy and illusion and he had this burning desire to see the world in reality. When he opened his heart and his mind to the real world he found sickness, old age, death and suffering. This, in turn, inspired him to awaken the mind and find enlightenment. We need to quit supporting our egos and support the nature of our own mind so we can sculpt our most abundant lives. We may live only once or we may live a hundred times over - Either way, the goal is to grow our compassion. Let's shrink our egos and grow our compassion for one another.

You can purchase John's documentary here.

The event tonight was hosted by the lovely Karen Zuckerman at WellBody - check out her classes and events if you are in NYC!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a happy Friday!

Jules x