This gentleman, who lives in Kyiv, is 75 years old. Just a few years older than me.  His apartment was damaged by a Russian missile. He is planning to stay.

I know what it is like to have windows blown out and your life disrupted but not on this scale.  One of my apartment’s in NYC was almost engulfed in flames from a grease fire in the restaurant below me. There was smoke everywhere and flames visible from the restaurant fire.  

I grabbed my two cats, left and stood on a side street as the fireman came crashing into my apartment and smashed most of my windows and some of the furniture just to save the apartment, which they did. I came back into the apartment that night, and like this gentleman, wore a coat against the cold, and maybe like him, turned on the gas stove in the kitchen and left the oven door open so at least the kitchen stayed warm. 

In all situations, work directly with how things are and with a minimal conceptual overlay.  Be patient and, if you can, generate the genuine heart of the Buddha – luminous, boundless compassion.

By Andrew Clark
One of Nalandabodhi’s Karunika’s, written in response to the war in Ukraine