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PONTE DI RIALTO - VENEZIA

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As an object of desire, that which we long for causes suffering, but as an object of mindfulness it can lead to awakening. The trick, as far as Buddhism is concerned, is to accept the fact that no experience can ever be as complete as we would wish, that no object can ever satisfy completely. In the right-handed path, the Buddha’s followers turned away from the pursuit of sensory pleasure, but in the left-handed path, they allowed themselves to come face-to-face with the gap that desire always comes up against, as well as any pleasure that it might bring. Allowing ourselves into desire’s abyss turns out to be the key to a more complete enjoyment of its fruits. By experiencing desire in its totality: gratifying and frustrating, sweet and bitter, pleasant and painful, successful and yet coming up short, we can use it to awaken our minds. The dualities that desire seems to take for granted can be resolved through a willingness to drop into the gap between them. Even living in the world of the senses, we can be free.

Open to Desire

Mark Epstein

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San Servolo island in Venice

Just a short vaporetto ride from Piazza San Marco, the island was originally home to Benedictine monks as early as the 8th century, later transformed into a military hospital and then a psychiatric asylum until 1978.

Today, San Servolo has been restored and repurposed. It hosts the Venice International University, the Ca’ Foscari International College, and a Museum of Madness that preserves the island’s psychiatric history. The island also features lush gardens, historic architecture, and spaces for exhibitions, conferences, and artist residencies.

Source: Alessandria Today

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Panteón, Roma

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Roma

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Génova, Italia

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Duomo di Siena, Italia

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Calcata, Italia

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Venice (by Caffe Paradiso)

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Venezia - June 2025

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V E N E Z I A

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V E N E Z I A

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Venice, Italy 1870/80

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Annie Spratt

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BELLAGIO, Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy 🇮🇹 by Alessandro Vegini / 500px