Why this inspired us
A reminder that we can lift ourselves up, and that we can be our own friend. Courage here begins on the inside.
Explore a verse
Bhagavad Gita 6.5
The reference printed on your card, and the idea behind it.
In its original context
The Bhagavad Gita, "the song of the Lord", is a 700-verse conversation set inside the great epic, the Mahabharata. Two armies, made up of one family split in two, face each other on a battlefield. The warrior Arjuna sees his teachers, cousins and friends on the other side, puts down his bow and refuses to fight. His charioteer and friend Krishna answers him, and their dialogue becomes the Gita.
The sixth of its eighteen chapters is about discipline of the mind: how to steady yourself, sit still and see clearly. This verse is its turning point: lift yourself by your own self, and do not let yourself sink, for the self alone is your own friend, and the self alone is your own enemy.
The next verse explains: for someone who has mastered themselves, the self is a friend; for someone who hasn't, the self acts like an enemy. The help, in other words, isn't far away. The same mind that can drag us down is the one that can pull us up.
Something to think about
What does it mean to be a friend to yourself?
Our cards carry original, contemporary words inspired by ancient passages. They are not translations.
The Letterbox
Little letters, occasionally.
New cards, first looks and the odd kind word. Never more than we'd want to receive ourselves.