Friday, February 09, 2007

Yasnaya Polyana

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you...
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." -- John 14:27

Yasnaya Polyana (Russian: Ясная Поляна, literally: "Clear Glade") was the home of Leo Tolstoy, located 12 kilometers southwest of Tula, Russia. The writer was born, lived and created many of his books and philosophical essays and was buried there...

Every time I come there I enter not only the writer's estate but a special inner state... of calmness, clearness, contentment. And I love to come there...

Peace reigns in the soul, while on every tree

Beauty rests in a silent Nirvana,

And I feel God is here and is talking with me

In the stillness of Yasnaya Polyana.

-- John Woodsworth