Koan #16...

By Vichara

Koan Monday – “You smile the world changes”. It is often said that the simplest things can be profound. What could be anymore than just that than a simple smile given out of compassion and love? One of the most basic human needs is to feel love. It is love that can lift us out of sense of separateness, which is the root of suffering. If we simply smile out of love we reach out across the separateness and connect with the world around us in profound ways. You may have been in a situation, maybe somewhere you didn’t know the language being spoken but with a shared smile you create a bridge of communication that transcends language. When we smile, others will smile. When we show compassion others will show compassion and what better place to start than with a simple smile? ☺

dissertate • \DISS-er-tayt\ • verb
: to speak or write at length : dissert; also : to write a dissertation

Example Sentence:
Amy shared with her academic advisor her plans to dissertate on the subject of women’s roles in postcolonial India.

Did you know?
English speakers created the word "dissert" in the mid-17th century, but a single word for the concept was apparently not enough because "dissertate" appeared in the language less than a hundred years later. Both words descend from the Latin noun "dissertus," which shares their meaning. ("Dissert" came directly from "dissertus," whereas "dissertate" came by way of "dissertatus," past participle of "dissertare," meaning "to discuss, argue, or debate.") "Dissertus" itself traces back to the verb "disserere," formed by combining the prefix "dis-" and "serere" ("to place, arrange, or join together"). Other descendants of "serere" in English include "assert," "insert," and even "series."