Thus the sign on the chest of a T-shirt worn by a fat woman with huge breasts I just spotted in the middle of the Croatian capital. The sign was enormous, too. At first I thought I was looking at an American tourist, but then I realized the woman was Croatian. Most likely, she had no idea what the sign meant. “Forget about it,” that is. Or “don’t bother.” Or “it ain’t important.” Or “don’t apologize.” Most often, it indicates a withdrawal of a previous statement. But it did not take me long to start thinking about the common expression as a motto of sorts. My own motto, no less. Numquam mente, as it would appear in Latin on my coat of arms. And it would suit me quite fine in the years to come. Never mind about everything I have written to date. Forget it. Going a bit deeper, the words “never” and “mind” go very well together in the context of yoga. The stilling of the mind can be read straight from the two joined words, as it were. Interpretations of the word “never,” such as “not ever” or “not at all” or “to no extent or degree,” go perfectly with the word “mind.” Alas, would that the path to enlightenment were that straight. Never mind, though. The sign on that T-shirt will stay with me for quite a while.

Addendum I (January 14, 2016)

I love this piece, as well as the next one on the same subject (“Numquam mente,” May 24, 2014). But I almost laughed out loud when I came close to its end a short while ago. “Would that the path to enlightenment were that straight,” I sound almost crestfallen. But this is exactly what I am betting on at present. In fact, I am practicing abandoning my mind at will. Whatever I am doing, I just stop thinking for as long as I can. I can even do it for a few seconds or even minutes while writing: I just sit and stare at the last period I have come up with before I return to writing. But I spend hours sitting and staring in front of myself without a thought in my head. The bliss. Returning to the sentence that made me laugh, I am now convinced that the path to enlightenment is indeed as straight as that. Abandoning all thought at will, that is. Enlightenment of any other kind now strikes me as a joke. Nay, a hoax.

Addendum II (October 26, 2016)

The first addendum is a joy to read, for it is not beating around the bush when it comes to enlightenment. Abandoning thought at will and for as long as one wishes is what it ultimately amounts to (“No-Bullshit Enlightenment,” January 18, 2016). Whence my fascination with the Latin motto for my coat of arms ever since this piece was written. To the best of my knowledge, I come from a noble Venetian family, a branch of which ended up on the Adriatic island of Cres in Croatian or Cherso in Italian early in the Sixteenth Century (“Family Crest,” March 26, 1994). The coat of arms they left there is as simple as they come: argent on right and gules on left. Argent is a heraldic tincture that stands for silver or argentum in Latin, which is frequently depicted as white, and gules is red. By the way, a closely related coat of arms is that of the Venetian family Dandolo: argent on top and gules on bottom. Now, the coat of arms I choose for myself is of the simplest possible variety: argent all over. In heraldic terms, it is the pearl among jewels and the moon among heavenly bodies. Argent signifies truth, sincerity, peace, innocence, and purity. Numquam mente is the motto that goes under the coat of arms, as has been long decided. It stands for my liberation early this year. There. This is my new coat of arms, which I bestow upon myself with all the dignity I can muster on this solemn occasion.