From footballer to Buddhist monk: the story of former Pisa player Kevin Lidin who learned “to achieve and maintain happiness”

Two photos are enough, in the first line on your profile Instagramto understand the parable of the life of Kevin Lidin. The first dates back to 9 June 2019: “Champions of Serie C“, it is read. The second however, from March 10th, sees him portrayed in the guise of a Buddhist monk. The two photos tell the story of this boy, former midfielder who in Italy played with the Pisa and the Paganese and which now describes itself as a yoga teacher and standard-bearer of the culture of the famous monks from the orange tunic. A transformation induced by multiples injuries which ended his career.

“In the 2021 my career as a professional footballer ended because of injuries. I started to wonder what the happiness and what the purpose of life was,” Lidin writes in one of his posts. “We often believe that becoming financially independent, or famous, makes us happy. After studying the science of happiness, becoming a monk and practicing yoga I found the answers to my questions. And I learned to reach it and maintain it,” he continues. The program of 30 days in Thailand which simulates the life of monks, in which Lidin participated from 1 to 30 July 2023, changed his life and overturned perspectives.

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The football journey, therefore, now belongs to the past. The first experiences with the Lunds BKclub from his homeland Swedenand recently arrived in Italy 18 years old in the summer 2017to play in Pisa, they are no longer important. It doesn’t even matter that from 2017 to 2019, before conquering Serie C, he was loaned to Bologna and then returned to Sweden again. Of that chapter of his life only remains promotion to B obtained with the Tuscan club, as he recalls on his Instagram profile. Lidin also played very few matches at the Paganesebut due to injuries he found the strength to say enough at 21 and to change his lifestyle.

“Before I became a monk I didn’t really understand the importance of gift to other people. When you give something to someone, it is a gesture that comes from the heart and the recipient accepts the gift and appreciates it. Happiness is a feeling experienced by both of us,” she says again on Instagram. “For example, receiving food as people who live a very simple life it was difficult. But Buddhists believe that if you were not born rich, you must give even more so that you can enjoy a better life in your next life.” Today Lidin, through her experience in Thailand, tries to raise public awareness of Buddhist culture and to inspire people, causing them to see that material objects they are not everything, while maintaining his identity: “I wasn’t Buddhist before and I’m not now. It is not necessary to be a monk to become a monk, but we must always show respect and practice the teachings. I chose to live as a monk for just one month, but one can do it for a whole life if he wants.”