9.2.10 Mirissa, Sri Lanka
This day marks two months since leaving home, two months since i stepped wearily, with some apprehension, into the terminal at JFK airport, mentally disentangling from the busyness of life in the West, disentangling from the familiar, stepping into the well known mystery of exploration, the wonderful mystery of life unfolding. Two months. Three continents. Five countries. New experience unfolding every day; waking up with the sun on my face, the waves rolling into shore in the distance; waking to the crickets of the early morning African bush; waking to the mellow rain of the mountains; and waking to the muzzin's call to prayer in the ancient Swahili settlements of the African coast. So many more mornings yet to come, to open my eyes more to the beauty of this world. I smile in anticipation of the future.
9.3.10 Mirissa
We can so easily distract ourselves into oblivion in this life; time spent without external stimulation, televisions, radios, cafe talking, phone talking, work, commuting; this is somehow seen as "wasted" time. How often do we simply sit and watch our own minds, the endless parade of thoughts marching through...travel, retreat, allow for a break, not just from the physical routines of our lives, but from the mental routines that come to define us. Stopping. Radically changing. Having the time in the day to reflect. Balm for the soul.
The fisherman in front of me on this early morning, sitting, drinking my coffee, just me, the plastic table and plastic chair, a simple fence and the sand, does not cast his small wooden boat into the rolling waves coming ashore, for he would surely be swamped; he casts just beyond their reach, in the calm, deep blue sea.
"Practice heroically. Do not accumulate unnecessary possessions. Don't give up. Still your mind. End wrong perceptions. Concentrate and do not run after objects of the senses. Be determined to not let your days and months pass by wastefully." -Zen Master Guishan
