Zen and Walking Light
There is a Buddha in every backpack.
TW
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
after enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
What did the Zen master say to the hot dog vendor? "Make me one with everything."
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
Did you hear about the new Zen vacuum cleaner?
It comes with no attachments...
What did the Zen Master say to those who pose riddles?
Nothing.
TW
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
Ah. Someone who understands.Originally Posted by Johnny Thunder
TW
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
"Zen and the Art of Trail Maintenance"
A good trail name for a Zen Buddhist Master: "M.T. Ness"
The journey of 2,175 miles begins with but a single step.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish--and he will sit in a boat and drink beer ALL day.
"A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world." - Paul Dudley White
I provided the Initial Post here knowing there would be some jests, which is good. Many long distance hikers (especially the ones who don't use music/earbuds) know that, after a while, you learn to live only in the moment, to stop thinking in words and to simply experience all 5 senses, to accept rain or sun as equally appropriate, and to simply walk, in a kind of silent meditative state that feels - pain, the sound of wind, the smell of dirt - without putting feelings into words. I tend to think that, as that happens, it becomes easier and gentler to walk, rather than thinking "I must do 20 miles. I must walk up this damn hill. I must get dry. I must cook food." and all the other "musts".
If others share my fascination with this, I hope they will share their observations, too. If not, well, I enjoy sharing mine.
TW
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
I never achieved wordless thoughts and feelings. Instead, my head was filled with pesky earworms. Did you know you can listen to Pachelbel Canon for a 1000 miles? And Dan Fogelberg for anther 1000? It's true.
Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.
No it's not possible, at least for me, to listen to the Pachelbel Canon for 1000 miles (or anything else baroque). That's a special and individual talent...
I love the guy, but he didn't really look like he did alot of hiking.
Just sayin'.
Ghandi on the other hand. Now there was a hiker. Moses also.
Not sure about their diets, a bit sketchy at times, but those dudes could hike.
The Buddha? Right after the Buddha's first son was born, he got up in the middle of the night and looked at his son and then snuck out of the house, to head for the mountains to seek enlightenment. He didn't wake the wife because he figured she try stop him. Twenty years later, he came back and said " I found enlightenment, I'm the Buddha". Believe it or not, his wife was still pissed at him. So when you're weighing responsibility vs hiking, ask yourself, "What would the Buddha do?"
The Buddha? I saw his foot print made in stone in the Himalaya. He hiked. Until he could fly anyway.
Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.
So are those the before-statues or the after-statues we see everywhere?
Bloody HELL!! THAT'S why my pack weighs so much! I thought it was the kitchen sink. So much for ultra-light.
Seriously: getting into the "zone" while hiking, disengaging the mind from trivial matters, absorbing nature while moving. Not sure if it's Zen or not, but it is great!
Old Hiker
AT Hike 2012 - 497 Miles of 2184
AT Thru Hiker - 29 FEB - 03 OCT 2016 2189.1 miles
Just because my teeth are showing, does NOT mean I'm smiling.
Hányszor lennél inkább máshol?
Wasn't it Buddha who said "Know the Way, follow the White Blazes!"?
"Fish Camp Woman.... Baby, I like the way you smell"
- Unknown Hinson
"All the way to heaven is heaven." -St Theresa of Avila
After--he never cut back on the calories!
You know this monk from Vietnam talked about "doing the dishes while your doing to dishes, you know, being in the moment". Yeah, at the moment I'm doing them, I'm thinking, "I hate doing the dishes while I hate doing the dishes." I guess somewhere in there the dishes get done, but there's a lot of hate going around.K2
K2 Able to leap small twigs with a single bound.
I did it. I said I’ll do it, and I’ve done it. [after she summited Katahdin] –EMMA ‘GRANDMA’ GATEWOOD
"Doing the dishes while you're doing the dishes" is very much the feeling I have when I'm hiking. There's no other world, there's no conversation, there's no thought of much else other than breathing, moving, feeling. Even at the hardest of moments, it is peace. Not "autocontrol" but simply letting things happen naturally. At that moment, "The Buddha in my backpack" suddenly gets so much lighter. (Yes, children, it's a figurative statement.)
TW
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
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