Background:
I spent most of the time from May 2014 to May 2015 walking in Spain and grew to to love Spain and the Spanish people. I made long walks∗ in the countryside, in the mountains, and along the coastline. I visited countless villages and towns, mostly staying in small guest houses and hotels, but also spent an occasional night outdoors camping. I met hundreds of dogs of unknown origin and experienced breathtaking views from paths high up in the mountains of Sierra Nevada and the Pyrenees and from rocky coastal paths winding past a myriad of small beaches (calas) alongside the azure blue water of the Mediterranean Sea. And I can honestly say that I solely met nice and friendly people who were pleased to help and also showed great patience with my faltering Spanish pronunciation and gave me credit and respect for trying to speak their language. Right now I am compiling the web site, joriki.eu “Manifesto: La España encantada”, in order to organize my experience and to make my memories of it accessible and hopefully useful to other people.
∗For example: GR-7 (E4) from Tarifa to Andorra la Vella and GR-92 from Valencia to Portbou.
Inspiration and growth:
If you are at all interested in personal development and want information about a way to become more compassionate and content both with yourself and with others, I can heartily recommend that you spend a few minutes visiting this web site: Vipassana Meditation.
Joriki:
“Joriki is the power or strength which arises when the mind has been unified and brought to one-pointedness in zazen concentration. This is more than the ability to concentrate in the usual sense of the word. It is a dynamic power which, once mobilized, enables us even in the most sudden and unexpected situations to act instantly, without pausing to collect our wits, and in a manner wholly appropriate to the circumstances. One who has developed joriki is no longer a slave to his passions, neither is he at the mercy of his environment. Always in command of both himself and the circumstances of his life, he is able to move with perfect freedom and equanimity.”
or
“There is a term in Zen practice called “Joriki” which relates to being able to place oneself in a centered state of being so one can perform at ones best. In modern-day terminology we call this being “in the zone”. Such a state is something we may achieve in sports, karate or even working at your desk (e.g. think of those instances where you had to write a report and the typing just flowed from your thoughts and time seems to disappear, you are truly “in the moment”).”
Haiku Corner:
The slug is busy shuffling
away on the tarmac road
while the sun rises rapidly
The slug lifts
its head like a cobra
ready to strike
The river flows gently
past Homer Simpsons face
on bridge pier graffiti
The old oak hovering
over a grassy knoll
bringing shelter for the long dead
The poppy shimmer like
sea-fire in an ocean of rye
swaying in the wind
Wooden boards over the marsh
swaying up and down as I
move forward
Quietly moving on a winding
path through the meadows
while the sun is rising swiftly
A crow takes off
flying away over empty fields
when the sound of steps is heard in the gravel