Himalayas ...

Imminent departure focuses visitors' attention, so Saturday sees delightful daughters, lunch and a mucky and windy walk over the hill ... Sunday, Peter, blog reader, Mindfulness teacher and generally buzzing on similar frequency ... books exchanged, including Walking the Himalayas by Levison Wood ... bracing walk over the fells, lunch ... assisted shopping tomorrow ... visitors Thursday, maybe Friday, Saturday ... off to Durham for final visit and overnight stay Monday, ready for flight Tuesday ... crikey!

Meanwhile, FB friends expand in diversity, with correspondents from Bhutan and Pakistan ... and after reading about Lev Woods' adventures, an invitation to the Swat Valley .... an exciting option, though not before the walk from Seville, whether or not the traditional Via de la Plata is pursued all the way to Santiago ... or, indeed, Finisterre ...

Friends variously hope "you find what you are looking for", as if there was something, and "enjoy the holiday", though in this story a holiday has a known departure and return time and place, leaving the bit in the middle ... the house provides a pole of attraction and maybe the Wear of Wear and Dao did too, though more likely it was the daughters ... anyway, the trip is open enough and the house can take care of itself ...

Along with the very deep Diamond Sutra and the shallower Walking the Himalayas, Alan Watts' brilliant " The Book, On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are" provides a culturally consonant critique of the ancient wisdom ...

Back in the mundane life, the fridge freezer fiasco finally reaches a conclusion with the visit of a great Geordie comedy duo from the well known department store, taking away the disgraced and noisy appliance and installing a shiny new one, along with advice on how to let the gas settle for three or four hours before switching on, otherwise "you'll have a noisy fridge for life" ... though such advice was followed with the previous one ... a bus trip to Crook in search of the best bread in the known world, now stocked in the Blue Stone Cafe, where a philosopher is found along with the bread ... return bus busy, but with a seat next to Nancy, regular customer of W2M, internet user and potential blog reader, now she has the link ... home to new fridge, having rested the requisite time, fires up ... quietly ... hooray!

And today's third Himalayan reference from a neighbour due to fly to Nepal soon ... to work on a British Army base there ... hopefully not an official secret ... interesting to note the old Great Game plays on up in the mountains where Russia, China, Pakistan and India have borders, whilst UK, USA and others have strategic interests ... trekking a major part of the tourist economy, pilgrimages to holy mountains, retreat centres and the current home of the Dalai Lama along with thousands of other displaced Tibetans one of whom appears to be a FB friend ...

Rainbows ...

The decision to book the flight to Faro has shifted things that seemed stuck ... mainly the way to think about the house, which has the potential to shift my consciousness back to security and away from the relative freedom experienced in the years of homelessness (appropriating this word is not meant to compare my feckless choice with the suffering of people who are homeless and wish they were not) ....

Anyway, setting off on an extended wander, without return date set, has reminded the house who is the master in this relationship .... hopefully the invitation for others to use the resource as a retreat will be taken up ...in any case, current thinking is to postpone renovation works, lock the door and leave keys for any visitors .... though, as always, all is subject to change ...

After a week of sub-zero temperatures, with wonderful bright days for walking and lethal icy pavements trapping many elders indoors, a thaw, accompanied by sunshine and showers, produces a raging river and some magical rainbows ... and the thought that a rational explanation for the rainbow effect is best avoided to preserve the joy ... better to tease out a deeper metaphor, that without the rain there is no bow, though the light may come directly from Sun or reflected by Moon ... meanwhile the elders are released with the return of the minibus outings ... though only one was cancelled during this latest cold spell ...

The editor arrives, bringing a feminist book as a gentle attempt to improve the slackness of the blog, though the topic is not pursued ... nor anything much editorial, rather some reminiscence of shared work in the parallel universe of local government, and some advice on renovation, since he is a confident DIYer who proposes opening up the attic for further living space ... hmmm, another one to muse on whilst wandering ... what will the house think about such radical expansion?

As for early reading, Master Hsin Yun's "Describing the Indescribable", an interpretation of the Diamond Sutra, popped up on a shelf in the Oxfam bookshop the other day, and joins other books attempting similar feats ... all impossible for the mind in rational mode of course ...

customer service

The editor offers caustic criticism over the fridge freezer saga, suggesting the new householder role has led me astray into consumerism ... he has a point, though other readers may be keen for the resolution of the sorry tale ... and please rest assured that daily life is the grist for the mill and Patience, Compassion and Simplicity have to be practised in every situation, as pointed out in Jack Kornfield's book "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry", a great contemporary take on Buddhism ...

So, after pondering on accepting the demise of customer service, a last gasp appeal to the retailer, via email, elicits a positive response ... an invitation to visit the shop to select an appliance more suited to my needs for peace and quiet (and soft ice cream) ... the noisy Hotpoint one to be returned in part exchange .... another trip to the city and an amusing interlude as the contact person in the kitchen department turns out to work for Samsung .... presumably free labour for the retailer and trying to be objective, whilst steering the conversation to the merits of, yes you guessed it, Samsung and its superior technology ... with which I have no quibble, having used their tablets for a while, but the price was rather high and a Siemens appliance appealed ... confirmed by the "colleague" who had to close the sale (an extra £70 the price for peace and quiet and soft ice cream) ... finally customer service recognises that whilst the customer is not always right, they are always the customer ... and John Lewis is the winner of the plaudits in case you hadn't guessed ...

Meanwhile, having fecklessly booked a flight to Faro for a fortnight tomorrow, new waterproof kit is needed, since February is a relatively wet month in Spain, so the return trip is via Durham and the very keen folks at Cotswolds, who tend to be extreme mountain types and liable to recommend high end equipment as well as keen to tell you about their latest expeditions .. still, wet feet are to be avoided if at all possible, so investments are needed ...

As for reading material, Krishnamurti's last journal has been deep early reading (and his dialogues with David Bohm compelling viewing), Victoria Hislop's "The Thread" may have suffered in comparison to Margaret Attwoods wonderful "Alias Grace", though enjoyable enough ... and Elisabeth Gilbert's "The Signature of All Things" restores some depth ... filling up the reading reservoir before the trip, when books are considered excess baggage when everything has to be carried in the rucksack ...

Snow Day

Since the direct bus to Newcastle runs on a Wednesday, it seemed like a good opportunity to visit the well known chain store to find a human being capable of comprehending the ongoing fridge freezer issue and maybe offering a solution.

After an hour and forty minutes on the bus, it was straight to the Settle Down for home made soup and a slice of the yummy cake of the day ... indeed the highlight of the trip ...

In the kitchen department of the well known shop a friendly and efficient "colleague" directed me up two floors to "technical services", where another friendly and efficient "colleague" directed me back to the starting point and phoned the manager to alert her to my issue. The efficient manager heard the story and asked whether I had researched the subject before buying, via the online peer reviews ... which felt rather like the Hotpoint engineer laying the blame on the customer for buying a substandard appliance. The question of whether the manufacturer should produce shoddy goods or the well known retailer stock them seemed to pass them by ... and being an inexperienced consumer it seems the retail world has changed and my expectations are not in line with current practice.

Anyway, as test of equanimity, all is well, though god  (or God if you prefer) knows how folks with jobs, families and other time consuming activities manage ...

Meanwhile, having spent a sunny day rather fruitlessly, today offers a snowy and sunny walk, since the minibus trip is postponed, along with some lucky commuters and schoolchildren ... a snow day, and a chance for children to sledge and build snowpeople  ... a chance for wayers to explore the views from the tops and the snow drifts, occasionally up to the knees ... which is great training, producing a strange sensation when firm ground is found after half an hour or so in the thick snow. 

As for fridge freezer issues, manual override is the temporary solution ... whether or not to summon the energy for another round is still open ... though an honest review of the appliance is awaiting more sensible customers doing their research ...

Waying ...

The Elephant Trees are a landmark throughout the Dale, and since yesterday's forecast was for sunshine and showers after some grey days, and since  training is in order for the Via de la Plata, a route with longish stages, the morning walk headed up the hill outside the cottage on the Weardale Way and up to the Elephant Trees ... you are invited to imagine your own elephants from the pictures, though the closer you get the harder it seems to find any elephant ... after a brisk stroll of three hours, the choice was to return along the valley or catch the bus from Wolsingham and the bus won ... leaving 20 minutes to spend at the Methodist Chapel coffee morning, where three acquaintances were found along with four books for the library ...

Today's forecast was also sunshine and showers, but much colder and windier, with snow on higher ground ... so the higher ground was found on a four and a half hour wander west towards Rookhope and back along the disused railway track to Parkhead ... via an ill advised off piste adventure inviting snow into the boots ... all very energizing, legs ready for the challenge and some wonderful views in the driving snow ... not captured on camera since stopping and removing gloves in the prevailing conditions seemed foolhardy and maintaining momentum imperative ...

Waying, in the title, is a word devised to describe the mode of walking the Way ... a Tao metaphor and the subject of current reading in Alan Watts' last book: Tao, The Watercourse Way ... a great teacher and entertainer who found life fun ... and clearly touched the Truth ... the Tao which cannot be explained ...

Newcastle Nostalgia ...

Yesterday's outing to the big city, at the invitation of daughters, meant an early direct bus, which quickly filled up, meaning an adjacent passenger for conversation ... Kay, from Frosterley, though not originally, and a deep discussion, sparked by the book chosen for the trip, The Power of Now ... cited by many as the spark for their spiritual journey ...

In town, time for a browse in the Amnesty bookshop and a good harvest of Watts and K, Witter Bynner's classic translation of the Tao Te Ching, plus an old edition of Swedenborg's Heaven and Hell ... the library expands ...

The rendezvous is Heaton, 25 minutes walk East of the city centre, and time for some reminiscences, since this was the family home for their childhood, which I was lucky enough to share for seven years ... the junior school, still housed in the imposing Victorian building ( maybe Edwardian, anyway one of those built to last edifices of the last century )... the shopping street, with different shops, mostly independent, but Tesco Express and Sainsbury Local creeping in ... a warm greeting from the girls and a civilised one from their mother, then the wonderful Sky Apple Cafe on Heaton Road, well worth a free ad on here for readers looking for good vegetarian and vegan food ... a growing trend ...

A walk in the Dene, then back to town for a three bus adventure, hoping to be home before the later departing direct service ... a one minute switch in Durham was close and an interesting chat on the way to Crook, with a young man arriving even later, with a suitcase and only one operational arm, causing a ruckus with the driver, keen to get moving ... lurching upstairs, minus the case, he looked around for someone to sympathise with him, since he had decided discretion was wiser than confronting the driver and had some pent up energy to dispel ... sympathy shared and an enquiry about the spare arm revealed the bottle he was hiding from the driver ... he was keen to tell me his betting story and I was keen to learn about it, having previously noted the bookies on the Chillingham Road and wondered what people did there. .. so the time passed amusingly enough, learning about accumulators and the life of my inebriated fellow traveller ...

Well, that was plenty of excitement for one day, so today is back to the quieter routine ... K study, a longish walk, some writing, washing on the line and soup for lunch ... simple pleasures ...

When you change the way you look at things ...

Ego and its transcendence is generally considered key to spiritual development and current reading raises the question of the tendency for the slippery old ego (defined here as the sense of a separate self) to disappear with insights arriving unbidden and seeming not of the mind, then sneak back in the guise of the enlightened one, ready to teach the world ... such is the trap of the Guru ...

Current reading list is Krishnamurti's The Flight of the Eagle for early study, when the mind is freshest, Wayne Dyer's The Power of Intention for later, and Margaret Attwood's novel Alias Grace for the evening. Krishnamurti's work is to be a feature of the library and includes DVDs of K in dialogue with David Bohm. As regular readers and students of K will know, he is considered the genuine article, with no trace of ego and who speaks with complete authority without quoting anyone, whilst insisting that each of us has to discover the truth for ourselves and not to follow Gurus. Dyer, meanwhile, who was a popular proponent of the New Age movement in the USA, and who claims his satori moment, seems to have fallen into the trap ... clues here include the consistent inclusion of the title Dr in his books, signifying his PhD rather than the more often assumed medical practitioner; the unattributed borrowing of wise sayings such as: "When you change way you look at things, the things you look at change", originally from Max Planck, pioneer of Quantum Physics and much more powerful with that context; and Dr Dyer's many self-satisfied references to his eight children in his film The Shift. None of this is to decry his scholarship or references (including K, Bohm and Frankl), or his wealth and fame, although the understanding of abundance is rather different in the U.S. version of an ethical life, where simplicity is sidelined somewhat ...

Messengers and messages don't have to be congruent, perhaps, but somehow authenticity shines through and enhances the message.

K's message this morning speaks of the necessity for an ethical life as a precursor to meditation, and rather scathingly of the many techniques of meditation ... scathing being not unkind but perhaps cruel to be kind ... anyway prisoners are not taken and it is up to the readers or listeners whether to take it personally ... and taking things personally is a behaviour of the ego ...

So, onto today's practical and the arrival of the third fridge freezer engineer to examine the over cold and noisy appliance ... his brutal, but kindly delivered, verdict was that the appliance is working as designed ... implying that an "entry level" fridge is a bit rubbish ... loving his honesty and the euphemism, it seems the choice is to tolerate the noise until the kitchen door is fitted, and the solid ice cream, or upgrade to a machine less noisy and with a better range of temperature settings ... though ascertaining such things in the shop looks tricky, not to mention persuading the retailer to part exchange ... let's see about that ... anyway, happy to report the news was indeed not taken personally ... this house business is replete with such mundane challenges and a longish break, a retreat from the retreat house, is prescribed ...

Sun is showing his face after some damp and dismal days, so a walk is next, to keep in condition for the Camino and for its own sake ...

Delving ...

After the philosophical exploration of Hindu and Buddhist systems and the scientific speculations of holographic universe, a peek into the psychological with an interesting find at the bookshop in Bishop Auckland: "Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, whose bestseller, "Man's Search for Meaning", has appeared in previous versions of the APtB library and will find a place in this one too ... the rather loose use of "Man" to include other genders notwithstanding ... for readers new to Frankl, his training was in psychiatry, his formative experiences include incarceration in Nazi death camps, his post-camp life in the USA practising psychoanalysis and developing logotherapy as a system or framework ...

Some extracts are included as they resonate, not necessarily as confirmation bias, but as another perspective of an evolving view ...

"I have learned, and taught, that the difference between them (religion and psychiatry) is ... the difference between different dimensions .... A higher dimension, by definition, is a more inclusive one ... the lower dimension is encompassed and subsumed by it."

This insight is not only consistent with the holographic theory, but also answers the question of those who think the Newtonian, classical view of the world may be separated from the quantum view.

As above, so below ...

In another department, ethics, usually seen as a branch of philosophy, Frankl cites a famous poet and contemporary of Freud, a chap called Arthur Schnitzler (fame, of course, being transitory) who said that there are really only three virtues: objectivity, courage and sense of responsibilty. Frankl goes on to relate these to various schools of psychotherapy. .. for this writer it is clear enough that fear is the mind created block to the authentic yearning of the heart, and taking responsibility for one's thoughts, words and actions certainly fits the karmic view ... objectivity, whilst prized, may be harder if the observer is indeed the observed ... all grist to the mill ...

Meanwhile, over on FB, the discussion on the holographic theory continues, deepened by trained and qualified scientists entering the fray ... the deep end is not really a congenial place for your writer, being by nature or nurture happier splashing around in the shallow end, though references to Roger Penrose suggest a return to his book, picked up and browsed briefly a while back ...

Back in the mundane world, the lesson is patience as the sky is clear, the fields frosty and Sun calling ... a delivery of furniture at some time today awaited ... along with a SIM through the post, perhaps ... and the challenge of entering the world of automated customer service, negotiating a system designed for the convenience of the company, which, like most others, are locked into the drive to replace human beings with A.I . .. fridge freezer issue temporarily solved by overriding the thermostat via the on/off button ... hopefully resolved, along with house renovation schedule, in time for approaching getaway to sunnier climes ... let's see ... does a sense of responsibility imply not leaving work undone and projects short of drivers? Not that the ethical system of Schnitzler is necessarily subscribed to here ... Simplicity, Compassion and Patience more resonant, though since these are only words, closer investigation will likely reveal common ground ...

Beyond ...

"As long as the formlessness and breathtaking freedom of the beyond remain frightening to us, we will continue to dream a hologram for ourselves that is comfortably solid and well defined "
The Holographic Universe.

A glorious walk over the fells, musing on the mind boggling material in Michael Talbot's book ... and dreaming of walking from Seville to Santiago sometime soon. That should shake up the comfortable hologram of house life for a while.

Alternative futures ...

For readers awaiting the latest news of internet gurus, yesterday's promised call back never materialised and a call to the provider's helpline, after the usual very unhelpful press this, press that merry go round, located a helpful human who noted the SIM sold yesterday was for use in Apple devices ... another SIM is in the post ... leaving the prowess of the guru, who helped set up the wrong SIM, hooked into an Android tablet, rather shaky ... the young salesperson is excused, since she showed little enthusiasm or interest in her job, but the only possible explanation for the guru is a brain wired only to Apple and thus not seeing the alien Android before him ...

In a parellel problem of housing, a second visit from the engineer to sort the over active fridge freezer results in the information that the setting was too high and between off and 5, 5 was less cold, though on a previous visit the opposite was related by the same engineer, a pleasant young man, whose memory may be fresher than mine ... anyway, after several hours at 5, the ice cream is still rock hard and another call is due to suggest a more substantial investigation ... it seems the thermostat is faulty and if the third one is too maybe the whole batch is broken ... whatever the outcome, it seems unlikely either retailer or the manufacturer will be paying for the excess electricity keeping the appliance super cold, or recognising the wasted hours ...

First World problems ...

Meanwhile, in the holographic universe, feedback from friends varies from one who read it and says it changed his life, another who is intrigued enough to order a copy, and a third who finds the concept unpalatable and presumably will skip  the opportunity ... leading to another story in the book, citing research by psychologists Helen Wambach and Chet Snow, written up in Mass Dreams of the Future, suggesting that the human population will be far lower and that those left will have branched into four groups: one leading a joyless life in space stations; another living happily in harmony with Nature; a third leading bleak, mechanical lives in underground cities; the fourth trying to subsist in a ravaged and ruined earth ... suggesting that the choices we make now may lead us to one or other of those possible options ... and perhaps the missing millions managed the Buddhist goal and never returned in human form ... fascinating ...

And which tense to use when discussing future events already foreseen?

Reality ... but not as we know it ...

Buddhism and Hinduism have a rest, replaced by wacky science in the form of Michael Talbot's The Holographic Universe ... a second reading and still fascinating, citing David Bohm, a Wear and Dao favourite in his own right as well as in the wonderful dialogues with his friend Krishnamurti ...  plus David Mitchell's resonant Slade House, with its portal to parallel worlds ...

The established facts of the interconnectedness of everything, wave/particle duality and non-local fields are woven into Talbot's accessible work ... though many folks, scientists and non-scientists, find the consensus reality known as normal, mostly workable and preferable to exploring the implications of the awkward findings in the quantum world (resonant with mystical insight throughout the ages along with worked out systems in Buddhism and Hinduism) ...

However, fragmentation, a key fallacy of concensus reality, lies at the heart of many of current problems at psychological, sociological and political levels and has to be addressed if we are to progress as a species not separate from each other or the whole of Nature ... and relating that to personal experience is the recent story of no-self and the intuition of separation as an illusion no longer tenable ... insight into the interconnectedness of everything occurred a few years ago after several hours wandering the fells ...

Today's practice in patience and equanimity entails a bus ride to Bishop Auckland to find help in the long running mobile internet drama ... eschewing a 12 or 18 month contract at the house, when it may be empty for a long part of that, a trip to Durham just before Christmas produced a Chinese made mobile WiFi device, loaded with a bargain pay as you go SIM ... which didn't work ... a return to the shop produced a SIM from another provider ... which didn't work either ... tortuous web chat with helpdesk, involving some SIM switching into mobile phone to test the SIM ( as if that is an easy task) led nowhere ... hence the trip to the very helpful Guru, a young man who understood this brave new world, though we didn't have a chance to discuss areas more traditional Gurus dabble in ... at time of writing a call from the guru is awaited, to solve the latest glitch, whilst a visit to the branch of the previous shop which missold two SIMs elicits the promise of a refund by cheque ...leaving me wondering if the god of the internet is helping me manage the tendency to spend too much time browsing and when the regulator will get to grips with the loose standards of the industry... the time spent by the customer solving problems has no value apparently and we must be grateful if we finally get what we paid for ... equanimity intact though ...

Meanwhile, an apology to any readers offended by the shocking use of the phrase "loose women" in the last post ... thanks to the editor for severely criticising such crass language ... feedback is important to keep the standards up ... and for any broad minded scientists offended by the reference to the holistic universe story as wacky science, it was a device to disarm the cynics as well as an admission that science is not a strong point at Wear and Dao ...

2018

The New Year dawns chilly and dry, leaving icy patches in places and snow still adorning the high fells ... usual early walk extended as rising Sun warms the face ... forecast later not so bright ...

Reader feedback encourages the writerly role and confirms that more than one human being is following the rambling ... whether this response suggests a slip into solipcism after so many words about no-self is reflected upon without undue alarm ... equanimity quite firmly established and previous insight showed the beauty of the paradox ... after all the skin encased trillions of ever changing cells held together by thought still has the strong illusion of selfhood and the propensity to over-identify with attendant emotions ... not to mention feeling pain (happily not at present)...

For readers recognising some Buddhist influence above, holiday reading has been mostly that, laced with some lightly held magical Yogi tales ... and previously cited author Peter Harvey  became a Professor since the success of his book, though a causal link is not proposed, due to lack of further investigation (a common trait in this unscholarly rambler) ...

Since reincarnation is a key concept in Buddhism, along with other systems and amongst individuals with personal insight through experience, there are questions arising about the mechanism for this phenomenon. .. for example in one of the Buddhist texts there was talk of karmic traces in the brain ... of course the brain decays along with the rest of the body once the vital spark has left it, so how can traces on it carry forward to subsequent incarnations? This and other questions suggest a trip to Harnham Theravadan Monastery sometime soon, to consult an expert ... (any experts on here, please contribute via the comment function) ...

Not that any particular religious system is calling ... the formless still holds here, though Buddhism and Taoism resonate strongly, with the rather austere and sometimes scathing Krishnamurti keeping watch ... though not always easy to follow ... Alan Watts as deep and more accessible and humorous perhaps ... anyway, two of his books are due soon, via the ethical online bookshop, Hive, which donates part of your purchase price to a local bookshop of your choice ... another example of the options we have to act and shop ethically ... and whilst simplicity suggests less shopping, compassion offers a way out of the vice of Mammon ... Farmers' Markets, Good Energy, Charity Shops, Co-ops (though a little research is needed to uncover any greenwash or other undercover faux-ethical activity - Cooperative  Bank, having fallen into the trap of greed like most other banks, epitomised by a fallen Methodist Minister CEO with a penchant for champagne and loose women, required a US hedge fund to revive it and now claims the long and illustrious heritage ... hmmm ...) hey ho, roll on the day when Fair Trade is the norm and greed understood as damaging to all who indulge in it ...

This search for the Truth is fascinating and maybe endless. .. what seems apparent from personal experience is that even seemingly transcendent incoming information is still filtered through a conditioned mind ...giving rise to higher level illusions , yet illusions nevertheless ... clearing away the years and maybe lifetimes of cultural baggage, therefore, is essential .... what better way to spend these blessed retirement years?