Monday 1 October 2018

Tavira to Aljezur ...

This question of power continues to fascinate ... at every level ... if it's right "as above, so below" as intuited and expressed by Hermes Trismestigus, along with "as within, so without", coherence requires a perspective broad enough to integrate it all ... and while the perennial wisdom may be pointed to for a conceptual glimpse, coherence demands experiential knowledge, the babbling of second hand opinions soon seen as inauthentic ... well maybe, though the gullible in search of gurus to do the work for them may delude themselves for a while ... perspective allows time to define "a while" broadly ... time itself, it seems, a relative concept allowing a workable frame, along with space, in which to taste each incarnation ... eternity and infinity being beyond even the cleverest minds to comprehend ...

As usual, the hostel produces philosophers for discussion, notably Celeste from Austin, Texas, via Seattle ... seeking deeper meaning after romantic heartbreak and heading for nearby plant medicine retreat with yoga and meditation ...  plant medicine, in case you wondered, is a euphemism for psychotropic tripping ... a route described by inner space travellers from a previous age ... Terrence Mackenna, Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts amongst many others ... and on the subject of coherence, premature experience of plant assisted parallel worlds often unhinging the psyche .. after agreeing that everyone has a story and is potentially fascinating, a shyer, older woman, Pasquale, from Quebec, tells of her Camino from Le Puy and much wandering around Portugal ... her pack an amazing 3 kilos .... an earlyish night, leaving Andrea and Celeste fascinating each other and planning the beach for today ... happy to discover only Andreas' stuff in the room, though woken later by newcomer climbing to top and squeaky bed ... and snoring ...

Yesterday's expressed options change this morning, since Aljezur appeals and Lagos train plus direct bus enable simple enough trip and friendly hostel for wander up the Vicentina Way, coastal variant ... sunny and busy in Lagos and surprise earlier bus means the delights of town are skipped ... the centre of West Algarve and with undoubted charm ... the benefit of not being Albufeira though not quite Tavira either ... Amazigh has friendly welcome, lower bunk bed for three nights, booked and into restaurant opposite for 1.35 lunch ... quite an efficient trip across the Algarve ... having left Tavira on the 9.38 ...

Arundhati Roy's wonderful second novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, inspires with very broad perspective, radical political analysis, glimpses of the numinous to offset the otherwise desperate story of Kashmir in recent history .... stories told from different experiences helps explain how barbarity may beget barbarity ... though cycles of violence have to be broken or transcended sometime .... when will they ever learn? And who are they if not us? 


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