After joining the rest of Nature in a winter retreat, Spring inspires a train and ship trip to Santander and the previously imagined Camino Primitivo, along the coast for a few days, down to Oviedo, over the mountains to Santiago and on to Finisterre ... maybe three weeks, then see what's next ... return tickets avoided in order to keep the options open and the mind free to wander ... home base in Stanhope still only tenuously held and disposing of it and the car always in the possibility field ... Stanhope itself continues to nurture and friends encourage the regular excursions ...
Defining Spring is not simple, of course ... by calendar it's the 1st of March, by the vernal solstice, the 20th ... a week of warm weather mid-February seemed like Spring as did the perceptible return of the light, enabling early morning walks to greet the Sun. ..
Today's wet day looks like the end of a stormy period and a chance to resume writing after the winter rest ... plenty of reading though, topping up before the book-free walking time ... Charles Eisenstein's "The Ascent of Humanity" offering support for current world view, especially on the major error of humans in thinking ourselves as separate from Nature ...
Meanwhile, another contemporary guru, Mooji, stands accused of abusing his position of power ... allegations of sexual misconduct and beef eating amongst the allegations ... the kissing of feet and according the guru the status of a god are indications of gullible disciples, themselves complicit in the inflated ego almost inevitable in such cases ... and having no personal experience of the guru, who was away from the Monte Sahaja ashram each time I passed through nearby Sao Teotonio, no opinion is offered ... only observation that K's teaching about avoiding gurus is followed here and the question of energy trading examined again ....
Volunteering opportunity at the Brockwood Park 50th anniversary reunion means three weeks in August with the K tribe ... before that some local volunteering at the Land of Joy next week to complement occasional minibus driving with Weardale Wheels to Meals ensures some balance for the seductive solitude ... and Andrew Harvey, on You Tube, a guru with lots to teach, though not apparently gathering disciples, was elected a Fellow of All Souls, Oxford, many years ago and horrified to find himself surrounded by men running the country exhibiting signs of being psychopaths. .. perhaps a book or two to be ordered for the library, still mostly stored away as alcove awaits competent carpenter ... Sacred Activism is his current thing, prompting introspection on how to be an activist for good without falling into the trap of political polarity ... Thay's example during the Vietnam War was to promote peace without supporting either side, which did not endear him to the winners who made him unwelcome in his own land until his recent return to his root monastery as he prepares to die ... Harvey meanwhile contributed to the seminal work "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying", which maintains that fundamentally there is no dying ... as experienced floating off the coast of Portugal ... Sogyal Rinpoche, main author of the book, himself in disgrace after sexual misconduct allegations ... this ancient drive so often the downfall of the powerful, even when money love is transcended ...
Rain eases as river spills over and rushes towards Sunderland and the sea ... a brief visit to feel the power and take a photo for you, dear neglected reader(s) ... ten days until Spain again and the long winter evenings have yet again not been spent improving language skills ... strangely unmotivated even though a working knowledge of Spanish would be helpful in the coming adventure .... perhaps Maria at the Land of Joy next week will help improve the Portuguese instead ...
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