Kyurii What's coming up?

i am actually inspired by an email from a friend, or rather by a paragraph from a book he is reading which he shared with me.

'the practice of the wild' by gary snyder. here it is.

''The wilderness pilgrim's step-by-step breath-by-breath walk up a trail, into snowfields, carrying all on the back, is so ancient a set of gestures as to bring a profound sense of body-mind joy. Not just backpackers, of course. The same happens to those who sail in the ocean, kayak fjords or rivers, tend a garden, peel garlic, even sit on a meditation cushion. The point is to make intimate contact with the real world, real self.

'Sacred' refers to that which helps take us (not only human beings) out of our little selves into the whole mountains-and-rivers mandala universe. Inspiration, exaltation, and insight do not end when one steps outside the doors of the church. The wilderness as a temple is only a beginning. One should not dwell in the specialness of the extroadinary experience nor hope to leave the political quagg behind to enter a perpetual state of heightened insight.

The best purpose of such studies and hikes is to be able to come back to the lowlands and see all the land about us, agricultural, suburban, urban, as part of the same territory - never totally ruined, never completely unnatural. It can be restored, and humans could live in considerable numbers on much of it. Great Brown Bear is walking with us, Salmon swimming upstream with us, as we stroll a city street....''

next time you are rushing through the grey, concrete, high rise buildings during lunch time, somewhere round the corner, maybe a lime butterfly is fluttering around, with you.

p.s. everytime i peel a garlic, i am reminded of this paragraph. i make sure i am making intimate contact with the garlic, to be fully present in that very moment. haha.. it just brings a smile to my face. my heart feels warm.