The sea and the stars

I have changed hotel.
This is good too, but now I don't live just beside the sea.
Yesterday evening I didn't do the usual walk on the empty beach at the late evening.
I didn't lay down on the warm sand to watch the stars and to meditate.
Instead I talked with some  travellers from Poland about experiences on the Island, hotels, beaches and so on...
But we also talked about Sweden and Poland, refugees from Syria and the EU.

And in a sudden I lost the contact with Con Dao, in my mind I was back in Europe.

The German world for mindfulness is achtsamkeit, I often use the similar "aktsamhet," in Swedish, in English it would something like "caution".
I lost the caution yesterday - i guess I was too much in the conventional world (in a Buddhist context, that means the normal, materialistic world, where we are chased by our desires).
If you are going to be mindful, it must include Emptiness (of a separate self), Interdependence and Aimlessness.
Yesterday I tried to reach things, like pleasure, and wanted to escape from myself, by for instance  talking to mother tourists. And then I became a "tourist" myself.

But I guess I needed some contact with the conventional world. Some of us can stay alone in a cave for years, but maybe it's more hard to be by your self when you are near other people. At least I need some contact with other people now and then.
It would be nice if it was enough with the sea and the stars, but it isn't.

In plum village in France it's possible to go for a retreat with other he s he you. People who
like you don't want to talk to much and tries to be nice eachother.
The founder, Tich Nath Hanh, underlined the importance of a Shanga; to be around people who share the same values. It doesn't have to be Bhuddists. I prefere going to vegetarian  because of the atmosphere there. They don't have to be fancy, but must have some space, so awareness can be possible.

But this evening I again will meet the sea and stars.....



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