Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Another Trek

Toronto, Ontario

Yes, it's confirmed for September 15th. I'll be embarking on a fourth trek. There are new roads I haven't yet touched, and towns I haven't seen. The contents to a hand out I'll be giving to fellow travelers is below.


Dear Friend,


I have a confession to make. I'm an addict - a walking addict!

It will be my fourth time walking across Canada ~~ done selfishly for my health and also to encourage the notion of pilgrimage. That's the type of thing monks do - go on long treks for inspiration and that's exactly how I feel when I walk, in fact, it gets better each time.

I hope you'll join me for a short stretch. Don't worry, I'm a nice guy. I'm a vegetarian. I don't bite, unless, of course, you are just vegetating! Frankly, with this passion - walking in this great country in the world I hope to encourage mobility and action. I also hope to encourage people to experience a more car-free, care-free life. We often find ourselves cooped up in boxes, whether it is a house, an office or a car. A break would be nice. In some places on our planet there exists a passion for reflective walking, either solo or in groups, such as the famous Santiago de Compostela in Europe. I was thinking that maybe we could have something like that in the land of maple trees.

This is the one thing missing in our society, as I see it. We've got everything else in some kind of order - work, education, recreation, etc. - but what about pilgrimage or self-discovery?

By the way, you do know who you really are? I'm not asking for a name, species, gender, or your career identity. Walking some distance allows you to probe more deeply inside, to get to know yourself better.

This trekking can be most helpful in an age of identity crisis and stress, when communication is efficient, but not always effective; when relationships are intensely sought after but, unfortunately often times fall flat. I'm just trying to be straightforward about this, like the straight and narrow path we are encouraged to travel on. My firm belief that if every person in the world just give one hour to trekking, we would see a different place. I believe in "more walking and less squawking ".

Again, I hope you can take a few minutes where we can walk and talk, but if not, please feel free to visit my website and consider me your friend. www.thewalkingmonk.org

Sincerely,

Bhaktimarga Swami
(The Walking Monk)

8 KM