tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post8191087821725254623..comments2023-12-30T17:31:11.883+00:00Comments on The Solitary Walker: The Spiritual Nature Of Walking (6)The Solitary Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-4358051127161121182011-01-07T14:10:37.289+00:002011-01-07T14:10:37.289+00:00Thanks both George and Ruth for such long and inte...Thanks both George and Ruth for such long and interesting comments.<br /><br />George - yes, it is dfficult to talk about one's 'spiritual' life. (Though most of the posts in this series were written quite quickly and easily, I found this one more problematical - and in the end I think I've over-complicated, and also condensed, things too much.)<br /><br />Any 'spiritual' qualities in our lives are often demonstrated to others by how we live our lives, by our very presence and demeanour, rather than by what we say or write about our attitudes and beliefs. It's how we walk the walk, not talk the talk. I've usually found that 'religious' people who constantly talk about their religion and try to evengelise are far less authentic than people who just live out their convictions. Digressing again...<br /><br />I admire and identify with contemporary writers and poets like Annnie Dillard and Mary Oliver who suggest the sacred but in secular terms.<br /><br />You're absolutely right, Ruth, about the restorative powers of the earth - and the ritual you describe recalls strongly Zen Buddhism and also the druidism/paganism I mentioned in my post.<br /><br />And re. your moose story, and the numinous dimension of nature, I fell down a mountain once (well, a bit of it). Definitely not a particularly spiritual experience!The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-87561305955394885792011-01-07T10:47:02.701+00:002011-01-07T10:47:02.701+00:00It's beautiful to read your post and George...It's beautiful to read your post and George's response. Two serious walkers who live this and know. I met a moose once on the Pacific Crest Trail, just him and me. It was a spiritual experience. (I wondered about my immanent death, for one thing.) :)<br /><br />What is expressed here by both of you is the constant need to find meaning within a culture where the media, and popular culture, blare a brassy version of the sacred on loud speakers. Connecting and reconnecting with the earth helps us find that balance.<br /><br />I do a meditation, in which I give the day's troubles to the earth, and ask her to cleanse them. The first time I did this, eyes closed, visualizing all my worries going down the stream of me into the earth, I felt guilty! How could I give such terrible gifts to her?! But the sensation I felt when she returned them with glee and intense beauty, as purified gifts of bounty, convinced me that she is highly able to restore us spiritually. She is inside <i>us</i>! And we have to keep consciously getting reacquainted with her.<br /><br />By the way, as for Tolstoy, thank you for the recommendation of the bio your wife is reading, and suggesting <i>Anna Karenina</i> before <i>War and Peace</i>. I have read AK, and so I will move on to the biggie! :)Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-39269250619144599002011-01-07T01:19:30.290+00:002011-01-07T01:19:30.290+00:00After a day of driving through traffic on the inte...After a day of driving through traffic on the interstate, which serves as a metaphor for the mindlessness of American life, it is such a relief to visit this tiny oasis of yours, especially on a day when you are talking about the spiritual dimensions of walking.<br /><br />Language has become such a problem in the realm of spiritual issues. The term "Christian," for example, can refer to right-wing fundamentalists who approach their faith legalistically — i.e., passing the tests with respect to certain beliefs, tenets, rituals, etc. — or it can simply refer to someone who has chosen to walk the walk of the man in whose name this religion was founded. More generally, as you point out, the terms "spiritual" and "sacred" have also become loaded with cultural meaning, and many associate those terms with either Christianity of Judaism. While some profess to be "spiritual, but not religious," others think this is a cop-out to some kind of new-age relativism. The term "sacred" is also fraught with misunderstanding. Say that you believe that everything is sacred, as I believe, and many will conclude that you must be very "religious", which I am not, at least in terms of the popular meaning of that term.<br /><br />For these reasons, I often have difficulty talking with people about my spiritual life. I agree with you entirely, however, that it would be better for everyone if we liberated words like "spiritual" and "sacred" from their cultural prisons. It is the sovereign right of every person to determine what is spiritual and sacred in his or her own life. <br /><br />I digress, of course, as you did, because the role of language in our spiritual lives is such an interesting subject. More to the point of your posting, however, I totally relate to what you are saying about the spiritual rewards of walking. I go back to that statement by Sir Edmund Hillary: "It's not the mountains we conquer but ourselves." Before we can conquer ourselves, however, we must first know ourselves — and therein lies the problem. In the madness of modern life, with its myriad demands and distractions, it is difficult to truly discover one's self. In walking, however, especially walking alone for significant periods, we discover who it is we need to conquer, and we are given insight on how that conquest can occur. That, at least, has been my experience.<br /><br />This is such a thought-provoking post that I could go on and on. The hour is late, however, and I have already said too much. Thanks for the posting. I agree with everything you say.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03959953035812596907noreply@blogger.com