Dear friends,
Hope you are enjoying a good Spring season!
It has been over a year since the Journey to the East started on two wheels on Feb 29, 2016. The outer journey has taken me once around the world, from US to Mexico to China to Nepal to India, and back to the US.
Here is a belated reflection on some learnings from one year on road, even though I still constantly feel that I am just warming up :)
www.journeye.org/blog/1y
Some themes include: everyone is indeed a pilgrim; the blessings of being a "proletariat"; the life goal of "not regressing (too much)"; learning to receive; creating wholesome affinities; and a new marching order for Year Two.
Looking ahead, after spending the next month in China, I will start from London and bicycle back to Shanghai, heading East across Eurasia.
Thank you for your blessings and friendship, on and off the road!
Zilong
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On Receiving
Go and receive, humbly and freely, from everyone
So that you could not bear to ever break their hearts
Who would poison the well that has filled your cup
When you were dying of thirst?
Receive without expectations or seeking
Receive from the poorest, lowest,
From the farthest, the most unlikely of places
Receive from your enemies and from those you fear
So that you rid yourself of "us vs. them"
Risk yourself to be in the position
Of having no choice but to receive
Because only then
Do you start to understand others on their terms
In fact, we have already received from all
Each living being has been our mother in a past life
But sometimes, it takes actual receiving in this life
To be reminded of "who is my mother, and who are my brethren?"
We never really give from our own wealth
We only repay our parents' kindness
And pay forward the Grace of Life
Therefore, receive, so that we may give!
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Proper reminder from the monastery's bathroom :)
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