I have met various humans on the ways. A Brazilian. Three Chileans. An Australian. Two Spaniards.
I give them the space here to share their experience.
BRAZILIAN
I met on the Camino Francés a Brazilian Hospilatero and he had the following message:
“The Camino gives, what he and she wants to find.”
“It’s not important, what will be tomorrow or what was yesterday. You live now and not five minutes ago or five minutes later.”
“Yesterday is not important, tomorrow is not important. That, what you are doing at the moment, that is the most important in life.”
He expressed it in essence in this manner. His explanation took, remarkably, fifteen minutes.
CHILEANS
I met three chilean brothers on the Via de la Plata. It deeply impressed me, how they treat each other. What is their secret? How can they be so helpful and friendly towards each other? Always with respect and comprehension towards one another. They have shared their secrets with me:
Friendship between brothers and sisters.
Love between brothers and sisters.
Unity between brothers and sisters.
Support between brothers and sisters.
That´s all.
AUSTRALIAN
These words are by a friend of mine, Willow. He has written me a lot of messages, I find especially the following insights remarkable. He presented himself on the Camino Francés as a Songwriter. I remember that he was always eating chocolate.
“39klm was the distance travelled that day, physically. Emotionally and spiritually however, the distance can not be measured.”
“Tears welled in my eyes and a feeling unknown to me overwhelmed my entire being and carried me away to a whole new place, and from this place I could feel heaven, I was touched by my Angels, and God spoke to me calmly and fondly. A river of tears could not be stopped and I did not want them to even if I could have (and once would have), they were tears of joy, and of freedom, and of unconditional love.”
“Some pilgrims are walking a set amount of klm each day (as I did in the beginning) or are aiming to be at a set destination at days end (as I did in the beginning). The problem with this is that if you are seeking spiritual enlightenment you must remain open to the messages that 'upstairs' are trying to give. This may require silence, or require being still for more than one day, removing yourself from the way in which you always go about doing things.”
“To cut a very long story short the reason I was there was not to let go, but in fact to recieve. Something I am not very good at. I realised that to fully let go I needed to recieve. To fully recieve (unconditionally) I had to be humble. To be humble I had to let go of my ego.”
“Freedom does not have a face. There are no words or lyric set in stone. There is no particular place that you can travel to to recieve freedom if first you do not begin 'that' journey within. Freedom is in everything we do, everything we taste, everything we make, break, and/or fake, for within every moment we have the choice and the chance to begin 'that' journey.”
At the beginning I did not understand his insights at all. Much later, I understood some points clearly. Willow has shared his insights with me. I share his insights with you. Shared knowledge is double knowledge. Shared love is double love.
SPANIARDS
I took breakfast one day with two Spaniards from the older generation in a pilgrim refuge, the house of wisdom. Javier and Mecchulo. We talked about this and that. Everything seemed to be normal. This was my evaluation as an expert, although I didn’t understand any word in Spanish. Javier ate an apple. Mecchulo and I have finished with breakfast. Suddenly Javier swallowed the apple. I was shocked. What can I do? Javier didn’t say anything, he just pointed towards his throat. Mecchulo jumped up from the chair and grabbed Javier from behind. He embraced Javier from behind and pushed him very often against his breast. Javier spitted only water at first. Mecchulo looked at me and said that I should continue. I pushed with all my power against Javier´s chest. Then Mecchulo took over again. After a couple of minutes Javier’s condition improved. What a relief! He was able to speak again. Afterwards both started to run, as nothing had happened. I couldn’t keep this pace, and so I lost track of them.
This has shown me some things. How fast it happens, that everything turns around in life. At first you take your health as something natural. I have just enjoyed life. I felt invincible. As soon as there are illnesses, crises, or problems, the health has immediately a new priority. Other laws are governing from one moment to the next. For long time I wanted to be like I was before the quantum moment. Exactly this behaviour brought me into the crises. It is not possible to be in the future, like in the past.
It seems to me, that the human underlies exactly this madness. They are never satisfied. Something is never perfect. One day you want to lose 5 kilos. Another day you want to gain 5 kilos. Depending on the current fashion trend. One is never satisfied with what is here now. What is real now. Constantly one is crying for more money. More vacation. More houses. More time. More cars. Always more. There is never something enough. Where shall end this madness? That can end only in the valley of big tears. Someday one swallows the neverending consumption. Like Javier with an apple. If there is nobody to help, then everything will be kept in the throat. The inner dissatisfaction shall be equalized with outer consumption. This is not possible.
I realize, that consumption is fine. This should not go into the extremes. Not too much. Not too little. How much consumption is good? This decision has to be made every day, every moment. The house of wisdom has taught me one thing. I can get everything, reach everything, and realize everything in life. Always with the certainty, that nothing is for sure. Every thing can end in every moment.
The short story with Javier, Mecchulo and me is based on a true story. It happened on the Camino de Santiago, the Via de la Plata in Spain. For me it was a real lesson.
I thank all man which I met and still will meet. I end this article with a quote, which I have read on one of my ways.
„To reach the destiny seemed to us the most important, but now it is the way.“
Alto do Poio (Spain), 21.04.1992, Origin Unknown
The pilgrim looks on the article. She seems to be pensive and surprised at the same time. She wanted to have details and signposts. What has to be carried in the backpack? What is useful? What is necessary? I didn’t say anything about that. She leaves the room being a little disappointed. Nevertheless she takes the article with her.
2. ROLES
An athlete runs in the room.
He wants to know everything from me, Tata, how he can improve in a sporty way.
As well as physically as mentally.
How many hours he has to train? How often he has to train daily? His goal is to become the greatest football player of the world. Money and women play also an important role.
I remain quiet.
After some time I hand over to the ambitious athlete the article PLAYER, PILGRIM, STUDENT, MAN.
2.1 PLAYER, PILGRIM, STUDENT, MAN
I have played soccer for many years. I have played so long until an injury stopped me. I recovered from that. I began to play in a higher league. I trained until a collapse. I played hardly a match. I have gone until my limits. I was too ambitious. I was possessed for a long time by the dream, to be wealthy, to have money, to have a big house, to be famous. I wanted to be respected by others for what I can do. Not for what I am. I was completely imprisoned by the material world. My ego did not want