Leaving a Trail
Day 42 – 10:50 – Temple 82
After a tube of cheese Chipstars and a bar of Ghana milk chocolate, the sun is still shining and I’m feeling more philosophical about things. I like Temple 82, the colors of the Japanese maple leaves are beautiful.
The kind chap below is Enomoto-san. He stayed in the same minshiku last night and explained to me at the temple how some kinds of Japanese maple have red leaves all year round when the tree is still young.
After living in Japan for so long (where social convention and historical precedent defines most of what can and should be done in any given situation) and following a prescribed path for the last six weeks, I am definitely starting to feel the urge to blaze my own trail. I was contemplating going on a ten day silent meditation retreat but I’m starting to feel that I may find the strict rules a little too restrictive at this time in my life. I think I need something with more freedom and scope for spontaneity and self-expression.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
