Every being embodies Buddha nature.
Everyone is holy.
Including you.
A few lessons being revealed:
- Prepare, prepare, prepare. And, know that no amount of preparation will insure your readiness for everything. Things are overlooked, forgotten, and unanticipated. Life happens. And, on pilgrimage, life can be magical, mysterious and downright maddening. Perhaps the best one can do is to be prepared for the unexpected.
- Pay attention. It’s easy to become complacent when pedaling the straight and narrow pathway. Stay awake, stay focused. Even those trails that seem to go on forever, can end abruptly on a busy road. Enjoy the ride, and pay attention.
- Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If there is a bike path right alongside a four-lane highway that has no shoulder, and cars driving past you at 55 or more miles per hour, get on the bike path. Don’t complain about the condition of the path. Even in disrepair, the path is protected, and it is a gift.
- Slow down. Trying to maintain a speed that you might otherwise pedal without the significant weight of two panniers, a saddle bag, frame bag and top tube cube…well, it’s ludicrous. Slow down. Pilgrimage is not about winning a race. Slow down and arrive safely.
- Embrace the opportunity of getting lost. Rebecca Solnit, in A Field Guide to Getting Lost, emphasizes the value of wandering and immersing one’s self in the here and now. Sometimes the path you’re on isn’t the path you intended to pedal. It may even take you out of your intended way. Roll with it, as you’re able.
- Breathe. Not much more to say about this. Just breathe….
- Let go of what you do not need. Your bike was built to carry only so much weight. When you try to carry more than the bike can handle…well, your bike becomes hard to handle. It wobbles and shimmies. Take an inventory, pull out what you do not need, and let it go. Certainly do this before you leave. And, while on pilgrimage, you may need to do this again.*
- Trust your instincts. If the road someone else tells you to pedal doesn’t look like a road on your map or GPS; if the road someone else tells you to pedal doesn’t feel like a road when you turn onto it…chances are, it’s NOT A ROAD. Find an alternative route, even if it’s out of your way. (Trust me on this one in particular. Getting stuck in mud halfway down a non-road is a big bummer!)
- Hold gratitude in your heart. And say “thank you” often.
- Enjoy the ride, even if you didn’t plan for half of it.
*Lesson #7 above is laden with meaning. And, worthy of much more reflection. Heck, each of these lessons are worthy of much more reflection. This pilgrimage is revealing the necessity of letting go of weight I have continued to carry for no good reason other than I have been afraid to let it go. “What if I need it someday?” “What if I lose it?” “I’ve never been without it. How will I function?” These are just a few of the reasons/excuses I have used numerous times to delay letting go of something no longer necessary in my life. I’ll reflect more on this later in the week. For now, I wonder, what lessons are revealing themselves to you on your road?
Pedal on!