Journey of Enlightenment

All journeys help us discover ourselves, wherever we are already.

Jordan will travel from the Midwestern United States to

Manaus, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon. It looks

like this, from where I sit, here and now.

Image Source: Google Maps.

In preparation for my daily dedication to Jordan*, for his mission to Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, I looked to Eckhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. I chanced upon his chapter entitled, "You are not Your Mind." There, Tolle opened, "The Greatest Obstacle to Enlightenment," as follows:

Enlightenment - what is that?

A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. "Spare some change?" mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap. "I have nothing to give you," said the stranger. Then he asked: "What's that you are sitting on?" "Nothing," replied the beggar. "Just an old box. I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember." "Ever looked inside?" asked the stranger. "No," said the beggar. "What's the point? There's nothing in there." "Have a look inside," insisted the stranger. The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.

Tolle then went on to explain, "I am that stranger who has nothing to give you and who is telling you to look inside. Not inside any box, as in the parable, but somewhere even closer: inside yourself."

All journeys help us discover ourselves, and the box inside, wherever we are already.

_________________
*Refer to Bacon. 2016. See you in the temazcal, Jordon. In InTheTemazcal Blog (http://inthetemazcal.blogspot.com/2016/06/see-you-in-temazcal-jordan.html), Reviewed 14 June 2016, for an introduction to Jordan and his mission.

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