Wanderlust and Buddhism

Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Ashley Turner; Wanderlust/Yoga in the City MAP (Instagram)
 

Traveling by car in the US is good too (WQ)

Wanderlust. Yearning to travel, to see for oneself, to go forth from the staid and secure home-life to a life of adventure.
 

Most of us will not set off. And for those, there is the Wanderlust Festival (series) coming to a state near you beginning June 9, 2013.

Why wait? The home-life is cramp and confined. The wilds are open and inviting. The Buddha encouraged disciples to cut their parochial ties and become shramans, "wandering ascetics." 

VagabondRoots.com ("A girl, a backpack and a world to discover!") has the idea:
 

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”

- Martin Buber

 

Ashley in Aspen, CO (ashleyturner.org)

Rather than retiring to a cloistered abbey, which has the potential to be an excellent practice, the Buddha sent nuns and monks on the road. Ginsburg was onto something.

With bowl (for gathering food in India's universally understood dana system) and robe (for shelter and protection from the elements) in hand, new seekers set out. They traveled far and returned to hear their teacher or the Buddha speak.

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”

- Lao Tzu

 

This uprooting served the crucial function of awakening us from our assumptions about the world and what is normal/possible: How do people live, what do they eat, how do they use words, what is liberation?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover” (Mark Twain).

The Science of Surrender: Must the ego be in control? Or is it fear?

Little Buddha Quotes, Albert Einstein, Byron Katie, breathe