{"id":88,"date":"2011-02-25T16:52:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T16:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/02\/smile-breathe-repeat-or-the-need-to-travel\/"},"modified":"2014-02-12T13:37:01","modified_gmt":"2014-02-12T13:37:01","slug":"smile-breathe-repeat-or-the-need-to-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/02\/smile-breathe-repeat-or-the-need-to-travel.html","title":{"rendered":"Smile. Breathe. Repeat., or The Need to Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Last Friday in Missoula, at a public talk given by Anam Thubten Rinpoche, a friend asked me what I learned in all of my travels. I hadn\u2019t put much thought into such a question, but I immediately answered, \u201cthat our lives are unnecessarily complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second insight I had, as I prepare for a little talk\/slideshow about my travels, is just how profoundly interconnected we all are. And how the simplest of encounters can alter the direction of our life. Or, a bit less dramatically, these encounters can provide a richness to life never before thought possible.<\/p>\n

But we need to be \u2018shaken up\u2019 to realize this. We need radical challenges, changes, discoveries and difficulties in order to see all of this. As\u00a0Henry David Thoreau famously stated:<\/p>\n

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And there is the contemporary American Blues musician, Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019:<\/p>\n

\n

We\u2019re just the victims of comfort,
\nConnosuiers of pain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s a technological merry-go-round,
\nDangerous illusions buried under the ground,
\nAnd everyone likes a party,
\nBut know one wants to clean,
\nWell I\u2019d like to see a change somehow
\nBut I\u2019m a little busy right now,
\nJust a little busy right now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m just a victim of comfort,
\nI got no one else to blame,
\nI\u2019m just a victim of comfort,
\nA Cryin\u2019 shame.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve realized in my travels the need to be \u2018lighter\u2019. Lighter in my impact on the world yes, but also lighter in my possessions that may hold me down. I\u2019ve realized the need for a simpler life.<\/p>\n

Of course there are strong forces working against this ideal. I\u2019m in America after all. In my travels I was fairly well convinced that I should<\/em>\u00a0have an iPhone or similar device as a handy tool to stay connected and keep data at my fingertips. And maybe a Kindle. And then a friend of mine \u2013 back here \u2013 showed me his new Nook Color. And I\u2019m due for a new hard drive to backup all those photos. And\u2026<\/p>\n

Smile.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to get caught up again, both physically (out in the world) and mentally (taking on all of the desires, aversions, and neuroses of society).<\/p>\n

Breathe.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also easy to return to the wanderer\u2019s mind. Or wonderer\u2019s mind. \u201cSame, same\u201d as they say in Thailand. Just stop. Stop being a \u2018victim\u2019 of anything, stop being busy, find the song within and let it out<\/em>! Smile. Breathe. Repeat.<\/p>\n

If that doesn\u2019t work, travel. Go far. Abandon your comfort zone. You\u2019ll realize it wasn\u2019t really helping you anyhow.<\/p>\n

Smile. Breathe. Repeat.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Images from around India and Burma (Fall\/Winter 2010-2011), photos by Justin Whitaker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Friday in Missoula, at a public talk given by Anam Thubten Rinpoche, a friend asked me what I learned in all of my travels. I hadn\u2019t put much thought into such a question, but I immediately answered, \u201cthat our lives are unnecessarily complicated.\u201d A second insight I had, as I prepare for a little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":2677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,10,3,29,12,11],"tags":[35,528],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buddhism","category-commodification","category-happiness","category-india","category-photography","category-travels","tag-burma","tag-india"],"yoast_head":"\nSmile. Breathe. 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