One of the genuine pleasures for me in coming to live in New England is my near annual pilgrimage to Waldon Pond. I circumambulate, stopping here and there, but particularly to contemplate at the site of his little shack, and to add a pebble to the slowly growing pile which I think of as a stupa, to consider Henry David Thoreau, the person and the thinker, and what he brought to me and, of course, to all of us.
For me he remains one of the greats, flawed like all of us, and, at the same time, such a soaring spirit. He shows we can all open our hearts and minds wide, and when we do so, discover what is important.
There are those who make a Buddhist connection for him, sort of the proto-Unitarian-Buddhist. While indeed there are connections, in many ways I find him more a proto-Unitarian-Taoist. But, hey, close enough…
Today is his birthday.
Worth, believe, a raise of the glass.
And, a toast of thanks…
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