Author: bodymovinnet

I’ve been in Madrid for almost 2 weeks now. My luggage didn’t arrive with my plane. I was without my luggage for 6 days. I was just thankful that Iberia actually found it and delivered it. 

This first picture is a line of the people who had misconnections. I felt bad for them because it was an extremely slow (Spain 🙄) moving line and misconnections often inspire a sense of urgency for action. At one point, an impatient customer started clapping and got most the rest of the line to start clapping as well, to signal to the front of the line to move it along. It seemed as though the customer service representatives did not have the tools they needed in order to solve many of the problems they were brought, as they turned away many dissatisfied customers. 

Those first 6 days were definitely a test for me. I felt unable to start on the agenda items I wanted to do in Madrid. I felt bound without stuff, stuck in my clothes. It calls to mind the teachings on groundlessness.

“… Mahavipashyana experience can also lead to celebration. It depends on your attitude. If your attitude is that the world is playing a trick on you, you will complain to everybody or at least try to find a source of complaint, so that your ground will be solid and your ideas will be appreciated. However, if you don’t have that attitude of competitiveness, then realizing that there is no ground becomes a source of celebration and joy.
At this stage, the experience that you have nothing to hold on to is continual. And that experience will go on, until at a certain level of vajrayana takes a different form, with further sophistication. However, in this case it is just a simple experience that you exist, but at the same time you do not have any ground. You have no ground because awareness is constant, and the characteristic of awareness is emptiness. Awareness does not have a portrait, a reflection, or identification. So a positive feeling of nothingness becomes very real at the stage of teshin mikpa, or Mahavipashyana experience.
In mahavipashyana, it is as though you have been released. It is like catching a fly and throwing it out the window so that the fly flies away rather than being squashed on the table. The idea of release or Liberation in Mahavipashyana discipline is to have a glimpse of groundlessness. The basic idea is that The closer you are to enlighten mind, the more your development takes you in that direction, the more groundless you are.”
-CTR
The Path of Individual Liberation

I was hosted in Madrid by my good friend Alejandro. I am thankful to have such a gracious and generous host. We shared many good conversations, meals, and walks around his neighborhood. I met his friend Mayo who stayed over for a few nights.

On one evening, Alejandro had a friend come and visit, Pilar. We all had a mutual friend named Javi, who recently passed away due to carbon monoxide poisoning from having put some hot coals in his air-tight sealed accommodations in Armenia. Pilar was his travel companion on the trip. She felt that his soul was still lingering around, unable to find peace, unable to believe the reality that he had died in his sleep, and move on. I suggested we do a ceremony to call him to us in order to explain to him what had happened and advise him on the next steps that he should take. Although his family and friends did have a burial ceremony for him, this was different, as this ceremony was more about instructing him on how to move on and what had happened. I believe it brought some closure to uneasy minds.

My baggage came the day after this. I had money missing. It wasn’t a lot, but I was still upset. I decided not to put in a claim after being on hold for the first 10 minutes, getting tired of trying to process/ translate the Spanish instructions of the Iberia customer hotline, and then realizing the absurdity of trying to get help from Iberia . There is a theme of letting go that came up constantly in these past 2 weeks. Some battles are just not worth fighting. I was ready to go out and do something. 

Pilar had mentioned that she had recently gone to this alternative healing location just outside of Madrid. Alejandro and Mayo were both interested so we went to visit. The place was called Foro Ciencias Espirituales y Therapias Naturales. It was a little healing retreat about 45 minutes outside of Madrid. There was a big garden area with different animals. There was a little school for children. They advocated and served macrobiotic food. This was very interesting, as this was the first time I’ve come across this philosophy of nutrition in such detail. It made sense to me, and since the visit, I have been modifying my diet accordingly. The founder was named Consuelo Lopez. She practices Jin Shin Jyutsu, another first encounter for me. This therapy is like a cross between reiki and acupressure. The practitioner lays their hands on various points of the body depending on the ailments. The hands remain there for a few minutes before moving on to the next set of points. During my session, she told me that she was touching the points that would release old stagnant energy. During the next moments, I felt an uncontrollable urge to laugh. It was as though some dark ethereal blanket over me had been removed. I fell asleep during the session. I woke up feeling as though I had a long restful deep sleep. My inner felt peace was strong and unable to be interrupted. I felt this way for a day and a half after the session.

A few days later, I headed over to the city center and then to Retiro park to do some busking. I used to do this for a living back when I was traveling. I wanted to relive the sensation of being able to perform in public without the fear of state persecution and with the ambiance of general public acceptance. It’s an indescribable sensation to be able to express/perform your art in public and to be able to get tipped for it. It certainly brought up a lot for me; insecurity, bravery, fear, joy, exhaustion. At the end of the evening I made it back home with very tired legs. I was happy to have done it and happy to not need to do that as a living anymore. It was a good experience that I don’t think I will have to repeat for a long time. Another experience of letting go.

Two days later, I wanted to relive the Spanish club experience. Having been to parties all around the world, I can tell you that Spanish clubs are amongst the best. Over the years I have missed being able to go to that kind of venue dearly. On Friday night I headed out to Chueca, the gay/ clubbing district in Madrid. I arrived at around 10:30 p.m., much too early to really see anything happening. Madrid is notorious for starting their evenings late. I checked out a few different clubs, but I couldn’t find music that I resonated with. A bouncer told me about this one club that was about a 20-minute walk away. As I walked in that direction, I crossed a couple of other neighborhoods. I was surprised but also not so surprised, that people were out and about socializing, eating, and drinking everywhere, not just in Chueca. It was already past midnight at this point. I got to my new location only to find that the club had been closed down. I decided to go to another club that was about another 20 minute walk further away from the center. I got there to find a lovely big venue that was empty and playing reggaetón music. I decided to leave and call it a night. By the time I got home it was around 3am. The scene had changed! It used to be effortless to find a great party here.

The next day I decided to do some research. I bought I ticket to this DJ event that was to take place at a “secret location.” After purchasing the ticket, I had Alejandro called the hotline that was emailed to me in order to get the address. It was outside the center of Madrid.

It was in this industrial warehouse area next to some neighborhood. It reminded me of the parties I used to go to in Brooklyn. I wandered down this dark deserted street looking for the place. It was around 12:30 a.m. Luckily there was a cafe nearby full of people. I asked for directions. They pointed me in the direction of where I had just came. I saw one guy come out of a taxi and go up to a locked gate. He was approached by a man on the opposite side of the gate. He unlocked it and let him in. I approached the gate. The man approach as well and asked me what I wanted. I asked him if this was the location of the party. He let me in and locked the gate behind me. I felt as though I should be extra attentive. The man pointed me to a door in a dark corner of the courtyard. As I approached, the door opened up and I found a club. It was a small venue.
I was the first one there, other than the staff and the dj. I was relieved to have found the party and to be alive. Within 20 minutes more people started to arrive. The party was relatively good. I experienced many things. I actually made a list during the night.

Self conscious
Elation
Low grade headache
Paranoia
Apathy
Bliss from an external source
Want to get out
Brave
Breaking the mold
Tired legs
Am I sexy
I am sexy
Strong
I am loved and appreciated
Smoke in my eyes
Strings of light
Staying in my body
This is what I’ve been missing… ! ..? … Repeat
Alone
Jiving
Hungry
Irritated eyes
Tired legs
Cruising
Grasping
Happy 
I can let go
Burning eyes
Ready to go
Hungry
Let go of cruising
Great, 2nd peak
Still hungry.. but not so bad
Cleared of obstacles
The roller coaster goes up and down constantly
Go after him
He’s already walked away.. not interested
Grasping resurfacing
I crave touch
Want to capture the moment
Fitting in …. This is my lost alien tribe.. where did I go?

Near the end of the party, I met this pretty girl, Clo. We exchange numbers and I headed home.

I ended up getting home at around 9:30 a.m. completely exhausted and reeking of secondhand smoke.

Similar to the busking experience, something had changed. I’m glad that I did it because now it paves the way to letting go of needing to experience this all the time. Perhaps it’s because I sensationalized a memory, or perhaps it was because I have changed, or the music has changed, or maybe it was all of the above. In any case, there is a big psychological burden that was lifted because now I feel that the Spanish club party isn’t something that I have to have to keep working to pursue. The memory of the ecstasy of dancing out in the clubs, the feeling of the music penetrating my essence, didn’t exactly match up to what I experienced on this particular evening. For the letting go of this particular sense attachment, I am grateful and much lighter. On my way back home, I walked past this cool space of land that was being used as a garden that looked like it would have otherwise been unutilized.

I just want to mention how much I love all of the fresh bread in the supermarkets here, although I can’t have any of it.
I also have to make mention of Alejandro’s yard as it seems to have its own persona. Alejandro is the process of excavating the yard of this home he inherited. During the construction, all the trash was dumped in the back and covered with dirt. Now Alejandro has the vision to convert this space into a harmonious garden with a waterway. He is digging 1.5 meters into the ground to pull up all of the waste! He is creating a solid foundation for healthy soil. So important and admirable. I’ve no doubt this will be a lush fertile garden.

In summary:

The beat goes on and on.
❤️

My last days in Alaska went by quickly. I spent a lot of time with an amazing guy I met on tinder earlier that month, Erik. 

One of the places he took me was Crystal lake over at Crow pass. It was a lovely hike. At the end was a glacier fed lake.

The weekend before I left back home, was filled with a couple of adventures. First we headed out to a friend’s cabin on a lake in Chickaloon. We stopped by a quaint cafe on the way that had a big selection of gluten-free pastries! We went kayaking the following morning. 

Sometime during the last few days, I was able to witness Erik’s Queen of the night blossom. These flowers bloom at most twice a year for only a few hours. That was cool.

We also headed out to Seward, a picturesque town by the sea, a few hours south of anchorage. We had lunch on the Rocky beach.
After we headed on Caines Head trail, through the northernmost rainforest in the world. We were able to see lots of salmon swimming upstream.

My last day was spent cleaning up my apartment. I managed to put all the plastic waste I had consumed during my 6 weeks in Alaska into 5 eco-bricks! I think it is so important that we take responsibility for what we consume for as much of the time as is possible. To learn more about eco-bricks and how you can take responsibility for the harmful plastics you consume, check out my tutorial here.

Erik took me to South, for my last dinner. Decent food with amazing company. He took my Alaska experience to a new level.

Alaska was really amazing. I was also happy to get back home. On the way home, I had learned that a good friend had passed away. That tinged the homecoming experience.

The teaching of the four reminders comes to mind:

1. The preciousness of life and how fortunate I am to practice and study the Dharma 2. Death comes suddenly without warning 3. The entrapment of karma 4. The intensity and inevitability of suffering of all beings everywhere

Rest in Peace Jannette.

I went to Denali this past weekend! Accompanying me was my roommate Moon, his friend Brian, and Brian’s friend, Albert. 
So just to make something clear, Denali is in Denali National park. 90 miles south of that and across the street is Denali State Park. That is where we did our hike.

Denali National Park has a variety of obstacles that make it somewhat difficult to enjoy, so we decided to just go to the state park and enjoy the panoramic views of Denali mountain, which are said to be better from the state park anyway.
Our first stops were at the Denali view south and Denali view north, about 90 miles south of Denali, opposite the state park . Our camping spot was at the north view point. 

Denali State Park is basically one big route in a figure “3”. It has three trailheads. The north trailhead is Little Coal Creek. The middle trailhead is Ermine hill. The next one down is the Alaska Veterans Memorial/ Byers lake. There’s actually another trailhead south of Byers lake, but we won’t talk about that in this story.
Denali is the tallest mountain in North America. I wasn’t able to get any clear photos of it due to clouds but I did get plenty of the mountain range.
That first evening, we had dinner and checked out the to Northern trailheads. I made a plan for the next day to hike up the northernmost trailhead, hike along the ridge, and then return back the same way went up once we got tired. The distance between the northernmost trailhead and the second one down, is 20 miles, so I didn’t think that was a viable option for us.

The next morning we got up. Brian wanted to get breakfast at a restaurant down the street. It had rained a little bit that night. Moon and I convinced him that we should make the meals that we had brought along. After breakfast, we began our hike up the Little Coal Creek trailhead.

It was a steep hike, but we reached the ridge in an hour. We rested for a little bit. Brian said that he wanted to return back down to the car and find another place to go hike. I couldn’t understand this point of view. I contested and said we should continue enjoying the scenery where we were at and continue on the trail. Brian and Albert went back down to the car anyway. Moon and I told them that we would catch up later. Moon and I continued to hike up a little bit more to see a creek that was in sight. As we continued to hike, Moon said why don’t we just hike the whole thing. I was apprehensive. Moon said he was going to go regardless of my choice and started to hike along. I wouldn’t say that I was forced to go along with him, but I was in an awkward situation. I just wanted to hike along until I got tired and then return back. I reluctantly followed behind Moon. I can only estimate that the hike we were going to complete would be around 20 miles. The maps of the area were not very detailed. In addition, the route really didn’t have any labeled landmarks or signs.
I messaged Brian to let him know that we were going to hike to Ermine hill trailhead and that I would text him when we arrived. I kept the message short because I really didn’t have any information other than that. The signal on my phone wasn’t good. Moon’s phone was just about dead.
We continued along. We saw some epic views of the mountain range, along with some pretty creeks. We drank cold water from the creek.

At some point we came to this magical area. It may have been called the “lunar field.” There was a lake there. The ground was covered with soft grass. There were boulders scattered about. The boulders had quartz in them and lichen of various colors. I believe this was the highlight of the trip. It’s a shame we weren’t able to stop and soak in the vibe longer. By this time it was around 6:00 p.m. We had to keep hiking because we had no idea how long it would take to reach the trailhead. 

I had received a message from Brian, or rather several of them. He seemed somewhat panicked. He asked where we were and suggested that we turn around. He wanted me to call him immediately. I decided not to call him or to respond. I had no new information that would help to clarify when we would arrive at the trailhead, and we weren’t about to turn around. So we continued to trod along.

Eventually we made it to the trailhead at around 10:00 p.m. We met Brian there, who was not in the best of moods. He said we ruined his day. He had gone to the liquor store, and then proceeded to spend the rest of the day traveling between the two trailheads and the campground. He “wasn’t even able to drink” that much because he was driving. He had called the state trooper to report us. In total Moon and I had hiked 11 hours. Only about an hour of that was spent resting. We could barely walk.
When we got back to the campground, Moon and I prepared dinner. We had a huge dinner because the other two didn’t eat. I had to throw a large part of the dinner away. Bryan stayed in the car, drinking, and listening to some emo music, Lincoln park, Nickelback, etc… Albert went straight to bed.

 When we were done with dinner, Moon went to bed as well. Brian surprisingly came out to help me clean up. He told me he was going to go park the car a little bit further down from where we had pitched the tents so that he would not disturb us with his music and from the lights in the car.
Brian, Albert, and I were sharing a tent. Moon has his own tent. I went to bed and woke up at around 3:30 a.m. to find that Brian still hadn’t gone to bed. It was cold and I didn’t want to leave my tent in fear of whatever catastrophe I might possibly witness once I stepped out. I just wanted to remain in blissful ignorance until the morning sun, but I had to go to the bathroom. I saw that Brian’s car was still parked out there with the lights on. I snuck around behind his car to the restrooms. On my way back, I turned on the flashlight on my phone and proceeded to walk back to the tent along the sidewalk. I guess this startled him because when I stepped out of the restroom, he moved his car over to another part of the parking lot where there were campers and RVs. I continued to walk along the sidewalk back toward the tents. He honked his horn and then proceeded to shine his lights on me and drive towards me. He came back and parked at the spot he had just left from. He rolled down the window. I don’t think I’ve seen a face more dazed and intoxicated.

“You scared the s*** out of me man”.  “Oh, sorry I had to go to the restroom.” “I was about to go to bed and then I saw a light come out of the restroom.” “Oh yeah that was me. (pause) You should drink some water.”

I went back to the tent. A few minutes later, Brian came in and was rustling about in his sleeping bag for several minutes. After a while he sits straight up, looks at me, and in a normal room volume voice says,

“Let’s just go. It’s only a 4-hour drive back.” “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m super tired.” “Don’t worry about it, I can drive.” “Shh, everyone else is still asleep, we should wait until the morning.” “Okay, we’ll sleep until 4:00 a.m., and then we’ll go.”

He closed his eyes. There were a few moments of silence. Albert starts to speak.

“Yo man, my heart is beating out of my chest. That 5-hour energy drink is freaking me out. Give me the keys to the car.” No response from Brian. “Hey man give me the keys to the car.” Again there was no response.

In the matter of about  2 minutes, Brian managed to pass out in an unresponsive stupor. Albert withdrew his attempts at communicating with Brian, thankfully.

We went to bed, and woke up at 10:00 a.m. Brian wanted to leave immediately. I surrendered plans to make the breakfast we had brought with us. We listened to “Mariposa Traicionera” (Brian’s playlist). We ate breakfast at the restaurant down the road on our way back home. Brian called the state trooper to tell them that his friends had shown up. The trip was a comedy of errors with plenty of bumps in the road, but the “lunar field” made it worth it. I can’t stop thinking about it.

I’ve been on a few more hikes since being in Anchorage. This past week and I went to an abandoned mining town, Independence mine, at hatcher pass. Parts of it look like an amusement park theme ride, with cascades running down the side of the mountain, along with antique mining debris scattered everywhere.

I’ve had a lot of time to explore the city. It’s kind of charming, for an American city. I like the bike paths in the neighborhoods that go between the houses. Wild raspberries grow like weeds on the sides of the road. 

Last week my roommates and I went up to flat top mountain. We saw a moose on the trail. There was a man in front of us who was trying to shoo the moose away. I’m glad he didn’t get hurt. I saw its nostrils flaring. The hike was good. I got to see some eagles! It’s cool to see them in nature. They were hanging out by the American flag that was planted on top of the mountain. There was an air of patriotism about. There were two girls that we met while hiking. One of them was a nurse in the air force. She was telling me about the substandard working conditions she had to deal with because of the priority of budget going towards military warcrafts. She said any contrary feedback toward the condition of how day-to-day operations persist, were punished. The priority had to be being the world power in the air.
My thoughts on the interaction:
One way to define ignorance, in the Buddhist lineage I study is the act of ignoring. It is regarded as the most dangerous of the three poisons of mind (passion and aggression being the other 2), because with this particular poison, it is not in the realm of awareness. Needless to say, there are consequential implications. Administrative governances are more often than not designed, built, and maintained with ignorance weaved through.

One evening, my roommate made some moose. We had moose tacos. That was fun! It’s lean and tastes similar to beef. It is subtly different and hard to articulate. I’ve heard it described it as “tasting like willowbuds smell in the spring”.

On another hike, I met up with Jonathan, a local couch surfer. We went hiking at North Face at Alyeska (resort).We drove South along the Turnagain arm. I guess you can call it a fjord. It has one of the highest rise tides in the world, with a tidal range of 40 ft.

I arrived here last Wednesday, a bit apprehensive. I still hadn’t secured a place to stay. I slept in the airport that evening and set out the following morning to follow up on a few places. Fortunately I was able to get a place by the afternoon.

I’ve got 2 roommates, Moon and Tran. Affordable accommodations sell out quickly here.

Initial impressions:
The bus drivers are friendly.
The air is clean, cool, and penetrating. It reminds me of the air in Antarctica, intoxicating.
The sun sets at midnight!
The ground is soft, the grass is lush and also soft.
It feels great to be outside. Mid 60s most days, 50s at night.
It is easy to see mountain ranges in the not so far distance.

There seems to be a fair number of homeless indigenous people, perhaps with mental health afflictions, or perhaps with an uncensored way of acting toward each other. One approached me at the downtown visitor center.
He said, “I’m sad, and blue.”
I said, “I think most people can relate to that.”
He paused but continued to maintain eye contact, as though he were looking straight into my soul, like a conversation you would have with dear friend who was revealing the depth of their suffering, “You have a good heart.”

A few yards away from me, another indigenous man who looked somewhat sedated approached and chatted with a tourist teenage girl sitting with her younger brother by a reindeer hotdog stand. The man backed away from the girl and yelled out, “F** B**, you are a mean person.” The hotdog vender scolded the man who then walked away.

I felt like there was theater 360 degrees around me.

The following day was dedicated to getting my food/ water situation sorted. Like last year’s trip to Ohio, I was surprised how few people opt to buy purified water in bulk from refill stations. My roommates drink the tap, but it tastes like the chlorinated, fluorinated tap water back home. I tried to drink it but would get a distinct headache that localized around my pineal gland. I eventual found a refill station.

Food/ water is on average 2-4x higher here than in south Texas.

Yesterday, my roommate, Moon, took me on hike at the Chugach State Park. He told me you shouldn’t go hiking alone and you shouldn’t go without a gun or bear mace. Moon is in the military. We were joined by his military friend, Bryan. Moon said small guns aren’t effective, so they took rifles, both of them.
We arrive at the trail head. I said I’d carry the backpack, as I wouldn’t know what to do with a gun. As we hiked up the trail, I saw few people with guns and no one else with a rifle. I did see many unsettled faces on hikers coming down the mountain. One man with a gun of his own commented, “You look like you mean business.”
Moon and I hiked a bit faster than Bryan. At some point we were quite a ways ahead. We waited for him to catch up. When he did, we noticed he was joined by another fellow hiker, who also had a gun, but it wasn’t a rifle.
We had to speed hike up the mountain because Bryan had a part time work shift to get to. We eventually made it to the summit where we were rewarded with views of a lake and enlivening breezes. We sped back down the mountain in what paradoxically seemed to take a longer time than going up.
My butt and legs are sore, a familiar recollection of travels past. Vitality somewhat restored. South Texas has its comforts, but its nice to step out of stagnated monotony again.

Listening to:

Beautiful- Moby