--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_re...@...> wrote: > > Driving through the Pyrenees is always (for me) a high > and uplifting experience. The roads are good, almost > always three lanes (one each way for normal driving, > and one for passing on hills), and the drivers are > polite and aware. > > But the uplifting part is what you're driving *through*. > These are not old, worn-down-by-time pussy mountains > like the Appalachians. These are *serious* mountains, > often craggy and jutting up from the valley floor in > sheer rock walls thousands of feet high. These are > gnarly mountains, postcard-worthy mountains. > > And the weather. It changes constantly. On the Spanish > side it was still hot and sunny, not a cloud in the > sky. But crest the pass and suddenly we were driving > through a raging thunder and lightning storm, followed > within minutes by driving through light rain and clouds > that had decided to come down from the heavens to play. > The clouds just picked a mountain and then cuddled up > next to it for a while, and we got to drive through > the cloud as it cuddled. Think the mountain vistas from > The Lord Of The Rings movies, but in a more serious > mountain range. So the scenery alone is uplifting. > > But for me, there is something about the Pyrenees that > makes them far more interesting. > > There are not very many people here. > > By "not very many" I mean "almost none." The Pyrenees > are one of the least populous places on planet Earth. In > satellite scans that measure the impact of human habita- > tion by showing the lights of cities and towns, the > Pyrenees show up as almost a solid mass of black between > France and Spain. The "light spatter" is on the same > level of sparsity as it is in Tibet. > > What that means (for me) is a simply stunning level of > *silence*. It's like walking with an enlightened saint > walking beside you, both of you inside his or her aura. > There is just no "static" here. > > Think of humans as radio transmitters and our brains as > the receivers. In my view, everyone is psychic, whether > they admit to it or not. They are picking up (usually > subconsciously) on all of the thoughts and all of the > emotions of ALL of the people who surround them. Because > most people haven't ever been taught how to "parse" and > "filter" this constant bombardment of thoughts and emo- > tions, they tend to mistake the thoughts and emotions > of others for their own, and thus over time come to > believe that *their* minds are this noisy. That's what > I mean by "static." > > Here there is no static. Driving, yesterday, I noticed > that unless one of my passengers said something to me, > there was not a thought in my mind. <insert obligatory > snide crack from the Peanut Gallery here> > > Not one. Not the "running commentary" of background > thoughts one gets used to in the city -- your own and > others people's. Not yer normal Road Trip train of > thoughts. Nada. Rien. Nichevo. Nothing. Bupkus. > No thoughts at all. Just silence. > > Now imagine meditating here... > Great Writing, Tourqoise Blue... A+ Keep up the good work!
-Nurese Rachette
