When a single feather and a thousand worlds
are equally this Space,
Who can say which contains which?
Who can find limits
to life’s richness?
Tharthang Tulku
In the summer 2014, I went on a six week pilgrimage through France, one of the three major French pilgrimage ways to Santiago de Compostela. I started in Vézelay and went to Saint-Jean–Pied-de-Port, the popular starting point of the Camino Frances in Spain. The whole distance was about 560 miles. The walk is also known under the name Via Lemovicensis. I walked alone.
As part of the pilgrimage, I did a one weeklong creative writing workshop with Natalie Goldberg. The workshop was located near La Souterraine, a town on the Voie de Vézelay. “Closing the Gap” was the theme of the workshop. This was also the intention of my walk – to live in the present moment, closing the gap between body and mind. With this walk, I also closed the gap between the Camino Frances I did with my daughter four years ago and the Via Lemovicensis, the walk from Vézelay to St. Jean–Pied-de-Port. Like always, I took poems, haiku’s and Dharma sayings with me. Often, I pulled one of the sayings for the day. I will include these in my report.
I am very happy that I can share my experiences with you. Thank you very much for walking with me.
