Like The Moon On The Water, In

Most Of Us Who Have Been Lucky Enough To Hear, Read And See The Dalai Lama, Often Come Away Thinking, "what A Kind, Inspiring And Golden Human Being!" That Is True, But I Think It Does Him An Injustice.

For If Every True Love Affair Can Feel Like A Journey To A Foreign Country, Where You Can’t Quite Speak The Language, And You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, And You’re Pulled Ever Deeper Into The Inviting Darkness, Every Trip To A Foreign Country Can Be A Love Affair, Where You’re Left Puzzling Over Who You Are And Whom You’ve Fallen In Love With.

Home Is Essentially A Set Of Values You Carry Around With You And, Like A Turtle Or A Snail Or Whatever, Home Has To Be Something That Is Part Of You And Can Be Equally A Part Of You Wherever You Are. I Think That Not Having A Home Is A Good Inducement To Creating A Metaphysical Home And To Being Able To See It In More Invisible Ways.

In The End, We Need Two Things To Lead A Balanced Life - A Sense Of The World And A Sense Of Ourselves; It's Like Breathing In And Breathing Out. And If You Can Only Get To Know The World By Stepping Out, And Losing Yourself In Experience, You Can Only Get To Know The Self By Stepping Back, And Finding Yourself In Contemplation. One Without The Other Leads To A Kind Of Madness.

The Reason I Love Travel Is Not Just Because It Transports You In Every Sense, But Because It Confronts You With Emotional And Moral Challenges That You Would Never Have To Confront At Home. So I Like Going Out In Search Of Moral And Emotional Adventure Which Throws Me Back Upon Myself And Forces Me To Reconsider My Assumptions And The Things I Took For Granted. It Sends Me Back A Different Person.