28. Report - 2 - 7/12/21 - First days in Kerala - HERE & NOW

The landscape of Kerala is very beautiful. I walk on picturesque streets. Many wind their way through small palm forests and through beautifully landscaped rice fields. Diverse views are offered to the eye.

The monsoon is coming to an end - it hardly rains any more. At a great rock lake, I risk spending a night without a canopy. After a few hours it promptly begins to rain. The bags are protected under the large umbrella; I wrap myself and the mats in a large plastic sheet.

The next morning the sun is shining. Occasionally men come to the lake, jump into the water, soap themselves on the bank, jump back into the water.

There are many ponds here. Every day you see people washing clothes or soaping themselves up there. I also refresh then myself for a few minutes.

It rains again briefly in one night - again I have to take refuge under a temple roof with my things. The remaining nights stay dry. It is now easier to find somewhere to sleep. The disadvantage of this independence is that one comes into less contact with people.

I am surprised to see so many roadside mosques. Churches are not seen that often. I don't even notice Hindu temples at first. Only later do I understand that the temples here are not as colorful as in other regions of India - and are therefore they are not so quickly to recognize.

Here, too, I am often asked about my origin. One day 2 young men stop next to me on their motorbikes. The usual course of the conversation begins: name, origin, ... -
But although the two are still very young, I sense something serious in them. One is a Muslim, the other is a Hindu. At least one of them does not seem to find enough fulfillment from his traditional beliefs anymore. They are open to new, deeper faith experiences.

Walking becomes more meditative. Sometimes it happens by itself to be mindful of the movements and noises inside and outside while walking. The concentration increases slowly so that it becomes easier to approach the fulfilling HERE & NOW.

A book has accompanied me since the beginning of this pilgrimage: ECKHART TOLLE - "THE POWER OF NOW". - He clearly expresses inner experiences of suffering, names the classic traps of our ego and convinces with functioning practical instructions.

He also made it clear to me that our constant thinking is probably the biggest problem on the way to discovering our own inner reality. The mind seems to flee from the present moment. Thinking constantly guides us in coming to terms with the past or planning for the future. Instead of experiencing the deeper self, thinking makes us a capricious plaything of our trained superficialities.