I wish I understood how this site is organized. What does that mean: ‘Choose a block’? Sounds like something for playing with a toddler. They are very good at trying to sell me more options, but not very good at making it user friendly. Anyway here is my entry for October 22 2023.
I have been drawn to Antigua; perhaps for a purpose? Last year I visited 7 countries in America Latina, but this year it will probably be fewer. There’s a feeling of changing my role from tourist to something else, but what?
Hermano Pedro was also drawn to Antigua. In the middle of the 17th century it was called by the somewhat pretentious name of ‘Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala’. Hermano Pedro came from Tenerife as a young man with nothing. During his short life (he died at age 41) he helped poor people with education and medical care even though he never formally became a priest or a monk. People still come from all over Central America to pray at his tomb. After 350 years of this the Catholic church finally decided that he was a saint. The tomb and the hospital remain important to the people of Antigua. In addition to the impressive church of San Francisco there are also extensive ruins, beautiful gardens, a museum and an active monastery. It is a valuable destination for tourism too.
Why is all of this so important to me? I am drawn there more than anywhere else in Antigua. There is a deep well of peace to be experienced that transcends the outward impact of the place. It reminds me of ancient temples I have visited in India where worshippers still gather.
There is a ‘Peace that passes understanding’ that some fortunate people have experienced on this earth. We struggle with the ups and downs of life: money, work, love, transportation, family and everything that happens in a day. On a deeper level, we also struggle with what happens between our ears: our hopes and fears, our passions, our memories, all the complex feelings that flow within us. Its interesting to go deeper and try to get a sense of the one who experiences all of this. those who have traveled this inner journey, whether by long discipline or by a flash of inspiration, tend to agree that it cannot be described by the conscious mind.
Maybe there IS no individual experiencer, but rather an illusion of separateness. Maybe there is one indivisible knower which can only know itself through an individual but not AS an individual. This would explain the mystery of love. Deep within ourselves we glimpse a sense of our oneness with everything that is ‘other’.
Here’s a glimpse: I sat on an ancient mountainside above a temple in South India. For an instant all around me and all my feelings and memories seemed a dream. From the centre of my being came a sense of light and laughter exploding outwards as if awakening from the dream. One still, dark night I stood on a rooftop gazing at the stars. For a moment I felt love of the space, as if the stars were unreal….only existing i th
Simonsblog 