I have been biking to the piers at Sunset Park to read Siddhartha while facing the upper bay of the Hudson River's estuary. I knew that Siddhartha's encounter with the river would be the tale's most moving chapter for me. I wanted to prepare for it by contemplating, as I read, the ebb and flow … Continue reading Siddhartha by the River
Esta semana viajé a Irán. Fue sorpresivo, inesperado, a pesar de ser un viaje que he anhelado desde que vi el filme de Abbas Kiarostami, El viento nos llevará (Bad ma ra khahad bord, 1999), y conocí la poesía de Forough Farrojzad. La idea de hacerlo surgió en la estación del metro de Prospect Park, … Continue reading Viaje a Irán
As I discuss Ralph W. Emerson's Nature with my students, I have been pondering the rocks at the southeast point of Playa Colonia, in Costa Rica's Parque Nacional Marino Ballena. The central question Emerson poses in his seminal essay—the cornerstone of his philosophical vision—is: "To what end is Nature?" This is a question of final … Continue reading Sea-beaten Rocks
One of the great blessings of my peripathetic life has been learning from intimate personal contact with people from a wide range of cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. People of Jewish faith observe Yom Kippur today - the Day of Atonement, a holiday of spiritual self-examination that emphasizes bestowal and forgiveness at the outset … Continue reading Yom Kippur
El alacrán negro caminaba por el tronco seco que sirve de columna rústica en la terraza de La Libélula. Levantaba su cola y la enroscaba levemente. Llevaba sus tenazas de frente, listo para la lucha. Había venido a nuestra casita rural para refugiarse de la humedad del suelo en esta estación lluviosa. En vez de … Continue reading Cólotl Escorpio
Friend, our closeness is this: anywhere you put your foot, feel me in the firmness under you. --Rumi I have been blessed by friends as firm as the solid rock that supports the Crestones of Cerró Chirripo. I pray to be such a friend as well. (Photo: "Los Crestones, Parque Nacional Chirripo, Costa Rica" by … Continue reading Rumi: The Closeness of Friends
As I sat still and silent with my beating, beating heart, the wisdom poet Mark Nepo spoke to comfort me today. In the December 3 meditation from his Book of Awakening, entitled "Hospitality," he wrote: "Often the purpose of love is for others to guide us, without expectation or interference, as far as they can … Continue reading A Poet Speaks To Me About Love
Caminábamos por el barrio de Malabar Hill, en el sur de la península en Mumbai, en busca de los Jardines Colgantes (Hanging Gardens). Pero nos desorientamos y en vez de subir la cuesta, en medio de los bosques conservados por la comunidad Parsi, hacia los jardines, descendimos por la calle Babulnath hasta la playa Girgaon … Continue reading Nereida del Mar Arábigo
Al contemplar hoy el bellísimo palacio-mausoleo de mármol de la reina Taj, recordé estos versos de Octavio Paz en Ladera Este, el poemario que escribió sobre la India, donde fue Embajador de México por muchos años: "estoy enamorado de este mundo ando a tientas en mí mismo extraviado pido entereza pido desprendimiento abrir los ojos" … Continue reading Abrir los ojos ante el Taj Mahal
The burning solar disk descended among aquamarine clouds on the horizon beyond the Nicoya Peninsula across the gulf. It painted an orange trail on the Pacific Ocean's light green waters. The mountains on the peninsula became violet under the late sunlight. We paused to enjoy the beauty of the moment. El disco incandescente del sol … Continue reading Care and Joy / Cuidar y gozar
Daniel G. Campos 