La Vida ha sido generosa desde marzo y, en Salvador de Bahía, me ha regalado tres señales de que todo va bien y voy por buen rumbo. Desde que leía novelas de Jorge Amado en mi época colegial en San José, quise venir a conocer Salvador de Bahía. Disfruté, sobre todo, las aventuras de los … Continue reading Tres señales en Salvador de Bahía
I am thankful when I find time to read to nurture my inner life. This semester, for sundry reasons, I have been engulfed in academic, political, and intellectual matters. It has been difficult to find time to read for nourishing the heart and cultivating the inner life that sustains all other vital affairs. I have … Continue reading Wagamese: Fortitude, Love and Longing
It is a cold, rainy morning in New York City. I have been drinking my café from Tarrazú and reading quietly. Gratitude and a tranquil joy have pervaded my days, recently, and today I am in that vibe. At dawn, I decided to return to a short, poetic reflection from Richard Wagamese's Embers that has … Continue reading Wagamese: Mountains, Prairie, Ocean
A new friend has arrived to enrich my life. Richard Wagamese is speaking to me from the pages of his Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations, a poetic photobook of vital philosophy. I have welcomed his arrival at La Libélula, a sacred land in Tárcoles, Puntarenas--sacred to me, at least, and to the animate beings that are … Continue reading Wagamese: Light
Hoy reinicié la lectura de la colección de poemas en prosa, Regalo de amante, de Rabindranath Tagore. Evocan al Cantar de los Cantares de la poesía hebrea. El tercer poema me hizo salir a mi jardín, acá en San José, a admirar y fotografiar el arbusto (nombre científico por identificar) que ha dado fruto. Transcribo … Continue reading Tagore: El jardín
Primavera arrived this week with her sun-golden hair, azure eyes, and fragrance of flowering cherries. She lit my heart. Today, however, she has withdrawn, hiding her countenance behind the overcast sky, shedding cold rain-tears, and silencing her voice of robin-songs as the wind howls the tale of enduring winter. I took a walk in the … Continue reading Shelley: If Winter Comes?
We welcomed the New Year on the shores of the Bosphorus. The fireworks' explosion of color and sound startled the flocks of seagulls that flew overhead. The late night fog swept in from the water into the land, enveloping the people's happiness, and ours, as if in a veil of mystic rapture. That was one … Continue reading Rumi: A Stringed Instrument
Istanbul thrives on its engagement with the Bosphorus, the natural strait that joins the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It is an intensely used waterway, both for the navigation of cargo ships and for public transportation. Istanbullus, the city's residents, travel by boat between various neighborhoods on the European and Asian shores of … Continue reading Navigating the Bosphorus with Orhan Pamuk
Hoy me desperté de madrugada y me quedé dando vueltas en la cama, entre el sueño y el ensueño. En vez de azuzar el avispero de la mente y sumirme en la pensadera, esta vez recordé una imagen de reflejos en las aguas de Prospect Lake que vi durante una caminata reciente. Al contemplarla en … Continue reading Reflejos de otoño
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
