Attitude

Ingrid Jonker

The body in the sea

by tonymac04

In the early hours of the morning of 19 July 1965 a lovely young woman walked into the sea at Three Anchor Bay, Cape Town, and drowned. Her lifeless body was found by the police in about three feet of water at about 7.30 that morning. And so ended the life of one of South Africa's most promising young writers, a poet of great power and originality, a voice of honesty and openness, a person with a great love of life and the life of words.

Ingrid Jonker, the young poet who died so tragically, has since become an icon in South Africa, especially among young people who love literature, and has achieved in death a fame far beyond what she had experienced, or, perhaps, even hoped for, in life.

She was an Afrikaner, the daughter of a Nationalist Party Member of Parliament, and yet was honoured by the Government of a free and democratic South Africa for "her excellent contribution to literature and a commitment to the struggle for human rights and democracy in South Africa."

Even before the advent of democracy in South Africa, the then President of the African National Congress, the late O.R. Tambo, in a 1987 speech in Harare, Zimbabwe, had this to say about her: "By her death, she joined herself to the children of our country about whom she had written. Her tragic passing was as powerful an indictment of the apartheid system as were these verses which she has left us."

And when Nelson Mandela, on 24 May 1994, opened the first democratic parliament in South Africa as the first democratically elected Black president of the country he quoted her poem "Die kind wat dood geskiet is deur soldate byNyanga" (The child who was shot dead by soldiers at Nyanga) and said these words: “The time will come when our nation will honour the memory of those who gave us the right to assert with pride that we are South Africans, that we are Africans and citizens of the world. The certainties that come with age tell me that among these we shall find an Afrikaner woman… Her name is Ingrid Jonker.”

What If..

Vincent Van Gogh

Paulo Coelho

Philosophy Class

A professor stood before his philosophy class  on: November 21, 2012, 11:01

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes”. The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed The professor waited for the laughter to subside… “Now”, said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things… Your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions. Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.” “The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your home, your car.” “The sand is everything else… The small stuff.” If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house or fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities, the rest is just sand. One student asked, “What about the beer?” The professor responded, “No matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers.”

Books

Candy Chang: Before I die I want to...

 

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/candy_chang_before_i_die_i_want_to.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wealth

La Liebre Sabia

En el pasado, cuando Brahmadatta reinaba en Baranasi, el Bodhisatta [2] nació como una liebre y vivía en el bosque. A un lado de ese bosque estaba el pie de una montaña, en el otro lado había un río y en el otro lado había un poblado de frontera. También allí vivían sus tres amigos: un mono, un chacal y una nutria. Estos cuatro sabios vivían juntos, obtenían comida en sus respectivos lugares y por la tarde se reunían. La liebre sabia exhortaba a sus tres compañeros con una plática del Dhamma: “Hay que practicar generosidad, observar preceptos y realizar los actos de Uposatha”. [3] Ellos después aceptar su exhortación, se retiraban a sus propias moradas y allí residían. Así pasó el tiempo. Un día el Bodhisatta miró al cielo, vio la luna, comprendió “Mañana es el día de Uposatha” y le dijo a los otros tres: “Mañana es Uposatha, ustedes tres gentes deben observar los preceptos y en el día de Uposatha. Habiéndose establecido en los preceptos, el donativo dado produce gran fruto. Por lo tanto, si viene algún mendicante, deberían dar de su propia comida. Ellos aceptaron diciendo “muy bien” y se retiraron a sus lugares de residencia.

El día siguiente, temprano, la nutria pensando “buscaré comida” salió y fue a la orilla del río. Entonces, un cierto pescador había sacado siete pescados rojos. Después de ensartarlos en un junco, los trajo, hizo un hueco en la arena en la orilla del río, los enterró y continuó pescando río abajo. La nutria percibió el olor a pescado, cavó en la arena, los vio y los sacó. Tres veces anunció: “¿Quién es el dueño?” No viendo al dueño, mordió el extremo del junco con los pescados, los llevó y los guardó en su morada reflexionando en sus preceptos: “Los comeré en el momento apropiado”.
El chacal también salió de su lugar de residencia y buscando comida encontró en la cabaña de un cierto velador de campo dos estacas con carne, una iguana y una jarra de leche cuajada. Tres veces anunció: “¿Quién es el dueño?” No viendo al dueño, colocó en su cuello la cuerda para levantar la jarra de leche cuajada, mordió las dos estacas con carne y la iguana, llevó todo esto y lo guardó en su morada reflexionando en sus preceptos: “Lo comeré en el momento apropiado”.
El mono también salió de su lugar de residencia, entró en el monte, tomó una rama con mangos, la llevó y guardó en su morada reflexionando en sus preceptos: “Los comeré en el momento apropiado”.
El Bodhisatta acostado en su propia morada pensó: “Voy a salir a comer pasto en el momento apropiado. Si alguien viene a pedir, no es posible dar pasto. No tengo ni ajonjolí ni arroz ni nada que dar. Si alguien viene a pedirme, daré la carne de mi propio cuerpo”. En ese momento, por el poder de la virtud del Bodhisatta el trono de piedra de Sakka [4] mostró signo de calor. Sakka, investigando, vio la razón y pensó “investigaré al rey liebre”. Pero primero fue al lugar de residencia de la nutria bajo la apariencia de un brahmán. La nutria sabia dijo: “¿Brahmán, para qué vienes?” “Si puedo obtener algo de comida, observaré Uposatha”. La nutria dijo “muy bien, te daré mi comida” y conversando con él pronunció el primer verso:

Mis siete peces rojos, sacados del agua a tierra firme, esto, brahmán, yo tengo. Después de comerlos, vive en el bosque.

El brahmán dijo “después veré” y fue a ver al chacal. Cuando el chacal preguntó: “¿Para qué vienes?” El brahmán respondió lo mismo. El chacal dijo “muy bien, te daré” y conversando con el brahmán pronunció el segundo verso:

La cena de un cierto velador de campo yo traje, dos estacas de carne, una iguana y una jarra de leche cuajada. Esto, brahmán, yo tengo. Después de comerlos, vive en el bosque.

El brahmán dijo “después veré” y fue a ver al mono. Cuando el mono preguntó: “¿Para qué vienes?” El brahmán respondió lo mismo. El mono dijo “muy bien, te daré” y conversando con el brahmán pronunció el tercer verso:

Mango maduro, agua fresca y una deleitable sombra, esto, brahmán, yo tengo. Después de comerlos, vive en el bosque.

El brahmán dijo “después veré” y fue a ver a la libre sabia. Cuando la liebre preguntó: “¿Para qué vienes?” El brahmán respondió lo mismo. Habiéndolo escuchado, el Bodhisatta se llenó de regocijo y dijo: “Brahmán, haz hecho bien en venir a mi presencia para pedir comida. Hoy, yo daré algo que nunca di antes. Tú porque eres virtuoso no matarás. Va, brahmán, junta madera, prepara un fuego e infórmame. Yo renunciaré a mí mismo y me arrojaré en el medio del fuego. Cuando mi cuerpo este cocido, tú podrás comer mi carne y después observar el Dhamma de los ascetas”.
 

 Después de escuchar al Bodhisatta, Sakka preparó una pila de brasas usando sus poderes sobrenaturales y lo informó. El Bodhisatta se levantó de su lecho de hierbas y fue allí. “Si hay insectos en mi piel, que ellos no mueran”, sacudió su cuerpo tres veces y ofreciendo todo su cuerpo se lanzó y descendió en la pila de brasas regocijándose como un cisne real en un lago de lotos. Pero ese fuego no pudo quemar ni siquiera las meras puntas de los cabellos de la piel del Bodhisatta. Fue como entrar en una matriz de hielo. Entonces, se dirigió a Sakka: “Brahmán, el fuego que tú preparaste es muy frío. No pudo ni siquiera quemar las puntas de los cabellos de mi piel. ¿Qué es esto?”. “Liebre sabia, yo no soy un brahmán, soy Sakka. Vine para probarte”. El Bodhisatta pronunció el rugido del león: “Sakka, tú eres el primero. Pero si todo los habitantes del mundo fueran a probar mi generosidad, no encontrarían nunca en mí falta de disposición para dar”.

Entonces, Sakka dijo: “Liebre sabia, que tus virtudes se conozcan por un eón”. Y después de moler la montaña, tomó la esencia y dibujó la forma de la liebre en el disco de la luna. Tomó al Bodhisatta y lo acostó en un lecho de hierbas tiernas en el mismo lugar en ese monte, en ese bosque, y regresó al cielo. Y esos cuatro sabios, en armonía y en paz, observando los preceptos, practicando generosidad y realizando los actos de Uposatha, partieron de acuerdo con sus acciones.

El Maestro después de relatar este discurso del Dhamma reveló las verdades y mostró la conexión de la historia. Al final de las verdades, el dueño de casa donador de todos los requisitos se estableció en la fruición de la entrada en la corriente.

En esa ocasión la nutria era Ànanda, el chacal era Moggallàna, el mono era Sàriputta y la liebre sabia era yo mismo.

 

Roald Amundsen

By Linn Ryne

It is 87 years since Roald Amundsen, on December 14th 1911, stood victorious at the South Pole. He had reached a goal that was the dream of many men. For the first time, human voices broke the awesome silence of the world's southernmost point. 
The achievement was to bring fame to Amundsen and his men. But in a letter, describing his reactions at that time, Amundsen openly confessed that "no man has ever stood at the spot so diametrically opposed to the object of his real desires", which for the ambitious Norwegian was the North Pole. For Amundsen a new goal always beckoned. He himself described his life as a "constant journey towards the final destination." 
Amundsen was born in 1872 at Borge, near the town of Sarpsborg, in southeast Norway. From boyhood days his life was singularly purposeful. No nagging doubts troubled his firm resolution. He wished to be a polar explorer. He devoured all the literature he could acquire on polar exploration, particularly the ill-fated journey of the British explorer, Sir John Franklin, who with the "Erebus" and the "Terror" set out to find the Northwest Passage in 1845, and never returned. Like Fridjof Nansen, he devoted a great deal of time to training and strengthening his physique to make his body a perfect instrument for the hazardous adventures he was determined to undertake. However, he was a dutiful son, and bowed to his mother's wish that he study medicine. But at the age of 21, when both his parents had died, Roald Amundsen sold his medical textbooks, packed away the cranium he had studied and announced his intention of becoming a polar explorer. 

ANTARCTIC EXPERIENCE

From his painstaking study of polar exploration literature, Amundsen had learned that a common failing among polar explorers was their inability to captain a vessel. With his usual systematic approach Amundsen decided to study for his master's ticket, and in 1894 he went to sea aboard a sealing vessel. Three years later he was appointed first mate on board the "Belgica" on a Belgian-financed Antarctic expedition led by polar explorer Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery. The purpose of the voyage was to investigate the coast of Antarctica, but the expedition almost ended in disaster when the ship froze into the ice near Peter I's Island, as a result of the leader's inexperience in the polar regions. Thirteen months of anxious isolation followed before the "Belgica" finally shook off the last of the ice and entered open water. The preceding months had been arduous in the extreme. Virtually all the expedition members contracted scurvy and when the captain fell ill, Amundsen took over command. He quickly rose to the situation and put the crew to work catching seals and penguins and making warm clothes out of woollen blankets. The "Belgica" was under Amundsen's command when it finally broke out of the ice in March 1899, making the expedition the first--albeit highly involuntary--ever to stay the winter in the Antarctic. 
His captain's ticket now obtained Amundsen set about planning his own Arctic expedition, in search of the Northwest Passage, the believed sea route north of the North American continent, which many had attempted to find. He realized that to gain financial backing, the expedition must have a scientific goal. In Amundsen's opinion the magnetic north pole would be a suitable subject. He therefore left for Hamburg, where he studied earth magnetism, and at the same time laid meticulous plans for his expedition. 

THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE

The vessel Amundsen selected for the voyage was the "Gjøa" a 47 ton, 70 foot sloop which--loaded to the gunwales--set out from Christiania (now Oslo) in June 1903. The "Gjøa" crossed the North Atlantic, then hugged the west coast of Greenland before crossing to the northern end of Baffin Island. The voyage continued into Lancaster Sound where the "Gjøa" started to nose its way through the labyrinth of islands off Canada's northwest coast. Ice floes, violent winds, fog and shallow waters were constant hazards, but towards the end of the summer the expedition found a natural harbour on King William Island, northwest of Hudson Bay. Another advantage of the location was that it was so close to the magnetic north pole that precise scientific measurements could be made there. For two years the expedition remained at the port that the men named Gjøahavn. There they built observatories, equipping them with high precision instruments. The studies they undertook not only established the position of the magnetic north pole,but also included observations of such precision that they provided experts on polar magnetism with sufficient work to last them for 20 years. Amundsen also learned from the Eskimos how to drive dog teams. He carefully observed the clothes the Eskimos wore, the food they ate and their customs, storing it all in his retentive memory for later use in polar regions. In August 1905, the scientific work was completed and the "Gjøa" resumed its westerly course through fog and drift ice. So shallow was the channel that at one point the vessel had only one inch of water beneath its keel. As the "Gjøa" moved slowly along its perilous course, Amundsen and his crew realized that they would soon be in waters that were known and charted by navigators moving eastwards from Alaska. Should no further problems arise they would have completed the final stage of their journey through the Northwest Passage. After three weeks of mounting tension and excitement the expedition sighted a whaling ship out of San Francisco. The "Gjøa" had successfully navigated the Northwest Passage, the first vessel to do so. But shortly after this it froze into the ice, where it remained all winter. 
Anxious to tell the world of the expedition's achievement, Amundsen and an American companion set off in October with dog teams, travelling almost 500 miles across the ice to Eagle City in Alaska, where there was a telegraph connection with the outside world. This, his first long trip with dogs took him across 2,700 m high mountains, but on December 5, he reached Eagle City, and the news of his feat was transmitted to the world. 

A CHANGE OF PLANS

Now a world-renowned explorer Amundsen held a series of lectures throughout the world to pay for the Northwest Passage expedition and to gather funds for the most daring project remaining in the Arctic--the conquest of the North Pole. His new-found fame rapidly brought him the necessary capital and he was soon laying plans to drift across the pole in a ship which was frozen into the ice. The ship had even been procured. Amundsen approached Fridtjof Nansen and asked to borrow the "Fram" in which Nansen and his crew had spent three years--1893-96--drifting with the ice from Siberia towards the North Pole. Nansen had himself had plans for the "Fram" but such was his generosity that he agreed to Amundsen's request. But Amundsen's plans were shattered when, in April 1909 came the news that American Robert Peary had reached the North Pole. In a lightning-fast reaction Amundsen simply reversed his plans, changing the destination of his expedition "just as swiftly as the news (of Peary's achievement) had sped through the cables," as he himself said. Preparations continued, but with the destination changed--to the South Pole. It was widely known that Englishman Robert Falcon Scott was working on his second attempt to reach the South Pole, and Amundsen--with his driving ambition to be first--resolved to get there before him. Not until the "Fram" reached Madeira, in the summer of 1910, did Amundsen make known to the world that he too was to make a bid for the Pole. A telegram relating the news reached Scott just as his expedition was leaving New Zealand. 
In January 1911, the "Fram" dropped anchor in the Bay of Whales. This Antarctic base had been carefully selected by Amundsen for its location, 60 miles closer to the Pole then Scott's base at Cape Evans. During February and March the men placed seven depots along the initial stretches of the route that was to be followed. Eminently practical, Amundsen had decided to mark the route with stockfish, which could subsequently serve as provisions. 
October 19 marked the start of the polar assault itself, when Amundsen set off with four companions, and four light sledges, each pulled by 13 dogs. The first stages of the journey were surprisingly easy. At times it was even possible to just let the dogs pull the sledges while the men held on to the traces and were drawn along in comfort. All this changed when the bottomless crevasses and endless ice ridges of the Axel Heiberg Glacier posed a formidable barrier, which taxed all the strength and courage of the well-trained men. But with this obstacle behind them, the five men made relatively easy progress across the final vast plateau to the South Pole itself. Excitement mounting, they approached the Pole point. Their natural fears that Scott might, after all, have beaten them to the goal were assuaged by confidence that their rapid progress would ensure them victory. And on December 14, the Pole point was reached. 
Amundsen's victory in the race for the South Pole had by no means satisfied his desire to reach new goals. On his return from Antarctica, he immediately put preparations in hand for a new expedition. The Arctic was still Amundsen's first love, and he aimed to explore its remaining unknown areas and to repeat Nansen's attempt to drift over the Pole. WWI delayed the execution of the plan, but in June 1918 the expedition left Norway. The "Fram" was no longer in a condition to use, so Amundsen designed his own ship, the "Maud," christening it--characteristically enough--not with champagne, but with a block of ice. 

DISAPPOINTMENT ON THE "MAUD"

The "Maud" expedition, loaded with apparatus for oceanographic meteorological and earth magnetism measurements, was the biggest and best equipped geophysical expedition ever to have embarked on polar exploration. But the project was to bring one disappointment after another. Sailing into the Arctic it froze into the coastal ice and lay helpless for the two first winters. It soon needed extensive repairs. These were carried out in Seattle where the "Maud" was equipped for more years in the ice. But in June of 1922 the ship again moved north, only to freeze fast by Wrangel Island, on the far northeast of the USSR. The ship moved with the ice onto the continental shelf off northeastern Siberia, where it remained for three years. The ambitious expedition had failed to attain its geographical goals, but the geophysical data which was compiled, largely by meteorologist/oceanographer Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, earned the ""Maud" expedition the reputation of being one of the most important research projects ever carried out in the Arctic. Something had been salvaged from the wreckage of disappointment. 

WINGS OVER THE POLE?

Amundsen had shown an early interest in aviation as an aid to polar research. On its last venture northwards the "Maud" had on board two small planes. One of these was intended for observation purposes, the other, a larger craft, for flying due north from Alaska. Both aircraft crashlanded fairly soon, though the pilots survived the accidents. The "Maud's" failure to achieve its primary goal had not inspired confidence in any air conquest of the North Pole. Amundsen met little interest in his attempts to gather funds for his latest endeavour--to be the first man to fly over the North Pole. 
Arriving in New York after an unsuccessful lecture tour, his spirits at a low ebb, Amundsen was contacted by an American hitherto unknown to him, Lincoln Ellsworth. To Amundsen's delight he proposed to finance the purchase of two flying boats and to cover some of the other expenses in return for taking part in the expedition. Amundsen procured pilots and mechanics for the two aircraft and on May 21 1925 the two planes took off from Spitsbergen headed for Alaska. But as early as the next morning one of the aircraft's petrol tanks sprang a leak, and the other had engine trouble. Both aircraft landed on the ice some 150 km from the Pole. Only one of them could be used after this. After the six men--using only hand tools--had hewn out a primitive runway, the pilot, Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, in a masterly exhibition of the art of flying, managed to take off with all six men on board. The aircraft was overloaded, but with its last drops of fuel managed to reach Nordaustlandet, an island in the Svalbard group, where the six men were plucked from the sea and brought back to Norway. 
Contrary to expectations, this most unsuccessful of all Amundsen's polar exploits caught the popular imagination of the whole world. Amundsen was again a hero and was accorded a rapturous welcome when he returned to Oslo. Amundsen described the reception as the happiest memory of his life. 

TRIUMPH--ON THE "NORGE"

Now convinced that aircraft were not yet suited to transpolar flights, Amundsen thought that it might be possible to fly from continent to continent in an airship. In a surprisingly short space of time he procured funds for a new venture. On May 11 1926 the tireless explorer left Spitsbergen aboard the airship "Norge" (Norway). With him were Lincoln Ellsworth, Italian Umberto Nobile--who had constructed the vessel and flew it--and the brilliant pilot Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, who served as navigator. In addition there was a crew of 12. After a flight of only 16 hours, the jubilant men were able to drop the Norwegian, American and Italian flags over the North Pole. On 14 May the "Norge" landed at Teller in Alaska. The crew had covered 5,456 kilometres in 72 hours, and were the first men to have flown from Europe to America. The route of the "Norge" had been plotted right across unknown polar territory, and Amundsen was able to state that there were no land areas there. The last remaining blank on the world map had been filled in. 
The acclaim of the world reached new heights. In the USA and Japan in particular, his name was especially revered. But the period was saddened by an unfortunate enmity that had arisen between Amundsen and Umberto Nobile, who tried to detract from Amundsen's part in the "Norge" flight, while Amundsen criticized the airship. 
Nevertheless, he showed his magnanimity to the full when the news came in May, 1928 that Nobile's new airship, the "Italia" had crashed in the Arctic. 
Without hesitation Amundsen volunteered to take part in a rescue attempt, and in June he was one of six men who took off from the town of Tromsø in a French aircraft, the Latham. Nobile and his crew were rescued on 22 June. But three hours after Amundsen's plane took off it transmitted what were to be its final signals. The aircraft never returned. 

Ordinary People

Friedrich Nietzsche

Street Vendor

Picasso

En una oportunidad el célebre pintor Pablo Picasso, había sido invitado por otro colega, pero no conocido como el singular maestro, a fin de mostrarle alguna de sus obras.
Al hacer la visita, Picasso observó que las telas expuestas estaban muy bien logradas, pero que tenían una particularidad : En todas ellas aparecía una misma mujer. En una se la veía semidesnuda; en otra, vestida; en aquélla, de pie; en la de más acá, a caballo y así sucesivamente.
---Encuentro perfécta a cada una de sus obras-- dijo Picasso al pintor con toda franqueza--. Sólo quisiera hacerle una observación si Usted me lo permite.
---¡ Oh, por favor, hágala con toda libertad maestro!, es importante para mí aceptar una crítica, por severa que sea, sobre todo si es hecha por Ud, con buena intención.
--Bién, mi observación es ésta: ¿ Por qué se sirve Ud de la misma modelo, máxime cuando se trata de una modelo tan fea como ésta?, ¡ Fíjese que piernas de mujer! ¡Qué cabellos!, si se ve enseguida que es una persona vulgar.
En aquél momento se abrió la puerta del estudio y entró una dama, en la cual Picasso reconoció enseguida al original de la modelo.
Y el pintor, un tanto confuso le dijo al maestro:
--Permítame Ud que le presente a mi señora...

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi

 

Vivaldi ejerció como sacerdote apenas un año. Cuenta una crónica que «un día, mientras estaba diciendo misa, se le ocurrió un tema para una fuga; sin decir palabra, dejó el oficio religioso, se fue a la sacristía, anotó en papel de música su tema y, sin darle la menor importancia, volvió después a decir misa». Por esta ocurrencia fue denunciado a la Inquisición, que como castigo le privó del derecho a seguir celebrando misa, aunque afortunadamente para la música se le permitió seguir con su actividad musical.

Vivaldi fue director del Conservatorio de la Pietà de Venecia, una institución que en aquella época recogía a niñas huérfanas a las que Vivaldi enseñaba música. La relación con alguna de sus alumnas, en especial con Anna Giraud, que interpretó muchas de sus obras, motivó que circularan rumores sobre la relación de Vivaldi con alguna de sus alumnas.

Antonio Vivaldi fue un músico prolífico que escribió centenares de conciertos, aunque el también musico Igor Stranvinsky hizo famosa la frase de que Vivaldi no compuso 500 conciertos, sino 500 veces el mismo concierto.

Henry David Thoreau

Writing on such varied topics as Economy, Reading, Winter Animals, and Solitude, Thoreau spent just over two years in a cabin he built on the edge of Walden Pond on the property of Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was a place for him to find solitude while he wrote, but for his ever-questioning mind it was also an experiment in self-reliance and living close to nature. Thoreau did not assert that others should live the same way, for Walden is the definitive text on Thoreau's own philosophy of life, what he believed in and how he lived it. But many have now come to see the importance of what Thoreau did, and see the significance of his message; that man's spiritual quest to find harmony within himself should also reflect directly on his social, political, and cultural surroundings. In his Biographical Sketch to Thoreau's Excursions (1863) Emerson writes;

He was bred to no profession; he never married; he lived alone; he never went to church; he never voted; he refused to pay a tax to the State: he ate no flesh, he drank no wine, he never knew the use of tobacco; and, though a naturalist, he used neither trap nor gun. He chose, wisely, no doubt, for himself, to be the bachelor of thought and Nature. He had no talent for wealth, and knew how to be poor without the least hint of squalor or inelegance. ....Thoreau was sincerity itself ...

 

Jim Rohn

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington was born a slave in Franklin County, Virginia. His mother Jane was a cook for the plantation. He was biracial*, but he never knew his white father. He grew up in a small log cabin with a dirt floor. Each night a "pallet" was put on the floor for sleeping. Sometimes to feed her childen, Jane would take a chicken or eggs from the master's flock and cook them during the night.

His clothing was made of flax* which would prick the skin like needles until the shirt had been worn for about six weeks. Once his brother John offered to wear Booker's shirt until it was softer. His first pair of shoes had wooden soles and coarse leather tops.

One of his duties as a boy was carrying sacks of corn to the mill on the back of a horse. If a sack fell off, he might wait for hours for someone to come along and replace it on the horse's back.

One day the slaves were all called to the house of their owner, James Burroughs. A paper was read to them telling them they were now free. His step-father, who earlier had gone to West Virginia, sent a wagon to bring Booker and his family to their new home. The trip took about ten days.

After the move, his mother took a young orphan into the family. Now there were four children; James B., who was the new brother, Booker, John, and Amanda.

His step-father, who worked in the salt mines, got jobs for Booker and John in the salt mines. Sometimes they worked in the coal mines.

Mr. William Davis opened a school for colored children. Booker's parents permitted him to attend if he worked before and after school. He worked from 4:00 AM to 9:00 AM in the mines, then went to school half a day. After school he went back to the mines.

He said his first day at school was the happiest day of his life. When the teacher asked his name he said, "Booker". All the other children gave a first and last name, so Booker chose to take the name "Washington", his step-father's first name, as his second name. He later learned from his mother he did have a second name; Taliaferro. 

He soon had to drop out of school to work full time in the coal mine. However, his mother found him another job as a houseboy for the family of General Lewis Ruffner. General Ruffner's wife was very strict with Booker. Once he ran away and started working as a waiter for a steamboat captain, but he didn't know how to be a waiter and failed at the job. He returned to Mrs. Ruffner and she took him back. She arranged for him to get some schooling.

He proved his trustworthiness* to her by selling fruit and vegetables to the miners and carefully accounting for all the money he received. He found being honest always had its reward. He stayed with Mrs. Ruffner four years and came to regard her as one of the best friends he ever had.

He heard about the Hampton Institute in Virginia, a school for black boys and girls. He determined to go to the school. He got as far as Richmond and spent a few days there sleeping under a plank sidewalk at night and loading a ship during the day to earn money to buy food.

He arrived at Hampton Institute and the lady principal told him to sweep a room for her. He knew it was a test. He swept and dusted the room three times until not a speck of dirt remained. He was accepted into the school. He would work as the assistant janitor to pay for his room and board at the school.

His mother Jane died while he was at home for vacation during the summer. It was a very sad time for him.

Miss Nathalie Lord, one of his teachers at Hampton, gave him lessons in elocution* or public speaking. These lessons would prove vital to his success later on.

After graduation he returned to his hometown, Malden, and became a teacher at the first school he ever attended. In the day school he had a class of 80-90 students. He also taught night classes and two Sunday schools. He encouraged several of his students to attend Hampton Institute. He also sent his brother John and adopted brother James to the school.

General Armstrong, the principal at Hampton, invited Booker to return to the school as a teacher and a post-graduate student. He taught a night class for students who had to work during the day. He also taught a class of 75 Indian boys.

Mr. George Campbell, a prominent white man in Tuskegee, Alabama, wanted to start a school for black children in that town. General Armstrong recommended Booker for the position. The state legislature would give $2000 a year for the school. He started having classes in an old church and a run-down building. When it rained, one of the taller students would hold an umbrella over the teacher's head to keep him dry.

He was able to purchase farmland eventually totaling over 2,000 acres on which to build the school.

He married Fannie Smith and they had a daughter, Portia. Within the year Fannie passed away and did not get to see Portia grow up nor see the school succeed.

Tuskegee Institute 1916

All students at the school were required to work in addition to their academic* studies. They chopped trees, cleared land, made bricks, built furniture, and constructed buildings. Classes were started to teach trades and professions.

Booker T. and his son Davidson picking greens in the garden

Booker T. Washington was an eloquent speaker and used this skill for the benefit of Tuskegee Institute. The school continued to grow.

Booker married again. Olivia Davidson, assistant principal of the school, was his wife for four years and mother to two sons before she too passed away. Four years later he married Maggie Murray, a teacher at Tuskegee.

The Washington home in Tuskegee

In 1895 he was invited to give a speech at an Exposition in Atlanta. In it he urged blacks and whites to work together. Afterward Harvard University gave him an honorary degree.

Friends gave money for Booker and his wife to visit Europe where they had tea with Queen Victoria.

The school flourished. George Washington Carver came to teach agricultural* science. People of wealth took an interest in the education of blacks. Andrew Carnegie helped.

Booker T. Washington, more than any other black man of his time, helped to elevate his people through education.

Free Spirit

Zaratustra

Zaratustra fue el primer fundador de una religión en la historia. Él fue el primero en predicar el Monoteísmo. Él fue el primero en proclamar un mensaje para TODOS los mortales - un mensaje universal. Él fue el primero en predicar igualdad de todos sin tener en cuenta la raza, género, clase o nacionalidad. ¡En un momento cuando la humanidad apenas estaba fuera de la Edad de la Piedra, cuando la fuerza determinaba lo correcto, Zaratustra proclamó que un líder debe de elegirse a causa de su rectitud siendo por eso el primero en la historia, sembrando las semillas de la democracia!

Zaratustra proclamó haber recibido una visión de Dios, un Dios él llamó Mazda Ahura, el Dios Sabio. Su Dios es uno que quiere a toda su creación viviente y desea promover su frescura y preservarla. ¡Él quiere que los mortales lo ayuden activamente y trabajen como Sus colaboradores en esta tarea de promoción y preservación de Su "Buena Creación". Este "Mantran" fue así el primero en presentarnos hace unos 3700 años al concepto de "ecología!"

En los Gazas, el mensaje sublime de Zaratustra a la humanidad es tan simple que se contiene en un libro pequeño de 17 canciones llamado "Los Gazas de Zaratustra". La palabra "Gaza" quiere decir canciones o himnos. Aun asi este libro pequeño contiene muchas verdades profundas y únicas Para comprenderlos es importante entender ciertos conceptos Gazicos.

Success

Demóstenes

Cuando murió su padre. Demóstenes apenas era un niño y la herencia quedó en manos de sus tutores.

Al alcanzar la mayoría de edad, decidió llevarlos a juicio pero su escasa voz, su tartamudez y su incapacidad para la improvisación hicieron que el jurado no le prestara atención.

Demóstenes se afeitó la mitad de la cabeza para no caer en la tentación de volver a hablar ante el jurado hasta que no estuviera preparado.

Pasó un largo período de tiempo a orillas del mar, durante el cual se introducía guijarros en la boca para hacer sus ejercicios orales y superar su tartamudez, a la vez que hablaba en voz alta para que su discurso pudiera ser oído a pesar del murmullo de las olas.

Cuando lo consiguió, volvió a Atenas y reanudó el pleito. El jurado, convencido por su brillante discurso, le permitió recuperar una parte de su herencia.

End Game

Artic Heros

By Ross McGuiness - 9th December, 2011

‘Had we lived I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale.’

Next March marks the 100th anniversary of the death of British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, whose journal charts his attempt to reach the South Pole and return alive.

He perished with four of his expedition team two months after getting to the Pole – and having realised he had lost the race to his Norwegian adversary, Roald Amundsen.

‘The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected,’ wrote Scott after arriving there on January 17, 1912, when he was greeted with the Norwegian flag. ‘Great God! This is an awful place.’

Amundsen and his team of expert skiers had reached the Pole on December 14, 1911 – 100 years ago next week.

Their legacies are intertwined (the US research centre in Antarctica is called the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station), yet both have been maligned. Scott has been criticised by some who question his planning for the Terra Nova expedition.

Factfile: How Scott and Amundsen measured up

Amundsen is almost the forgotten man of the story, as it was largely retold through Scott’s  diary. The Norwegian has also been criticised for keeping his intentions from everyone until as late as possible.

He had aimed to conquer the North Pole but, on hearing that two Americans had claimed it already in separate voyages, he turned his attentions south. ‘I don’t think there was any other motive in Amundsen’s mind other than to be first and, when someone robbed him of one Pole, he cunningly switched without telling people to the other Pole,’ Britain’s own modern-day adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes told Metro.

Sir Ranulph said history in Antarctica started with Scott. ‘He got persuaded to go off into an area he knew nothing about,’ he added.

‘He had obviously thrown a few snowballs at his sisters in Plymouth but, as far as snow and ice knowledge was concerned, he knew nothing.’

For polar biographer Roland Huntford, Amundsen’s cunning was an admirable trait and Scott was incompetent in comparison. ‘The English view of heroism as exemplified by Scott is equated with suffering – if you don’t suffer, you’re not a hero,’ he said.

‘The Norwegian idea of a hero is the Homeric hero, the survivor, someone who survives by using ingenuity and cunning.’

In a controversial joint biography on Scott and Amundsen published in 1979, Huntford branded Scott a ‘bungler’. His position has not changed.

‘Scott’s adventures are glorified as a way of hiding his incompetence,’ he said. ‘He knew nothing about travelling on snow.

‘My view is, as Amundsen won the race, he’s the hero of the story. There was a necessity to sweep Amundsen’s victory under the carpet and glorify the dead hero.’

Huntford said Scott’s preferred method of travel across the ice, man-hauling, where the sledges were pulled by his team instead of dogs, cost him dearly.

Scott also used a route taken by Shackleton a few years before.

‘He was going over known territory but Amundsen was basically blazing a trail over completely unknown territory.

‘Scott was not exploring, he was simply covering ground.’ Sir Ranulph said Huntford’s book ‘assassinated Scott’s reputation’ and insisted Amundsen was ‘useless’ as an explorer.

‘An explorer discovers something, maps new territory, which is what Scott did,’ he said. ‘He not only mapped it but he surveyed it and he sketched it or photographed it.

‘He wanted to be first to the Pole but he didn’t want to do it in a rush and come back with nothing tangible other than having got there because he was a very inquisitive bloke.

‘His two expeditions down there, including when he died, produced far more scientific knowledge than all the other international polar expeditions of the first half of the 20th century, including the fact it was a continent, not floating islands.

‘The other guy, he didn’t explore: he raced. What did Amundsen produce? Nothing,’ said Sir Ranulph.

Kay Smith, curator of the museum of Cambridge University’s Scott Polar Research Institute, concluded: ‘The difference is Scott and his companions died on the way back. It creates an emotional story that resonates and, even though he didn’t make it, that’s what people remember.’

Guy Kawasaki

Friedrich Nietzsche

La anécdota es en la vida lo que el aforismo en el pensamiento: algo que interpretar. Empédocles y su volcán, ésta es una anécdota de pensador. Lo alto de las cimas y las cavernas, el laberinto; mediodía-medianoche; el elemento aéreo, alcioniano y también el elemento rarificado de lo subterráneo. A nosotros nos corresponde ir a los lugares más altos, a las horas extremas, donde viven y se alzan las verdades más elevadas, las más profundas. Los lugares del pensamiento son las zonas tropicales, frecuentadas por el hombre tropical. No las zonas templadas, ni el hombre moral, metódico o moderado".

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche nació en 1844 y murió en 1900, a los 55 años, completamente loco.

Nietzsche fue un hombre extraordinario. Estudió filología clásica en la Universidad de Bonn y, poco después, se familiarizó con la obra de Schopenhauer. Comenzó a dar clases en la Universidad de Basilea y, entre tanto, la Universidad de Leipzig le confirió el grado de doctor sin examen ni disertación, en mérito a la calidad de sus investigaciones.

Poco después de trasladarse a Basilea, Nietzsche renunció a la nacionalidad alemana y vivió la mayor parte de su vida sin una nacionalidad específica.

En 1879, cuando tenía 35 años, su salud comenzó a empeorar y se vio forzado a abandonar su puesto como profesor. Sufría momentos de debilidad generalizada, con pérdida de la vista que llegaban casi a la ceguera, fuertes migrañas y problemas estomacales.

Un año antes, había publicado uno de sus libros más famosos: Humano, demasiado humano, y se enamoró de Lou Andreas-Salomé, quien lo rechazó cuando Nietzsche le declaró su amor. Triste, despechado, se marchó a un lugar solitario donde en sólo 10 días escribió su libro más famoso: Así habló Zaratustra. Sin embargo, no se vendió muy bien. Para que podamos tener una idea de cómo eran la ventas de libros en aquél entonces, Nietzsche mandó imprimir 40 copias de libro, de las cuales no se vendieron ni la mitad.

A los 44 años, Nietzsche sufrió el colapso mental definitivo, con signos de psicosis que incluían ideas megalomaniacas. En una carta a su colega Bruckhardt, escribió:

«He tenido Caiphas puestos. Además, el año pasado fui crucificado por los doctores alemanes de una manera muy drástica. Wilhelm, Bismarck, y todos los antisemitas abolidos»

Burckhadrt mostró la carta que recibió de Nietzsche a Overbecky, quien fue por el escritor y lo internó en una clínica psiquiátrica de Basilea. Su madre, sin embargo, decidió que era mejor trasladarlo a una clínica de Jena, la cual estaba dirigida por el famosísimo Otto Binswanger.

En 1890, la madre de Nietzsche lo sacó de la clínica psiquiátrica y lo llevó a vivir consigo. El filósofo pasó casi diez años solo, meditando, murmurando palabras entre dientes y escribiendo frases incomprensibles hasta que, finalmente, el 25 de agosto de 1900 Nietzsche murió de neumonía.

El producto de su genio ha influido poderosamente el pensamiento moderno. Muchas veces incomprendido, idolatrado o relegado al rincón de los excéntricos, Nietzsche es, sin embargo, uno de los pensadores más importantes que ha producido la humanidad.

Just Believe

Robert F. scott

On the evening of October 12, 1910, Captain Robert F. Scott of the British Royal Navy arrived in Melbourne, Australia. It was one of his last stops before heading south to Antarctica, where he would lead an expedition trying to become the first to reach the South Pole. Awaiting Scott was a telegram from the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, simply stating: "Beg leave inform you proceeding Antarctic. Amundsen."

Roald Amundsen was already famous for having been the first to travel the Northwest Passage. In 1899, he had been to Antarctica with Adrien de Gerlache. In September of 1910, Amundsen was on his way to launch an expedition across the North Pole when he learned that the North Pole had already been reached. He secretly changed his destination to Antarctica. "If at that juncture I had made my intention public," he said, "it would only have given occasion for a lot of newspaper discussion, and possibly have ended in the project being stifled at its birth. Everything had to be got ready quietly and calmly." Thus he waited until October to notify Scott.
The opinion, among the British at least, was that Amundsen's secrecy was sneaky, if not outright dishonest. Nevertheless, Scott determined to proceed with his plans as if Amundsen's crew did not exist. After all, Scott's voyage had been in the works since 1907. In fact, Scott had been building to this trip since 1900, when he was appointed leader of the British National Antarctic Expedition. That expedition arrived at Hut Point, Ross Island in February of 1902 and included the discovery of King Edward VII Land, the Transantarctic Mountains, the Polar ice cap, the Dry Valleys, and the first emperor penguin rookeries off King Edward VII Land and at Cape Crozier. Furthermore, on this voyage, Scott, along with Ernest Shackleton and Dr. Edward Wilson, traveled farther south than anyone ever had. Several years later, Shackleton returned to beat this record, reaching as far south as 88°23'S -- about 97 miles from the Pole -- early in 1909.

On November 29, 1910, Scott set sail from New Zealand. Now it was his turn to finish what he had started -- a trek all the way to the bottom of the earth, the South Pole. Scott's ship, the Terra Nova, landed in Antarctica on January 4 and he established camp at Cape Evans on Ross Island. Amundsen's vessel, Fram, arrived ten days later. Amundsen set up camp on the Bay of Whales, in a location that allowed him to begin his trek 60 miles closer to the Pole than Scott, who had deemed the Bay of Whales too risky a location for a permanent camp. The bay was essentially an ice field and large chunks of it were known to break off and drift out to sea. Both teams began laying a series of depots that would allow them to restock their supplies as they made their way to the Pole. In April, winter set in. The sun would not rise again until August.

During his expedition in 1902, Scott had problems with his sledge dogs. For the trip to the Pole in 1911, he decided to supplement sled dogs with a team of Siberian-bred ponies. Fearing that the ponies would freeze to death, Scott could not launch his mission for the Pole until November -- late in the Antarctic spring. Scott's party of fourteen men departed on November 1. As they made their way south, the men slaughtered the ponies and cached their meat at depots for the return trip. On December 9, the last of the ponies was slaughtered. Two days later, two men led the dog team back to the camp at Cape Evans; the rest of the trip would require man-hauling. Prior to the journey, Scott had decided that when they reached 85°S, only eight men would continue on while the rest would return to the coast -- so on December 22nd, four more men headed back to Cape Evans. In early January of 1912, when they reached 87°35'S, Scott chose the men who would continue with him on the final leg of the expedition: Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates, and Edgar Evans.

As these five men approached the Pole, they grew excited, as they had not seen any sign of Amundsen's team. They had no way of knowing that Amundsen had already reached the Pole on December 14. The Norwegian, who began his trip almost two weeks earlier than Scott on October 20, had traveled light, with the support of only four men and 52 dogs. By the time Scott and his companions reached the South Pole, on January 17, Amundsen's team was nearly back at their camp on the Bay of Whales.

Meanwhile, Scott and his cohorts were greeted by a tent flying the Norwegian flag -- they realized they'd been beaten. Inside the tent was a note for Scott from Amundsen:

Dear Captain Scott -- As you probably are the first to reach this area after us, I will ask you to kindly forward this letter to [Norwegian] King Haakon VII. If you can use any of the articles left in the tent please do not hesitate to do so. The sledge left outside may be of use to you. With kind regards I wish you a safe return. Yours truly, Roald Amundsen.

Scott and his team remained there for several days, taking measurements and determining the exact location of the Pole.

The South Pole lies at the end of a plateau nearly 10,000 feet in elevation. As they returned to the coast, Scott and his crew had to climb down through the Transantarctic Mountains and also descend the large Beardmore Glacier. On the way down Beardmore Glacier, Evans fell into an ice crevasse and sustained a serious head injury. Already suffering from frostbite, Evans collapsed fifteen days later, on February 17. He died later that night in their tent.

Scott, Wilson, Bowers, and Oates continued down the glacier to sea level on the Barrier, the 400-mile stretch of sea ice that lay between them and their hut on Cape Evans. There, they expected a reprieve from the frigid temperatures they had experienced at higher altitudes. Instead, a long stretch of extraordinarily cold weather set in. By March 14, while Scott and his team braved temperatures as low as 43 degrees below zero, Amundsen was already safe in Tasmania. Oates, who had been struggling with frostbitten feet for weeks, took a turn for the worse. During a blizzard that kept the team holed up in their tent, Oates explained to his companions, "I am just going outside and may be some time." His companions tried to dissuade him, but Oates ignored them and never returned. Scott characterized it as a brave act of sacrifice; that Oates had given his life so that the expedition would not be held up on account of his injuries. Fifteen days later, Scott, Wilson, and Bowers died in their tent, 11 miles from a depot of food and fuel. Today, the questions remain: was the expedition's demise the fault of poor planning; should Scott have expected the weather that did them in?

Anarquistas

Buscando a Buda

Buda peregrinaba por el mundo para encontrarse con aquellos que se decían sus discípulos y hablarles acerca de la Verdad.

A su paso, la gente que creía en sus decires venía por cientos para escuchar su palabra, tocarlo o verlo, seguramente por única vez en sus vidas.

Cuatro monjes que se enteraron de que Buda estaría en la ciudad de Vaali, cargaron sus cosas en sus mulas y emprendieron el viaje que llevaría, si todo iba bien, varias semanas.

Uno de ellos conocía menos la ruta a Vaali y seguía a los otros en el camino.

Después de tres días de marcha, una gran tormenta los sorprendió. Los monjes apuraron el paso y llegaron al pueblo, donde buscaron refugio hasta que pasara la tormenta.

Pero el último no llegó al poblado y debió pedir refugio en casa de un pastor, en las afueras. El pastor le dio abrigo, techo y comida para pasar la noche.

A la mañana siguiente, cuando el monje estaba pronto para partir fue a despedirse del pastor. Al acercarse al corral,.vio que la tormenta había espantado las ovejas del pastor y que éste trataba de reunirlas.

El monje pensó que sus cofrades estarían dejando el pueblo y si no salía pronto, los demás se alejarían. Pero él no podía seguir su camino, dejando a su suerte al pastor que lo había cobijado. Por ello decidió quedarse con él hasta juntar el ganado.

Así pasaron tres días, tras los cuales se puso en camino a paso redoblado, para tratar de alcanzar a sus compañeros.

Siguiendo las huellas de los demás, paró en una granja a reponer su provisión de agua.

Una mujer le indicó dónde estaba el pozo y se disculpó por no ayudarlo, pero debía seguir con la cosecha... mientras el monje abrevaba sus mulas y cargaba sus odres con agua, la mujer le contó que tras la muerte de su marido, era difícil para ella y sus pequeños hijos llegar a recoger la cosecha antes de que se pudriera.

El hombre se dio cuenta de que la mujer nunca llegaría a recoger la cosecha a tiempo, pero también supo que si se quedaba, perdería el rastro y no podría estar en Vaali cuando Buda arribara a la ciudad.

Lo veré algunos días después, pensó, sabiendo que Buda se quedaría unas semanas en Vaali.

La cosecha llevó tres semanas y apenas terminó la tarea, el monje retomó su marcha...

En el camino, se enteró de que Buda ya no estaba en Vaali. Buda había partido hacia otro pueblo más al norte.

El monje cambió su rumbo y se dirigió hacia el nuevo poblado.

Podría haber llegado aunque más no fuera para verlo, pero en el camino tuvo que salvar a una pareja de ancianos que eran arrastrados corriente abajo y no hubieran podido escapar de una muerte segura. Sólo cuando los ancianos estuvieron recuperados, se animó a continuar su marcha sabiendo que Buda seguía su camino...

...Veinte años pasaron con el monje siguiendo el camino de Buda... y cada vez que se acercaba, algo sucedía que retrasaba su andar. Siempre alguien que necesitaba de él evitaba, sin saberlo, que el monje llegara a tiempo..Finalmente se enteró de que Buda había decidido ir a morir a su ciudad natal.

Esta vez, dijo para sí, es la última oportunidad. Si no quiero morirme sin haber visto a Buda, no puedo distraer mi camino. Nada es más importante ahora que ver a Buda antes de que muera. Ya habrá tiempo para ayudar a los demás, después.

Y con su última mula y sus pocas provisiones, retomó el camino.

La noche antes de llegar al pueblo, casi tropezó con un ciervo herido en medio del camino. Lo auxilió, le dio de beber y cubrió sus heridas con barro fresco. El ciervo boqueaba tratando de tragar el aire, que cada vez le faltaba más.

Alguien debería quedarse con él, pensó, para que yo pueda seguir mi camino.

Pero no había nadie a la vista.

Con mucha ternura acomodó al animal contra unas rocas para seguir su marcha, le dejó agua y comida al alcance del hocico y se levantó para irse.

Sólo llegó a hacer dos pasos, inmediatamente se dio cuenta que no podría presentarse ante Buda, sabiendo en lo profundo de su corazón que había dejado solo a un indefenso moribundo...

Así que descargó la mula y se quedó a cuidar al animalito. Durante toda la noche veló su sueño como si cuidara a un hijo. Le dio de beber en la boca y cambió paños sobre su frente.

Hacia el amanecer, el ciervo se había recuperado.

El monje se levantó, se sentó en un lugar apartado y lloró... Finalmente, había perdido también su última

oportunidad.

—Ya nunca podré encontrarte –dijo en voz alta.

—No sigas buscándome –le dijo una voz que venía desde sus espaldas— porque ya me has encontrado.

El monje giró y vio cómo el ciervo se llenaba de luz y tomaba la redondeada forma de Buda.