Travel is spiritual practice

I once talked to a friend about traveling. My friend said: "I haven't seen that you haven't been to many places. There are only a handful of places in China, and you can't go to Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan or abroad. How dare you talk about the wonderful topic of travel so easily?" Yes, think about it carefully. , do the math, I really haven’t been to many places, because I only have the opportunity to go to distant places when I’m on vacation. There are many places, most of which happen to be there because of study, work or visiting friends. Many of them just passed by and took a look around, or accepted the invitation to take a look around. Although they were very happy, they didn't go there seriously, only a few times.

In my own concept, tourism is tourism and travel is travel. The two are completely different, just like taking pictures is taking pictures and photography is photography.

If a person rushes to another place simply because he is bored in order to find something that can fill the emptiness in his heart, that is tourism; if a person simply wants to make himself look Possessing poetry and distant places, taking beautiful photos, and then uploading them to social media to gain likes and attention, that is travel; if a person simply feels like others say, "Come on a trip that you just want to go on," that is travel. How chic! How cool!” and then just ignore it and walk away, that’s travel; if a person doesn’t think about or plan the trip from beginning to end, he just stares at the check-in. Internet celebrity attractions, you have to take photos of them and show them off, without considering the time allocation, route planning and situation assumptions, and even lead to all kinds of disappointing mistakes, that is tourism. This kind of travel can also make him feel happy, but it basically won't last long. It's just a flash in the pan, fleeting; it's just the microwave of life, as quick as before. If he claims that he can always be immersed in that happiness, or that it comes from the heart, then he is either lying to himself, or he is not aware of it (not realizing it is also a kind of happiness, but the moment he realizes it, he may pause. Feeling sad). This kind of travel is just the walking of legs and the wandering of body.

The real journey is the walking of the soul and the release of the soul. If a person plans to travel, either because he has suffered from the troubles and pains of life, or because he has gained success and joy in life, or because he wants to find and feel the meaning of life, or because of other reasons, then he would like to travel. Go to another place, relax yourself, light up yourself, and sublimate yourself. All the reasons, I personally attribute them to three mental states: darkness, sunshine, and chaos. Darkness needs to be released to make itself more bright; sunshine needs to be released to make itself more dazzling; chaos needs to be released to make itself more clear. No matter what state of mind a person has, if he wants to travel, he just wants to temporarily break away from the original social environment and be in a strange environment. Temporarily stripping away the original social attributes, you can reveal more of the natural attributes of people; temporarily removing the various fetters and masks of life, you can focus more on your true self.

I have a friend who once traveled, either with a group or alone. He spent some time to choose a place he wanted to go, planned the time and route, prepared the necessary items, imagined possible situations, and put on clothes that he liked and were comfortable. He felt good. . He took off the fetters, or masks, of life. His journey begins from the moment he steps out of his home.

He walked through familiar or unfamiliar streets, filled with fireworks and busy traffic; if he felt it was too noisy, he would put on noise-canceling headphones and listen to his favorite music. He got on the train speeding through the countryside and looked out the window at the rapidly passing vegetation and mountains and rivers; if he felt tired, he would close his eyes and take a nap. He takes a plane soaring in the sky and appreciates the rare world above the clouds; if he feels it is extraordinary and beautiful, he creates images or records them. After arriving at his destination, he checked into a clean and comfortable hotel that he had booked in advance, packed his luggage, and then went out.

He looked at the foreign mountains and rivers and the creation of heaven and earth, and felt that even though he was a small self, deep down in his heart he felt an indescribable joy and even shock; he felt the foreign human feelings, which were different. His homeland is full of interesting things, and he never forgets to leave. He tastes exotic delicacies and satisfies his appetite, feasting on delicacies on jade plates and street snacks.

His mind was walking, meeting and passing by other tourists and traffickers. While looking at the scenery, you inadvertently become the scenery for others. Sometimes he would sit alone on a stone bench by the lake, facing the cool wind blowing from the lake, listening to soft music, and watching the warm sunlight falling on the lake, creating golden light waves, like a child blinking happily. Like an elf; he sometimes stops on the stone path halfway up the mountain, listening to the whisper of the wind, letting his hair become messy, looking back at the distant sky behind him, where clusters of thick white clouds slowly flow further into the distance. ; Sometimes he was walking in the quiet forest, and saw the sunlight shining through the dense leaves, shining directly on the dark grass, like golden bridges connecting the earth and the sky. Suddenly, there were a group of birds singing, but their wings were not flapping. , but twinkling, rhythmically producing the wonderful sounds of nature.

His soul was walking and completely released.

At this time, he has no human social attributes, but only human natural attributes. He has perfectly integrated into nature and returned to nature. At this time, he has no worldly fetters, only his true self, infinitely feeling and enjoying life. Live life.

The journey home was as peaceful and beautiful as when he came, even more beautiful, because his soul had the best release. After the trip, he returned to his original location and looked no different. But if you look into his eyes, you will find bright stars. Because his mind is different. He threw away the mask, and even though he was bound again, he was so calm.

The real journey lies in releasing the soul.