And it was there, on the expansive Borders Books balcony, that I rediscovered (and was re-inspired by) the brilliant & phenomenally funny cartoon strip “Calvin & Hobbes” (written & illustrated by Bill Watterson) … “People are so busy watching out for what’s just ahead of them that we they don’t take time to enjoy where […]
nd it was here as well that I became inspired by the life & words of Jiddu Krishnamurti … “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society … I have touched compassion which heals all sorrow and suffering; it is not for myself, but for the world. … […]
As time went by, word got out into the Kailua-Kona community that a “happy homeless guy” was essentially living in Borders bookstore, and hundreds of people – tourists and locals; one-timers & regulars – began stopping by to visit with me from time to time. I pretty quickly found “my spot” at this particular table […]
And thus it can come as no great surprise that it was in this particular year of bold humility that I began to attain a large measure of my currently-known Clarity with regards to both the principle of Radical Kindness & the route of the Selfless Way … “A kind of light spread out from […]
Seeing as how I was essentially living in a large bookstore, time not spent writing or conversing was spent reading. And it was sometime this year when I became re-acquainted with – and more deeply comprehending of – the words of Lao Tsu (purported author of the Tao Te Ching) … “A good traveler has […]
And it was also during this time that I delved more deeply into – and began to understand the deeper implications of – the words of Gautama Buddha (especially his early work, The Dhammapada) … “However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not […]
And for me most importantly of all, it was during the early months of this year when I became fully inspired by Jesus Christ, specifically his teachings as found in the Bible’s New Testament (the NRSV translation — which I read & re-read dozens of times while “residing” in that bookstore). In truth what a […]
And it was in late February of this year that my brother canme to visit me in the bookstore, and invited me to head out with him that afternoon to swim near a pod of dolphins (we could hear them, though we never saw them) in Kealakekua Bay … “The happiness of the bee and […]
Later that year I took a drive around the Big Island with a dear Friend and soaked up the stark beauty of Punaluu Beach (the “Black Sands Beach”) … “The ranks of the stars move in progression, the sun and the moon shine in turn, the four seasons succeed each other in good order, the […]
We thereafter made it to Volcanoes National Park during the same island-round tour and become intimately aware of the fact that the Big Island itself is quite literally alive … “If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom?” ~ Kahlil Gibran
And this was the year when I started frequenting The Coffee Shack (a gorgeous little roadside shop located about 14 miles south of Kailua-Kona) — as far as I knew at the time, the best breakfast spot on the Big Island … “I knew the wild riders and the vacant land were about to vanish […]
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