Peace And Tranquility For All

 

I made it to Sedona, the land of Red Rocks and Tourists. Sedona has changed a bit since the last time I was here about four or five years ago. Way more people, way more dust. Maybe my memories are tainted by time which always seems to highlight the good and soften the not-so-good memories.

The most popular place to boondock is down Forest Road 525, but that has tuned into a zoo. People are all crammed together in little cul-de-sacs, driving the road will shake every single bone in your body and let's not even mention the dust. Luckily for me, I had a friend (Thanks, Jon) who told me of another place for me to park the camper. The only problem with this spot is that there is a big hill filled with rocks that you have to climb to get to the good spots. I had to put the truck into 4-wheel drive to make it up the hill. I was the object of much admiration and amazement due to the fact that I got my 35 foot camper up that hill. Most of the other people up there were living in vans or cars. I had really great views, on the east side were the Red Rocks of Sedona and on the west side was a mountain range where I could see the funky town of Jerome nestled on the mountainside. I loved this place, it was quiet, the neighbors were pretty zen and every morning the hot air balloons would float over our heads. They were so low over us that you could hear the people in the balloons talking. I very seldom got to see the balloons because they would come around sunrise (I'm definitely not a morning person), but one day one of my neighbors starting yelling at me thru the window, telling me I had to get out because there were six of them floating right over head. I think he was tired of me missing them every day. I found, during my ten days in Sedona, I seemed to spend a lot of time sitting in a lawn chair thinking about Nothing or No-thing.

View to the East

View to the West

Me and a Neighbor

I did get out and about a few times though. In Sedona, there is a Stupa. A Stupa is a dome-shaped structure erected as a Buddhist Shrine. A lot of times they contain the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns, but I think this one was just filled with sheets of paper containing prayers. Buddhist tradition teaches that great benefit and auspicious blessings come from:

• walking clockwise around the Stupa at least three times while making personal wishes and prayers for the welfare of suffering beings and world situations

• dedicating the virtue of those prayers for the greater benefit of all

I decided to visit the Stupa on Election Day. As I made my way around the Stupa, I thought that we needed, now more than ever, prayers for America and the world we are now living in. I actually found a lot of peace walking around the Stupa and the surrounding Peace Garden.

The Stupa

Prayer Wheels

You have to end with a sunset