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In the first post of the Blog, I commented on the experience of walking, pointing out the practice or custom that we have developed as individuals and as a human species, and also as a tacit invitation to enjoy walking. Later, in another post, I transmitted ABOUT MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF CREATION, with the purpose of making known in a clear way, that walking -in a specific way- had led me to create plastic and literary works, a very real circumstance -according to my personal experience. In both posts I have defined experience as that which is conquered and which leaves a FOOTPRINT in our being; examples about those activities and participations that we have done in the past and that have left us a certain knowledge, because of those events lived.

Traducido al Español

In this post, I think it is necessary to clarify certain aspects about the use of the word WALKING and its derivations.

The word WALKING, has been used at all times and in all cultures, as a metaphor, allegory, comparison, figure, simile, and translation; apart from its natural and established synonyms of Advance, Circular, Glide, Go, Err, Go, Arrive, March, Move, Depart, Pass, Exit, Transit, Move, Jog, Wander, Come, Travel, being used in substitution of Going, Functioning, Movement, Orienting yourself, Directing yourself, Focusing, taking a certain Order, Guiding yourself, Driving yourself, Discipline yourself, Tending towards, Moving, and some more; In addition, other twinned words such as Path, Route, Way, Passage, and other translations, which gives it a great capacity for use as a metaphor for almost everything, with the implicit understanding that it does not mean that it is certainly found “walking” physically. The use of the word WALKING -its derivatives and desinences- unfolds spreading to the generality of the predominances of the human experience.

So far my comment on the word WALKING, by which I mean that we must always be aware of the meaning that we give it or that we are told, to better understand what it is trying to mean.

Up to there my comment on the word WALKING, with which I want to mean that we should always be aware of the meaning we give it or are told, to better understand what it is trying to mean.

Up to there my comment on the word WALK, with which I want to mean that we should always be aware of the meaning we give it or are told, to better understand what it is trying to mean.

Now, let’s return to the concept of experience. Some time ago, Julián Marías wrote an essay about the different ways in which human beings ignore their experience in order to carry out their different activities, aspects that I have always had in mind, since I read it in the early 70’s, during my last semester at the University; especially when I was -and I will continue to be- at a fork in the decision making process or choosing to “walk” on another path in life.

Now then, in the present post I try to become aware myself -and in this way to transmit it- that there are those 2 scenarios that Julián Marías mentioned, where the human being ignores his experience; one of them is the involuntary oblivion, that in a frequent, daily and unconscious way -and sometimes even consciously- forgets the experience he has had in all aspects. The other stage – infrequent – is the denial of experience and we practice it when we find ourselves conscious but upset, situations that are part of our existence and that we reflect in our behavior and attitude towards our social environment.

Both the forgetting and the denial of an experience can arise from a repression of the consciousness, a significant blockage in the consciousness, generated by external stimuli, alien to our will.

Ortega y Gasset expressed “…if our life consists of deciding what we are going to be, […] that our life is above all to meet the future. …] It is not the present or the past that we live first, no; life is an activity that is executed forward, and the present or the past is discovered later, in relation to that future”. Existence is a concatenated series of decisions; and much of what we decide to achieve and attain that future of life is based on our experience gained in the past. The present feeds on the experiences of the past, to reach the future, in the past, we have acquired them, in the present we use them and evaluate them in the future reached; however, at certain moments we hesitate in taking actions and decisions, because sometimes we distrust them.

FORGETTING OUR EXPERIENCES

We said that sometimes we forget our experiences, why do we forget them and on what occasions?

Generally, they are unconscious acts that lead us to forget certain experiences because they provoke a nervous or emotional shock, a violent and unforeseen commotion that upsets or disturbs us, and even generates psychological depressions. The consciousness blocks the memory and causes us to forget everything that is related to that experience.

Usually, we place our own experience in confrontation (reasoning) with other knowledge and with the similar experiences of other people we know and have heard about. It is a continuous, cyclical and complex process. Even without that process of confrontation and reasoning, sometimes, if not mostly, we enter into controversy. I also mentioned Ortega y Gasset, relating to Kant: … experience is not only the pile of data transmitted by the senses, but it is a composite of observation and geometry; it is a grid built by pure reason. He succinctly defined experience as a mixture of sensitive observation and reasoning.

All this is related to the acquisition of experience during the opportune vital stages of the existence of any human being: during infancy, childhood, puberty, adolescence, etc. While we are alive, we are on the move, we are walking. (Future Post WALKING AND VITAL OPPORTUNITIES)

As an example of a vital experience -during adolescence- that the human being -man and woman- must carry out by himself/herself, and encouraged by the parents, is to leave the parental home at a certain age (Post THE WALK AND THE INSTINCT TO LEAVE THE PLACE OF ORIGIN); if we do not carry it out in a timely manner, we will surely have negative experiences for a long time, and this will reinforce our inclination to forget and deny our own experiences. One could explain this by way of a question: What correlation exists between these two aspects of experience and the footprints that our feet have left on the various paths decided and taken by ourselves; or, in the scenario of being kept in our father’s house? This locution should not be understood as meaning that we should abandon our loved ones.

If we continue to lengthen this process, we will experience unpleasant emotions, acquisition of negative habits, sufferings, anguish, misfortunes, and distress; however, as we know, we could come to determine an identity between a negative experience (feeling) and a correlation with a vital opportunity (Future Post WALKING AND VITAL OPPORTUNITIES), so we could transform those negative experiences into positive and nourishing ones.

I must point out that almost 100% of our actions are based on past experiences, so these 2 modes of action, although not numerous, can be significant in certain moments of our lives, on the whole stage of oblivion, so I would like to point out below certain relevant steps within the WALK-RWD system, of reading, writing and drawing, while we walk, which can help us in our performance (empirical) to have world, to achieve adequate learning and fruitful experiences.

They are somewhat complex to achieve. The first thing we must do -as I have already exposed in other occasions- is:

1. Take the first step preparing ourselves to “walk”;
2. Refuse to suffer or have any negative feeling;
3. Become aware and accept that we have certain negative feelings (experiences), identifying them by name;
4. Make each experience (feeling good or bad) correspond with a vital opportunity;
5. Listen to our unconscious, in any of its symbolic languages.

The 5 points should be carried out during the practice of the WALK-RWD system, since this will lead us to communication with ourselves.

DENIAL OF OUR EXPERIENCES

We also said that on other occasions, to a lesser extent, we deny our experience. On which occasions do we deny it, and why?

Generally we refer to negative life experiences, which are those that have greater significance in our lives.

It is unquestionable that we doubt our own experience and this leads us to carefully observe other perspectives similar to the experience of which we have uncertainty, suspicion, hesitation and insecurity.

This type of case arises in certain typical and unmistakable occasions and generally are conscious acts that lead the person to the denial of certain experiences that he or she has had in the past. It occurs when we detach ourselves from reality, or deny it, from that reality of our own, from that which has served for us as the source of our existence; it does not mean that we disconnect from life, but simply that we are invaded by a sense of disorder, of failure, of denying ourselves, and therefore we deny our own experiences, even if they have been positive. And not only do they deny themselves, but they drift away and get lost. This is related to mental and emotional health, and to the tranquility of every human being, man and woman, child, young, adult or old.

These are times when life feels like it’s coming to a halt. A resource that we can use to clarify our mind, our emotions and our thoughts, is to go for a walk, because as we have mentioned, to live is to march, to march is to walk forward, always to walk.

By walking we continue to live, we hold on to life.

In these cases we must put into practice the WALK-RWD system with the structured activities of reading, writing and drawing, while we walk, which as we have already demonstrated also in other spheres of human behavior, is going to help us in our (empirical) performance of having a world, of achieving adequate learning and fruitful experiences. And in a similar way we will have to carry out the same steps that we recommend for the stage of oblivion:

1. Take the first step by getting ready to “walk”;
2. Refuse to suffer or have any negative feelings;
3. Become aware and accept that we have certain negative feelings (experiences), identifying them by name;
4. Make each experience (feeling good or bad) correspond with a vital opportunity;
5. Listen to our unconscious, in any of its symbolic languages.

The 5 points should be carried out during the practice of the WALK-RWD system, since this will lead us to communication with ourselves.

These steps recommended both for the stage of unconscious forgetfulness and for that of conscious denial, will help us to listen to our interiority.

Each individual is the creator of his own experiences, and the process of bi-univocity that develops between the conscious and the unconscious, throughout life, is what places the being in the trajectory of all of them.

Therefore, all our experiences arise from the conjunction of these 2 functions, so they are all part of our personal and individual essence.

From now on, we must take each of our experiences more seriously, no matter how simple we consider it, because they are dialogues between the conscious and the unconscious, which enrich us by knowing – or trying to know – what is communicated between the two of them.

Many times it is not understandable why certain things happen to us; however, every experience, good or bad, is a product of those dialogues that develop in our deep interiority, between the conscious and the unconscious. (In the book “Evanescent Stories” (*) I present dialogues between the conscious and the unconscious in the mind of a writer). ) And I can assure you that they are more easily understood during our walks than if we struggle sitting on a couch or in a bed. There are several posts published where I refer to this type of benefits that the WALK-RWD system has to know our interiority, I will mention some of them:

1. Post PRESERVING AND AFFIRMING HEALTH, CREATIVITY AND TRANQUILITY
2. Post DIALOGUE WITH OURSELVES AS WE READ AND WALK
3. Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I.
4. Post DRAWING AND THRESHOLDISM, TO KNOW OUR INNER SELF
5. Post WHY AND WHAT TO DRAW FOR? THE GREAT BENEFITS WHILE WALK
6. Post DRAWING, TO KNOW BETTER OURSELVES
7. Post WHY AND WHAT TO WRITE FOR?
8. Post WALKING AND THE ELECTION OF LONELINESS. PART I
9. Post OTHER DEVICES TO READ AND WRITE, WHILE WE WALK

Should we really avoid FORGETTING and DENIALING certain experiences, or should we only become aware of that FORGOT or that DENIAL?

The character most interested in starting to walk is our unconscious, which is the one most favored. Let us not have the least doubt. He has the answer.

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As I already mentioned in Post THE WALK AND THE LACK OF TIME-PART I, I consider that the availability of time and its administration is fundamental for the realization of any activity. There are many authors who have analyzed the concepts of free time and leisure, throughout history, among the most important ones: Theodor W. Adorno, Louis Althusser, Tommaso Campanella, Jean-Marie Domenach, Joffre Dumazedier, Jean Fourastié, Georges Friedmann, Luis González Seara, France Govaerts, Johan Huizinga, Vladimir Ilich Ulianof Lenin, Herbert Marcuse, Karl Marx, Margaret Mead, Miro A. Mihovilovic, Wright Mills, Frederic Munné, Martin Neumeyer, German Prudensky, David Riesman, and 500 other thinkers

I believe that these two concepts, free time and leisure, should be studied together, since they are interdependent.

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We do not intend to propose recommendations of any kind for the achievement of an increase in free time or leisure, based on an increase in labor productivity, but exclusively to seek a motivation on how to use them through the WALK-RWD system, and according to the availability of both of them, outside the committed activities of each individual. That is, we will not focus on mentioning how to “build” them, but only on how they should be used to apply them in those activities that allow us to really enjoy ourselves and with real pleasure, free from social and work conditioning.

We must look for truly free activities that are independent of work, family and social schemes, as well as independent of the consumer industry, in order to organize, arrange and use these two times, free time and leisure time.

There have been dozens of definitions of these two concepts – free time and leisure – throughout history, depending on the era and the ideology itself, which bringing them into this space would be impracticable and not at all constructive, since one part of them makes them synonymous and another presents them differently and in cases even antagonistically, to mention only these dissonances. However, it is obligatory to start from their definitions that allow us to achieve these objectives of ordering, disposition and use.

Nor is it the purpose of this paper to clarify the confusion that has existed in the understanding of free time and leisure, however, we will start from the 2 definitions of both concepts, to try to be clear about what we intend about that motivation of how to use them in the WALK-RWD system.

There are differences between free time and leisure. Free time is that which human beings can dispose of outside of their work, family and social obligations, and which they are free to dispose of and use in the activities they wish and prefer. However, it is, in some way, conditioned by certain sectors of commitment. There is a direct relationship between free time and the needs, obligations and conditioning of all those sectors that compromise and overwhelm the human being. Seen as needs, we would have the following activities as part of these sectors: the physio-psychic-religious: sexual, nutrition, sleep, religion, etc.; the economic: work, transportation, domestic, etc.; the socio-cultural: friendships, recreation, holidays, games, sports, etc.; the family: paternity, maternity, education of children, holidays, etc. Notwithstanding this classification, the activities that would correspond to the free time sphere itself could be some of the same, selected in a freer way: fun, holidays, recreation, festivities, study, education of children, rest, outdoor walks, games, sports, etc.

Leisure is carried out within the availability of free time but that the human being carries it out with an absolute freedom to choose the activities that he prefers, that he likes, and that are not within those needs, obligations and conditionings, conscious or unconscious, of those sectors of commitment and overwhelming.

Free time is a concept of temporality and availability, a more quantitative than qualitative concept; while leisure is a concept of having full knowledge, both of taste and enjoyment, and of absolute consciousness of freedom, it is a more qualitative than quantitative concept. For this reason, in the exercise of leisure there is no rule, canon or norm that we can use in a universal way, because each individual must carry it out according to his desires and tastes, and always according to his sphere and intellectual torpor of freedom.

We could point out that doing nothing could fall into the basket of leisure, since that is what that person wants to do: do nothing.

Agreeing to what we have defined, according to my personal experience, we could assure that without free time there can be no leisure; it would be called otherwise, for example: idleness, work inactivity, indolence, unproductive activity, no work or unemployment, irresponsibility. The word leisure comes from the Latin licere, which means allowed, licit; in the same way, other languages use this Latin root to construct that word: in French loisir, in Portuguese lazer, in Catalan lleure (and oci), all those words have that root that expresses in itself their legitimacy as a right to enjoy that time of rest, recreation and fun.

In spite of their differences in quality, free time and leisure, they gravitate around three common practices: rest, fun and the development of the personality, which resound in a transcendental way, looking for the human being’s self-realization.

In order to transmit symbolically the suffocation of the present society, as for the availability and scarcity of the free time, I allow myself to present (infra) in the following pages, 3 plastic works of the series CHRONOPATHENIA, where we can observe clocks that are disconcerted and delirious for not being able to accompany with Mr. Time. They are exhibited in lightweight structures, with virtual assemblies, located where time has been passing with reluctance and ease. Their purpose is to highlight and confront the awareness of time used by human beings (the hours, the months, the years) by repeating these journeys through these places.

360-CHRONOPATHENIA III

There are many questions that come to mind on this subject of free time. Are the activities that are carried out in free time freely chosen? How much does the individual develop fully and freely in his free time? Does free time really allow the individual to free himself from the conditioning of society and from the alienation of work? Does the accurate and appropriate use of free time allow the individual to have access to culture? Does it allow him to develop personally in terms of his talents and qualities?

Leisure is considered one of the essential elements of human life, and the United Nations Organization places it in its Charter of Human Rights as one of its own, in Article 24: “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay”.

359-CHRONOPATHENIA II

Throughout the various theories, certain semantic confusions have arisen with respect to these two words, about leisure and free time, however, we will try to differentiate them if we consider it necessary.

Lenin expressed that Free Time is the time dedicated by the free worker to rest and perform activities outside his work to improve himself and with his relatives.

The Epicurean theory held that tranquility of the soul is a necessary state to achieve happiness (Ataraxia). It recommended rest of the body and soul, for recurring times, to find inner harmony and happiness.

Prudensky said that Free Time was that which was not dedicated to work but to rest and activities for intellectual and physical development.

Munné, in his book Psychosociology of Free Time (“Phycho-Sociologie du temps libre”), in order to clarify the concept of leisure and free time, goes back to the Greek and Roman positions. From the former, he investigates this Greek ideal: the skholé: “it was not a simple doing nothing, but its antithesis: a state of peace and creative contemplation – dedicated to ‘theoria’ – in which the spirit was immersed”; which meant that they should have time to enjoy for themselves, disconnected from work. Skholé, -which its etymology means to stop, to cease-, originally its daily use was to be unemployed, to have free time for oneself.

This position of skholé was not adopted by the Romans – with the exception of Zeno and his Stoicism (Future Post WALKING AND THE STOICS) – but that free time was defined in their otium, “as time for rest of the body and recreation of the spirit, necessary to rededicate oneself – once recovered – to work or public service”. According to Munné, he considers that the freedom of the individual, inside and outside working time, plays a determining role for the exercise of leisure (Posts EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY IN OTHER FIELDS and THE SYSTEM CAN BE INCORPORATED TO COMPANIES). “Leisure is time left over and free from work; that is, time that is not paid and therefore not sold to work, that belongs to the individual and in which he or she can act spontaneously through freedom of choice”. In accordance with this, if we analyze the question from the point of view of work, the time when the individual – man or woman – no longer goes to school, and making abstraction of the other daily activities, we can point out free time as that which the worker has since leaving his workplace, which he can use for any activity, and – in our case – specifically for walking.

Huizinga expresses in his book Homo Ludens: “Games serve as a recreation of work, as a kind of medicine, because they relax the soul and give it rest. But leisure seems to harbor pleasure, bliss and the joy of life. This joy, that is, this no longer tending towards something that one does not have, is telos: end of life. But not all men seek this enjoyment in the same things. And that joy is best when the man who enjoys it is the best and his endeavor is the noblest. It is clear, therefore, that in order to fill one’s free time, one must learn something and be formed [educated], but not with things that are learned by necessity of work, but by themselves. For this reason the ancestors have counted [including] music in the [paideia] – education, training, culture – as something that is not necessary or even useful, as is, for example, reading and writing, but that serves only to enjoy during leisure time.”

Let’s head towards our goal. It will certainly help us to discover our own world of walking, if we become more aware of the concept of free time and leisure as well. Free time is the time we look for, try to have, to carry out activities that are not compulsory (or imposed), or also, time dedicated to rest and distraction; and leisure is an essential and vital behavior of the human being, in which he feels a freedom to do or not to do, but it is not a synonym of laziness, negligence, indolence or disinterest, or to waste time. (Post WALK, DO NOT PROCRASTINE, DO IT NOW)

We must orient ourselves psychologically towards discovering and highlighting our free time. We often do this in correspondence with our leisure time. For both, freedom of decision and action, is the determining factor in achieving effectiveness. (Future Post A GOOD WALKING AND A GOOD BREAKFAST)

Regarding the category of time that we will deal with in this post, free time, there are various theories, from the sociological and psychological point of view that have been formulated around this concept. Basically, I am interested in highlighting its characteristics in relation to walking. But first we will present some definitions and clarifications about free time, in order not to get confused in the comments about these theories.

– Free time is the time available to develop leisure, distractions and spiritual activities such as art, religiosity, etc.

– Free Time is the time available to enjoy the surplus produced in productive activities, whether paid or unpaid, and to seek full development, either individually or collectively.

361-CHRONOPATHENIA IV

Leisure must be considered as the time that the individual allocates for his rest and relaxation, even if he chooses to develop certain activities but without an obligation, but prefers them for pleasure.

Perhaps it is the obligation that differentiates leisure from other activities that are carried out outside the committed and overwhelming sectors that we have pointed out, and which the individual is obliged to carry out: domestic work, religious activities, social and cultural life, care and education of family members, festivities, etc.

Leisure would thus be governed by freedom -full or not, conditioned or not- and the taste of a person to choose the development of any activity, and not feel obliged to carry it out.

Thus, leisure is a response of denial both to compulsory work (paid or not) and to those other committed activities, such as those we have pointed out: family, religious, civic, social, sports, educational, festive, etc.

For the individual, the practice of leisure is indispensable, within free time, because it allows him/her: a) To be himself/herself and to affirm him/herself; b) To develop an important part of his/her personality; c) To develop and expand his/her creative capacity; d) To compensate the imbalance generated by normal (daily) fatigue and that of total exhaustion, achieving physical and mental rest, by distracting him/herself through games, amusements, hobbies, walks, etc. In summary, LEISURE allows, provokes, forges, develops and affirms the individuality and character of the human being within the WALK-RWD system, practicing it in an integral way, reading, writing or drawing, while walking.

We have to be relatively careful about the way and use of both free time and leisure time, not to transform them into “temporary spaces” that are retracted into an alternative everyday life, because they can become something existential in our lives, as a compulsory action. I must insist that we must use our free time with a self-defined freedom, without conditionings, and that the activities we develop, within that time, are carried out with taste and passion (Post LOOKING FOR PASSION IN THE REALIZATION OF THINGS, WHILE WE WALK).

Regarding leisure time, we recommend in the same way, whether it is about activities to develop and improve the personality, to compensate the imbalance caused by fatigue, or to flourish and expand the creative capacity; we should always select those actions that we carry out with passion. Here again, we should be creative and not fall into repetition (forced and routine activities) which could generate – again, in its case – states of depression, which is nothing more than boredom or pathological boredom. [TAEDIUM VITAE: Boredom of life. Taedium vitae is usually the consequence of an inactive life without object, without meaning (V. Frankl)].

Now, what is our path to develop in order to freely dispose of our free time? Although it is true that the great majority of us feel that we do not have enough free time (Post THE WALK AND THE LACK OF TIME. PART I), we must analyze our position from the point of view of the mood and conditioning that we have every time we have the idea (disposition?) of walking.

As we have been able to understand, we find ourselves in a serious problem when we feel that we don’t have enough free time and in that way we justify not giving our organism a deserved comfort that it obtains through the WALK-RWD system, complementing walking with reading, writing and drawing, besides the great variety of other benefits that are obtained during its practice.

The WALK-RWD system requires free time and leisure; in other words, we can separate leisure from free time and give ourselves the minimum opportunity to practice the system, in an integrated way. Let us think that its application is a symptom for a necessary and compensatory rest of the efforts and physical and mental wear and tear made in a previous period, measuring the free time that we use immediately.

Let the walking with freedom be the first link that a modern human being can forge in today’s productive society, regardless of the structure of the society itself and the type of production of goods and services, in order to initiate a process of his own – mental and emotional – to be able to meet himself, by going back in time, as far as walking with freedom is concerned, as he did thousands of years ago (Post HOMO-ITER, MAN WALKER. PART II). To reach again a complete development and to transform oneself into a different human being with the incentive of being able to take the first steps to experience an evolution by one’s own decision (free or even self-conditioned but aware). The free time destined to activities that will open the way for him to be more authentic in the satisfaction of his true needs (Post HOMO-ITER, MAN WALKER. PART I).

Specifically I could point out what I have described about the practice of the WALK-RWD system, considering free time and leisure, in sequence of the following 3 steps:

1. ORGANIZATION of free time and leisure

– The 3 structured activities in the WALK-RWD system, Reading, Writing and Drawing, plus the others that can be enjoyed additionally (meditating, contemplating, abstracting, creating ideas, clearing the mind, being in solitude, concentration, relaxation, etc.), while walking, must be chosen freely and independently from social conditioning and the consumer industry.

– To define them according to our personal taste, that is to say, to point out and select those that we can develop when we walk, specifying to them taste and enjoyment, assignment of time of accomplishment, periodicity and inherent satisfactions.

– To order the selected activities according to our free time.

2. DISPOSITION of free time and leisure.

– Make a personal plan on the distribution and use of free time, so that you have a strategy for each activity selected (Recommendation I made in Post THE WALK AND THE LACK OF TIME. PART I).

– Define some parameters of feedback as well as real independence from social conditioning, for an evaluation of the efficiency of the process.

3. USE of free time and leisure.

– To review the plan on a daily basis to assess whether the activity or activities planned are truly free and independent of work, family and social patterns.

– To review whether our inclinations are conditioned by the consumer industry. Possible feedback of the designed plan.

– Application of the WALK-RWD system that will have been homologated to the real disposition of free time and programmed leisure.

This programmatic sequence of the WALK-RWD system will take us by the hand to fulfill the 3 functions of free time and leisure: a) rest, tranquility and energy replenishment; b) entertainment, fun and the elimination of boredom/unpleasantness; and c) the free manifestation of personality, its development and the self-realization of the being.

To conclude, I think it is necessary to comment something about leisure and free time at this time we are going through, in this year of 2021. Perhaps we can or should be more creative by taking actions with a greater awareness of “how” to use and manage the free time we have, allocating part of it to the activities that we like and satisfy us the most, to the real use of our leisure time.

An important part for time management in general will be presented in the future Post THE PROPER MANAGEMENT OF SLEEVE TIME (floating time) IN THE DECISION TO WALK.

Are we entering into a new practice of free time, a freedom to really practice authentic leisure? Are we initiating a social change that will modify the lifestyle, and therefore the personal and collective use of social time, that includes new patterns of free time and leisure?

Regardless of whether the process itself will lead to a new model of life in general, we will have to be creative in order to take advantage of this circumstance and “build” a new category of free time and leisure for each of us.

This new kind of freedom we are experiencing invites us to think about it. Let’s analyze the binomials of: freedom-leisure, leisure-conditioning, work-leisure, leisure-alienation, leisure-consumption, compulsory activities-leisure, and let’s free traditional leisure with a new paradigm of personal development. As we can see before this multitude of discernments (dilemmas), this analysis will not be easy within practice. However, we will start working on a post future to advance towards this task (Future Post FREEDOM, LEISURE AND FREE TIME, IN A NEW PARADIGM. PART III), especially aimed at the probable (dis)stimulation or promotion of the WALK-RWD system. Are we approaching living in a free society, or on the contrary, an alienated society?

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In a town in Las Huastecas, a region of Pre-Hispanic Mexico, at the beginning of the last century it had an alley among its “urban weft” that had enormous popularity throughout the Veracruz region because it had a double name.

It was a alley to walk, like any other, but with that characteristic that made it different, because from the moment he took the first step the passer-by felt somewhat involved and confused, precisely because of the names that the alley outlined.

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Don’t think that the person who entered it didn’t come out, or anything like that, but that everyone who walked along it came out satisfied with something they received during their walk along it. They were obliged – according to legend – to walk it in both directions. But one of them did not have the same effect as the other.

Their two titles insinuated something of what they would feel when walking along it; however, each individual – man or woman, child or old man – received different impacts on their person according to their personal experiences.

In order to be able to locate this alley, a novel fell into my hands and I transcribed one of its parts referring to the alley:

“In an early night looking for an inn that everybody had recommended to me, I came across an alley named ‘The novel’, it caught my attention and after asking once more how to orientate myself towards fancy food, I arrived at it and immediately asked for the special dish of the house which was ‘Estrujadas de chile color con camarones (Squeezed color chilli with shrimps)’. What a delight! The people who advised me on this place and this dish were right.

I was already tasting the shrimp and at one point, when the waiter was a bit relaxed, I asked him about that alley. He told me that a few decades ago a novel had been published that told of the tribulations of the priest of a village in the region and that some events seemed to have taken place there. He continued, almost without breathing, to explain to me that several neighboring villages had claimed to be the seat of that town, but as far as he knew it was never clear which one the author was referring to.

He added nothing more, as he went to customers (clients) that were demanding his service and that was all he told me at the time.

Two days later I met a couple who were wandering around in the alley area and I dared to ask them about that story and fortunately they knew it too. I was able to find out something else, for example that the real author of that book was not known either.

They told me that not far from that alley there was another one that had, curiously enough, two names. On one side you could read a plaque that said ‘Callejón de los Recuerdos (Alley of Memories) (Memories Alley)’ and if you approached it from the other end it had another one that said ‘Callejón de los Olvidos (Alley of Forgettings) (Alley of the forgotten)’. They told me:  “that if you walk down memory lane you start to evoke things that you have experienced and that you had erased from your memory; but if you approach it from the other side, which you reach via a small stone bridge, you forget all the bad things you have done. That is why people who believe in this legend recommend that you take your girlfriend or your wife to forget all the things you have done that she did not like.

I think he was trying to prove something in that alley and she was trying to make him remember some situation. I couldn’t see that.

The restlessness caught me, because the seed of curiosity was sown in me. From that moment on I was so interested in that story that I later returned to the inn to ask the waiter if it was possible to get that novel, the origin of the plaque. He could only add that the name had been given to it 8 or 9 years ago, and there was quite a celebration when it was placed”.

Before the name of “La novela” (The Novel), there were other names: “Un callejón más” (One more alley), which was probably given to change all those legends that no one wanted to cross; “La libertad de caminar” (The freedom to walk), probably to give security to the users. The interesting thing is that one day in March 2014 I made a trip to find it and finally I was able to find it. The proof is that you can still read its plaques hanging on the different walls with the different names it has taken.

Any alley can induce us to transpose some form of being and modify our walk through life. Let us look for our own alleys -with one name or with a double name- and go through them with the desire to find answers to our walk.

202. FOUR AT SUNSET

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I would like to introduce myself in this post by commenting on what I have conveyed in different ways about the reasons that led me to share this system. The main one was the importance of reading, writing and drawing while we walk, however, there are other reasons and one of them was the one that was spurring me on for years about what this walk produced when I read, wrote or drew. I felt that something new was being generated in my organism and more in the brain than in the rest of my body. There was a time when I solved the enigma by considering that the brain responded differently when I read or wrote, because ideas appeared in my mind that hardly came close to my SATORI (castalia, numen), when I was at rest. The intellectual capacity, imagination, memory and creativity are increased, and the potentialities to learn and process the data and information that we read and write are potentialized. The answer – I sensed – was that the brain was producing substances in greater proportions when carrying out these 4 activities, either simultaneously or separately, but always walking. I also commented – about 2 years ago – I just started to transmit these experiences, that “It’s difficult to scientifically demonstrate these possibilities that walking leads us to better levels of our mind. Nevertheless, the experience has been enough to consider it. Mental capacities increase when we walk, so it is advisable that we do the activities of reading and writing, plus drawing, during these walks. We must experience it ourselves and draw our own conclusions and also evaluate the results through these practices.”

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Now, I have been able to increase the field of visualization of the WALK component towards other spheres of research and I am more motivated because everything I sensed was much more incontrovertible and with a greater impact on other parts of our organism.

By keeping us walking in a recurrent way, just by doing this activity -without incorporating any other-, we promote that our body, generates by itself, certain substances in our organism that are fundamental for its proper functioning. We should not refuse to walk, but periodically do so throughout our lives, as this propels and nourishes all our vital systems and organs.

I have already commented on the production of organic substances in posts THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I, and something else in post (future) THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE. I have expressed the following: “The coordinated movement that is generated in the walk causes the brain to produce several substances (ENDOCRINE SYSTEM) such as Endorphins, Catecholamines, Adrenaline, Enzymes, Pheromones, Glycogen, Immunoglobin, Interferons, Lymphocytes, Myoglobin, Neurotrophins, etc., which in turn stimulate the development and full functioning of the neurons, considerably increasing the number of connections between them (synapses) and the functional areas of the brain itself”.

Regarding enzyme production, it will be presented especially in the future Post ENZYMES AND THE WALK, as well as the analysis and importance of tears in future Post WALKING AND TEARS.

Indeed, these are the endocrine substances of the brain plus others, which together number almost a hundred (see table below), and are fundamental to the operation of the remaining systems of the body. The great thing is that we manufacture them ourselves and supply them to their different destinations, according to their needs and the messages from the brain and each of the other systems and organs, in perfect coordination.

We have called them substances but in other specialized documents they are called fluids, liquids, hormones, glandular products, chemical mediators, etc., and they all have different densities, as some are thick, condensed, dense, heavy or viscous; others are sticky, pasty, greasy, solidified or concentrated; while still others are diluted, fluid, liquid or light. Regardless of their viscosity, all of them are indispensable for the functioning of our entire organism.

In general, they are substances of the protein type – although not all of them – which allow various types of neurons to function better and to increase their lifespan. Protein and other materials that are generated by our own body are transported by the blood and the cells (the glands) achieve the required transformation, to generate other substances in turn, to feed other systems and groups of cells (neurons) so that they develop properly and support them in staying alive. However, some substances produced by our glands are beneficial but some are also de-stimulating. The gland is a collection of cells that, through the tissue fluid, produces replacement substances using materials obtained from the blood and from there they pass into the tissue fluid itself. The glands are classified, according to their type of secretion, into endocrines which secrete the substances into the same tissue fluid or into the blood; and exocrines which secrete externally. They are also divided, according to their structure, into epithelials and lymphoids.

In short, the blood and lymph ducts (tissue fluid) carry the substances produced in all systems, organs and glands throughout the body.

It is certain that some glands, in addition to producing certain specific substances, also have the function of having a certain influence – stimulating or not – on other glands (and organs), that of assisting or discouraging, that of controlling or disrupting, either directly or by means of their own substances, by having direct contact with the other glands’ own hormones. The specific levels and effects are not known for certain. The fundamental cases are those of the Pineal, Thymus, Thyroid, Pituitary and Adrenal glands.

Physical exercise (WALKING) keeps the brain active.

Physical exercise (WALKING) and mental exercise (READING, WRITING AND DRAWING) stimulate the brain in an intense way that in turn produces positive impulses towards other parts of one’s own brain and other physiological systems of the body.

We have already commented that the core issue is not only the harmonic development of the brain, but the creation of new ways in its functioning, which involves the use of brain areas that have been left unused (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I); but they also impact the rest of the systems and organs of the whole human body.

The external environment generates stimuli that provoke actions and reactions in all orders of behavior and in the physical, mental and emotional functioning. Our reactions respond in a positive but also negative way. In other words, external stimuli generate in our organism the production of substances to activate certain physiological processes but also discourage the production of other chemical mediators.

We can affirm that through the system of walking and the development of the activities structured within it, it allows the stimulating and dis-stimulating generation of all these substances, according to the following schematic sequence. I want to make it clear that the dis stimulation (inhibition) is not a negative action, but also a “toning up” towards certain glands to balance some processes and counteract the effects of contraction (breathing, vasoconstrictor, cardiac pulse, etc.), discomfort due to some scratch or blow, bad footfall, or some emotional upset or disorder, etc.

As we said, an important part of the distribution of substances in the body is carried out through the circulation of blood (blood vascular system) and tissue fluid (lymphatic vascular system), along the systemic set of blood and tissue vessels, whose driving force is received from the heart by its contraction-dilation mechanism, as the main organ of the vascular system.

In general, the external environment has a determining influence, day by day, on our physical, mental and emotional responses and on the functioning of our whole body.

By incorporating the WALK-RWD system into our lives, as a necessary activity, we can ensure that our organic systems, both physical and mental, respond in a harmonious and balanced way. To better illustrate this way of incorporating it we must break with some behavioral processes that generate wrong responses in our organism, when it responds to our physiological needs, (Posts THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE HABITS, NEGATIVE HABITS AND HOW TO COMBAT THEM-GENERAL CASES, COMBATING SOME ENEMIES WITH THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM: OBESITY).

Human behavioral processes are chains of activities and negative habits are vicious circles that fortunately can be broken by incorporating the WALK-RWD system. “To eliminate a bad habit it is necessary to break with the respective chain in any of its activities; for which it will be necessary to look for the weakest and most accessible point or points to achieve a break with the chain of those activities, behaviors and needs”.

Let’s keep in mind that there is a very big variability in the generation of the organic type substances, because although all of them have their own process of production, regeneration and physiological administration, there are some that remain more stable than others, in terms of volume and quality. We mention them because all of them are supporting the good performance of the functioning of the different systems and organs, and in different ways they are interrelated.

Let’s talk about some substances. Of course, we will do so to better understand how each one is generated by a different gland or organ and also has totally different functions. We will do it in a very succinct way and each one of us will be able to investigate the one or the ones that we think we should know better because they may be related to some specific behavior, that we want to understand better or because we consider that they are not responding adequately in our organism.

The following paragraph is a quote from Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM STIMULATES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I, in which we talk about the convolutions of the brain, expressing: “In this whole period of walking, the brain seeks to ‘stabilize’ itself, giving instructions both to its own organic unit (brain gyros and neurotransmitters), and to other systems, glands and organs; […] and also other important parts of the brain (brain circles or neurotransmitters) which are vicariant and come into operation (new and different functions, not the traditional known ones) to reactivate and re-establish the parts that intervene in the search and achievement of a stabilization to be able to replace them. […]Catharsis can be improved by applying the WALK-RWD system by causing the brain to constantly seek to preserve and restore its balance – during the period of walking – by rebalancing itself mechanically, psychically and neurologically with the well-known propagation of nerve-neuronal impulses to the other functional (dormant or lethargic) areas of the brain itself (gyrating and neuro-mechanisms of the brain) and other organs, systems and glands of the whole organism”.

I have decided to quote this text for the sole purpose of underlining the brain’s convolutions which are linked to the Ridges and Furrows and which make up the cerebral cortex; Perhaps the grey and white substances, which make up these three brain elements, are one of the most important, and because these areas when stimulated by the Walk-RWD system, since as we specified in previous paragraphs – I repeat – “the central issue is not only the harmonious development of the brain, but the creation of new ways in its functioning, which involve the use of brain areas that have become unusable”. The practice of the walking system and the development of its structured activities (reading, writing and drawing), allows us to stimulate the production and regeneration of these two substances – grey and white – by the brain itself.

Of course, apart from the substances we are analyzing, the WALK-RWD system also stimulates the neuronal production of brain cells, but we detail this in a future post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE NEURONAL SELF-GENERATION OF THE BRAIN.

One more thing, the cerebellum, made up of both white and grey substances, also has the function of maintaining the body’s posture and balance. The cerebrospinal fluid is generated by the vascular epithelium (gland) and is located inside the ventricles of the brain and in the meningeal spaces of the medulla and the brain; it has a buffer function but mainly as a reconstituting, repairing and nourishing element for the neurons.

From this first group of substances produced in the brain itself, we can deduce that these are the main ones that promote the optimal functioning of the brain, and beyond. However, from this moment I would like to point out that there are probably other substances that directly impact on neurons and “sleeping” areas of the brain that we do not really know their impact or what they are. I mention this because I have had such experiences and perhaps in addition to this previous group, some others are involved in this task of stimulating and invigorating the mind.

Thyroxine or Thyroid Hormone: balances the metabolism and normal growth of the human being. It also works as a catalyst that increases the oxidation of the cells.

Deoxicorticosterone Acetate (Adrenal Glands, Adrenal Cortex): regulates fluid balance.

Cortisone (Adrenal Glands, Adrenal Cortex): regulates the metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Stimulates glycogen production. It also partly helps in stress management.

Dermcidin: it is a protein-based substance that is generated in the sweat glands located throughout the epidermal surface of the human body, and the generation of sweat is the means we use to distribute it over the skin. It is a natural broad-spectrum antibiotic that works as an antimicrobial on the skin, defending it from the attacks of certain bacteria and fighting epidermal infections.

Epinephrine or Adrenaline generates the so-called “emergency situations” or stress: it regulates emotional situations and creates favorable states that allow immediate emergency or stress situations to be dealt with.

Estrin or Follicle Hormone: regulates the changes generated in the menstrual cycle in women.

Progesterone or Progestin: stimulates and controls the uterus for egg implantation in a woman. Promotes the growth of her mammary glands.

Somatotropic Hormone (STH): Stimulates and regulates the growth of bones, muscles and viscera. It participates in the regulation of protein metabolism.

Aqueous humor and vitreous humor: they partly support the Crystalline and the Retina.

AdrenocorticTropic Hormone (ACTH): regulates the metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It also participates in the regulation of the absorption of some substances by the kidney.

Thyrotrophic Hormone (HTT): stimulates and regulates the metabolism and the Thyroid gland itself, in terms of maintaining its structure and secretory activity.

Parathyroid hormones (HPTT): regulates the metabolism in general.

Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH): stimulates and regulates the follicle, the maturation of the gland. Controls seminiferous secretion. Regulates sexual activity in general. It is responsible for the immune system.

Lactogenic Hormone (LH): Normalizes the activity of the secretory cells of the testicles and ovaries. It controls lactogenic secretion.

Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH): controls the absorption of water by the kidney. It regulates the water and electrolyte balance of the liquid volumes of the whole body.

Prolactin or Lactogenic Hormone (LH): Normalizes the activity of the secretory cells of the testicles and ovaries. It controls lactogenic secretion.

Adrenotropic Hormone (ATH): stimulates and regulates the activities of the Adrenal Glands

Anti-Hueretic Hormone regulates the absorption of water from the kidney; it maintains the water and electrolyte balance of the whole body.

Oxytocin or Oxytocic Hormone: controls and regulates the contractions of the uterus during childbirth.

Pituitary stimulates and regulates the movements of certain muscles in the body. It increases blood pressure and as a reflex it slows down the heart rate. It dilates the cerebral and renal vessels, it also contracts the pulmonary and coronary vessels.

Intermediate Hormone: restricts the evacuation or elimination of water.

As you can see in this reduced selection, the functions entrusted to the various glands and organs, with their respective substances, are sufficient to make us realize the importance they have in their organic and physiological participation, and essentially mental and cerebral.

I would like to point out that some of the substances that I have mentioned are produced by glands that I have dedicated a specific publication to them, because of the importance that I consider them to have within our WALK-RWD system; so we can refer to the corresponding (future) post, this with the aim of not being repetitive; namely

Pineal Gland, Post ANOTHER ENIGMA: WALKING, GENDER AND PINEAL GLAND

Thymo Gland, Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE THYMO GLAND.

Thyroid Gland, Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE THYROID GLAND

Pituitary Gland (hypophysis), Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE HYPOPHYSIS GLAND

Adrenal Glands, Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE ADRENAL GLANDS

Now, what happens with the WALK-RWD system in relation to the production and regeneration of organic substances.

The practice of the walking system and the development of its structured activities (reading, writing and drawing), allows us to stimulate the production and regeneration of these substances. As far as possible, we will be able to communicate and explain, in separate posts, about each of the substances that our own body produces and that have a close relationship with walking.

For now, what we have to do is to start walking and take a book and a notebook, to enjoy a magical journey, which will also put us in a healthy position, because our whole body will work to harmonize – as only he knows – all their organic systems.

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A strange title for this post, however, comes from the research I am carrying out to develop the essay that will be called “Dintornism in Literary Creation”. I have already commented on the concept of Dintornism which I defined in my book “Dintornism. A plastic-philosophical theory of reality”, in posts DRAWING, TO KNOW BETTER OURSELVES, DRAWING AND THRESHOLDISM, TO KNOW OUR INNER SELF, and DRAWING AS SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE.

Although it is a title that sounds philosophical and in a way it is, its overall conception also contains very concrete and practical aspects about walking and other topics, which as the blog and reflection have developed, I have been able to correlate with the WALK-RWD SYSTEM, such as Abstraction, Meditation, Concentration, Relaxation both physical and mental, Ecstasy, Contemplation, the Unconscious, Synchronicity, Archetypes that are intimately related to the theme of emptiness (in Sanskrit: Sunyata), which are an important part of the Indian philosophical-religious mentality.

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In this case it is a matter of identifying and valuing the concept of Emptiness with the WALK-RWD System of walking, reading, writing and drawing. And that it has a close relationship with our external senses, as I will explain later.

Emptiness as an Indian (Hindu) concept, is a path that we can use for a better awareness (application and use: utilization) of the WALK-RWD system.

Let us first try to understand this term from the conceptual point of view of Indian philosophy, in its origins.

The Upanishads texts -from the most remote centuries, 8th century b.C.- The Indian philosopher and monk Nagarjuna (2nd century A.D.) took up the concept of Emptiness and began to use it in a more profound way, affirming that the human being could awaken in such a way that he would be able to observe and understand the reality that surrounds us.

I must point out that the qualifier of empty, vacuous or vacuity does not represent trivial, futile or obtuse aspects, but it means one of the greatest conceptions that Hindu philosophy (Brahmnism, Buddhism and Jainism) has ever conceived and established. We are obviously not referring to that kind of emptiness that we experience and feel when, for example, we watch television, without seeing it, or when we listen to the radio, without hearing it; that we do not separate ourselves from those electronic devices – because we do not want to and cannot – for 1, 2 or more hours and without being attracted or interested in seeing and listening.

On the contrary, that power of observation – seeing, thinking and imagining – through the lens of the Sunyata (Emptiness), about all the things that surround us in an empty way, allowed the person an absolute awakening.

Master Nagarjuna suggested that in order to achieve this power of liberation and awakening it was indispensable to live a special way of life; to move and remain in a differentiated existence (in Sanskrit: Samsara) to the traditional one, and appropriate to the new way of observing the world (external and internal reality).

The Sunyata works by creating and allowing the observation of new worlds (external reality and internal reality) by allowing the unveiled enquiry (seeing, thinking and imagining) through meditation, creating different forms of thought, which will be empty elements to reach the absolute awakening.

To achieve this awakening, a path must be followed, the path of the Sunyata or Emptiness, an empty path, a path of detachment and munificence (generosity and altruism). It is a path that must be travelled and in which there are no exaggerated extremes, but which is sown with moderate demands and actions.

This moderation is the qualification that must be arranged so that actions under the guidelines of the Mahayana or Nagarjuna school of emptiness are at the midpoint of human behavior, centered within the extreme limits of the human condition.

Extreme actions are cancelled as a functional demand of the Sunyata, however, if for some reason the “sunyatins” (adepts) had – or have – to relate to exaggerated actions or ideas they can always cancel or avoid them by rejecting them. Nagarjuna’s School flourished precisely because it responded to this moderation in demands and condemned the obligatory nature of behavior in exaggerated extremes; hence it included the way of the Middle Path, or the Middle Centre or the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) in its philosophy.

The world is empty. Things are empty. Concepts, like words, are heard empty. These are the fundamental philosophical propositions of the Mahayana or school of Emptiness. What we present in this post is one more of the dozens of interpretations that have been sought on the stipulations and foundations of Nagarjuna’s school of thought of Emptiness, the Mahayana.

For our western conception to imagine that our existence is a void and that it is surrounded by empty things is quite confusing, however, we should not understand it as an absolute and unlimited vacuity; we would better understand it as a Metaphysical Emptiness.

For Nagarjuna this philosophy was a creative process that she used to achieve the Awakening.

This objective could be equated to a philosophical rebirth that involves the mental, the emotional and the spiritual.

In order to achieve this, it is essential to walk on an empty path, the path of emptiness. This goal is achieved through imagination and fantasy, and upon reaching this empty place, the awakening begins, which in turn, impacts our own imagination and fantasy because of how disturbing the concept of Emptiness is for us.

How and what is this path to Awakening?

How can we take the right path to Awakening and not make mistakes?

Emptiness (Sunyata) is the characteristic nature (proper and real) of all things, of all beings, of all existence. There is nothing that is not empty.

Nagarjuna’s instruction and teaching was a path that had to be travelled by rejecting extremes; that path had to be followed through the middle points, without touching the extreme limits of the human condition.

That walk along the middle way must be done with defined and precise (concrete) actions of the being, conditioned or not, voluntary or involuntary, generated by necessity, by desire or by instinct.

In order to be able to lead ourselves along this middle way, we must use meditation, leaning creatively on imagination and fantasy, avoiding falling into extremes (passions, hatred, greed, etc.) with the purpose of seeking to make Karma lose its capacity to reproduce itself, and thus be able to reach liberation from all suffering and from reincarnation, by achieving Nirvana.

Now, all those sensitive (the 5 senses) and thinking forms are empty, and it is precisely the realization and recognition of that Emptiness – awakening – that makes us walk through that empty reality – an apparent reality – and that only in this way can we remain in the sphere of Awakening.

In the WALK-RWD system, the precise, specific and delimited path that we define with our walk, by fixing our footprints on the floor of the path we choose, is unique and unrepeatable, because it is impossible to duplicate it, in the same way that Heraclitus explained in his conception of becoming: a person can never bathe twice in the same waters of a river, because they change and flow permanently. To paraphrase him we would say: a person can never make a journey twice in the same way on the same chosen path.

These are the traces of our journey, along a defined path.

I would like to mention a passage from Borges in one of his essay-reports, although it refers to a questioning of the Holy Scriptures (Borges would certainly deny this, and I add: with good reason). I wish to comment on it because I do believe that our steps (physical and in allegories) do describe some form of our feeling and thinking, not to mention our attitudes, and why not? also our future, since to walk, to advance, is to define “a path of the future” or meaning of life. Borges says: Those people thought that a Creation prescribed by the Holy Spirit was a categorical discourse […] That wonderful premise of an enigmatic book to chance […] Their apology is that nothing can be casual in the work of an Infinite Intelligence. And he comments that every theologian will always be willing to explain it. Borges prefers to give an example and that is precisely what I want to emphasize. He explains: The steps that a human being takes, from the day he is born until he dies, draw in time [and space] an inconceivable figure; and the Divine Intelligence perceives that figure immediately, like that of men a triangular figure. And he adds: This figure has its own motive and function in the construction and economy of the Universe.

I observe it more concretely: it is not necessarily a complex filigree, it is the first step of any day, the direction we take, the sense of our steps, … and of course, it has a personal purpose – encrypted – or a function in the economy of the universe, as Borges points out.

Using my theory of Dintornism, and making an analogy with a painting, we can say that the physical limits of the path we are travelling, which are on both sides of it, is the frame of the painting; what is represented in the painting plastically with lines, shapes, colors, etc. (conformation, configuration, organization), is equivalent to those traces of the route of our journey, throughout the whole of the journey. The interpretation that is achieved from the pictorial work is an equivalence referred to our path and walk (line and body expression).

We can walk as we please: forward, backward, zigzagging, slowly, hastily, etc., with the observation that these traces specifically mark a personal and unrepeatable route.

Our walk (the complete line made up of the traces) is conditioned to not leaving the path, just as the painting is done within the frame.

Here it is indispensable to mention something so that oriental thought on Emptiness can be clarified a little. When reference is made to the fact that all things are empty we must understand – as we have pointed out in our essay on Dintornism – that they are empty because we are directing (using) our senses towards formations (creations, structures, works) that we do not perceive. In the Dintornism system we have called these empty structures “Absence Ensemble”. We are directing our sight towards a space where we cannot see; we are wrong where we think we are going to observe something; simply what we suppose to be in a space absent to our sense of sight, is in another place; our vision is misdirected. We try to hear something where there is no sound; we are wrong to direct our ears to a point where we cannot hear anything; our sense is misdirected because the source of sound is elsewhere. And in both cases we can assure that there is an Absent Set, which allows us to become aware of the apparent reality and re-discover the true one.

Returning to our theme of walking, one difference between the functional principles of the Walk-RWD system and the philosophy of Emptiness is that the latter, through its path, leads the individual to a final place: Nirvana, where he attains freedom from suffering and reincarnation; and in the WALK-RWD system his achievements are obtained throughout his journey, from the beginning to the end; and when he reaches the end point, we have already achieved all the satisfactions and benefits that the Walk-RWD system grants and favors (Future posts THE IMPORTANT IS NOT TO REACH THE END and THE “HOW” IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN “WHAT”).

Taking away the philosophical and religious part from the Hindu concept of suffering, we can say that the WALK-RWD system is equivalent, as it also seeks to eliminate suffering within the physical (body) and emotional (mind/psychic) conceptions; and on the other hand, we can definitely state that it has no relation to the spiritual situation (religious belief) of reincarnation.

Now, the path of Emptiness leads us – very appropriately and certainly – to balance and awareness of the aspects outlined in the table below:

All these aspects are also the practical underpinnings of the Hindu philosophical building of the Mahayana, the religious-philosophical current of Emptiness.

On the other hand, our WALK-RWD system leads us, also in an effective way, to balance and become aware of the aspects that are related at the end of the post.

We try to walk the path, in both systems, to discover and appreciate the absence of things.

In the Mahayana (Hinduism), Nirvana is reached and all these “actions” are interrupted, specifically by being able to achieve liberation from all suffering and reincarnation; while in the Walk-RWD system the relationship is not lost and continues to flow, it is an inexhaustible regime.

For example, in both ways a healing THERAPY – on some physical and emotional ailments – is achieved.

In the Middle Way (Madhyamaka), applied in the Mahayana, we are strengthened physically and mentally, by generating, through various states and conditions, a transcendent reflection, which leads us towards the interior of a light, which has its own and real nature – all things have that natural characteristic of being empty – and by an infinite illusion (maya) that is impossible to escape from, and that furthermore, one does not wish to escape from it, because one is receiving a healing generated by the Mahayana system. In the Walk-RWD system it is not necessary to “enter” into an infinite illusion, but simply to follow the natural behaviors of the human being, the paths of the human condition, such as walking, and all the results that will be obtained, of the extraordinary type, are not super-natural.

We can face the ordered or the disordered, the positive or the negative, the good or the bad, the corrupt or the uncorrupted, the just or the unjust, the true or the false, the healthy or the unhealthy, etc., by setting ourselves to walk as an active and yet reactive operation.

Returning to sensory perception, in both healing currents, actions are a consequence of our perceptions, of what our senses perceive, of what our organism (body, mind and spirit) feels.

In the Madhyamaka (Eastern thought and feeling) the stimuli and reactions are oriented more by the sensory channels and less by reason; whereas in the WALK-RWD (Western thought and feeling) system, both – the stimuli and reactions – are oriented more by reason than by the sensory channels.

A fundamental element, common to both processes, is the walking of the middle path; in both, actions are carried out that encourage and stimulate each other, and each of these actions (activities, mental-emotional aspects) serve as a motor to invigorate and move along the whole path, and always keeping away from the extremes. In both methods, too, time is usually ignored, i.e. they are so dynamic and efficient that one arrives at and remains in the total abstraction of external circumstances and stimuli (agents), keeping one focused on the respective purposes of one or the other process.

In the Mahayana, as one moves through and advances in the process of preparation and learning (doctrinal training and formation), one comes to know and understand Existence (Samsara) and this training-learning is achieved through a continuous practice of sensory perception, knowing things and the interrelationship of all of them, but always through the middle way (Madhyamika), that is, without touching or experiencing the extremes.

Some thinkers say that the practice of Mahayana leads to the fact that it can be achieved or not, that it can happen or not, that it can result or not. However, our interpretation leads us to believe that the Mahayana leads unfailingly, through training and education, eliminating ignorance, to achieve Nirvana and Awakening, because it is possible and achievable, there is no doubt about it, and the possibility of not achieving it must be eliminated.

According to these forms of correspondence and identity that exist between the Mahayana and the WALK-RWD system, we will be able to emphasize the 3 activities structured within it (reading, writing and drawing, while walking), developing them – as we have expressed in their respective posts – in a moderate way and none of them should be placed in extremes, but should be within a path, way or middle way, that is, “the most important or main activity” and “the less important or trivial activity” are omitted; It is not necessary to live in the past and in the future, only to live in the present; the past is false and the future more so, the here and now are true (Post THE “HERE AND NOW” WITH THE SYSTEM); that is to say, time does not experience these two extremes, the past and the future, both do not exist, except in our minds as memories (already lived) or expectations that are not yet realizable; therefore, to live in the past or in the future is not to live, at most it is to use our mind to remember or to desire illusions or fantasies, that is why it is advisable to go through the middle way, through the present. In everything related to the WALK-RWD system, we must avoid and eliminate all extremes, so that the “walking” must be done by that middle way, within the extreme limits, and the 3 structured activities (reading, writing and drawing) must be kept also by that way.

Finally, I would like to comment that, just as we have condensed the aspects of the Mahayana school that we believe allow us to reach a balance and become aware of them all, we also list below those aspects where the WALK-RWD system has shown (proven) its real and positive effectiveness.

(*)One theoretical graphical-analytical way to better understand how these confronted processes work, is by using vector theory; I emphasize: just to understand it better (Essay in progress on Emptiness using Vector Analysis).

So let us achieve this Western-type awareness by putting the WALK-RWD system into practice and observe its relationship to those aspects of Eastern philosophy that are locked into the Mahayana system or Nagarjuna’s school of VACUITY.

Loya Lopategui, Carlos, Dintornism. A plastic-philosophical theory of reality, EMULISA, México, 2012. Available on Amazon, Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0D6C18SS9

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