Emmanuel recently gifted me an autographed copy of a book -- Planet Walker -- about a guy who spent 22 years walking (after being deeply affected by a large oil-spill in the 70's) and 17 years in silence.  Instead of me, though, Guri started reading it. :)  On a Wednesday night, couple weeks ago, Guri shared couple of her inspirations from the book, with the 40-50 random folks assembled in that infamous family room.

One of the people there was Audrey, a third year UC Berkeley student.  Last Sunday night, she sent  out a note to a few of us -- "Hey guys, in the spirit of being-the-change, I was going to walk to Wednesday meditation this week.  Anyone else in?"  As if that didn't warrant a jaw-dropping you-CAN'T-be-serious response, she added: "I plan to leave tomorrow morning."  Forget planning, waiting for consensus, contemplating dangers.  This pilgrimage was on its way, before it even began. 

Rev. Heng Sure and I (of all combinations!) tried to post some mild protests to this petite, seemingly-fragile, five-footer: "Audrey, you can't just leave like that?!?  Where are you going to sleep at night?  And can you even walk on the freeways?"  She had some answers, we helped her with others and she was comfortable not knowing the rest!

Sure enough, last night at 7PM, she shows up at our doorstep after 50-60 miles of walking in the last 3 days.  Before we could ask her about the obvious blisters on her feet, she innocently asks, "Do you think I can wash my feet before meditation?" :)  She took a shower, meditated for the hour, shared few minutes of candid stories to end the circle of sharing, and left us all speecheless.  For the self-organized group of 40-50 of us who were on the receiving end of such an honest pilgrimage, it truly felt like an invaluable blessing.

"I feel really great, actually," she said, almost surprising herself, as she left last night.  I mean, wow is not even the word to capture the moment.