Guatemala to Goa on a Zimmerframe : Insight, Volume 5

By West, Jim, William

Book Id: WPLBN0004451123
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 43.80 MB
Reproduction Date: 29/11/2016

Title:	Guatemala to Goa on a Zimmerframe : Insight, Volume 5
Author:	West, Jim, William
Volume:	Volume 5
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Bibliography
Collections:	Authors Community, Biographies
Historic Publication Date:	2016
Publisher:	Sherwood

Member Page:	Jim West
Citation APA MLA Chicago William West, B. J. (2016). Guatemala to Goa on a Zimmerframe : Insight, Volume 5. Retrieved from http://www.self.gutenberg.org/

Description
Gradual insight into the nature of the Mind Body Complex Otherwise, just getting by, loving India

Summary
In 1946, at the age of one, I contracted Polio. Suddenly, a world of infinite possibilities collapsed in upon me. Everything was now a struggle: breathing, lifting my arms, learning to walk. Nothing came easily. And the suffering wasn’t just physical. Gradually, I learned about rejection. The subtle, and not so subtle messages that society delivers to the weak and deformed. To protect myself, walls went up. This meant that in various ways I was also emotionally paralysed. Wasn’t a promising start, but nevertheless, my life has been remarkable. I played many sports with a vengeance, engaged in petty crime for years, excelled at school and University, bought, sold and consumed drugs. Crossed and re-crossed continents, eluding police from Mexico to India. At twenty-eight, I abruptly changed direction, and by doing so was able to help many others. Now, at the end of an event filled life, how do I feel towards the Polio virus which attacked that soft and innocent child those many years ago? Well, life hasn’t been easy, but it sure has been interesting. Perhaps I should thank that microbe for its blind Benevolence?

Excerpt
There’s no public transport at the Iranian/Turkish border. This is a killing zone. Travelers straggle up in small groups, while taxi drivers, like sharks, cruise around, picking them off one at a time. The fares are fixed at an absurdly high level. You pay, or stand about in the desert for a day, and then pay. I start walking, but this end of Turkey is no place to be out on your own. Come across a huge transport truck. The driver is doubtful about giving me a lift. There isn’t a second seat, just a metal casing, which I presume houses the engine or transmission. I’m desperate. Unpack my sleeping gear, pile it over the box, and climb up. It is a bone-jarring 50-mile ride. Get off, in a daze, at a large campsite. Somebody feeds me: somebody gives me a place to sleep. The remainder of the journey to Istanbul is a blur. At one point, a Turkish coach stopped for me. Tried to pay, but they insisted I ride for free. This was in the same region where I had been stoned on my first trip. My internal organs had taken a pounding during the truck ride. Everything hurt. It felt like hepatitis. I was so discouraged and dejected that people avoided me, adding isolation to my list of problems. Ate and slept in Istanbul, but didn’t think I’d ever reach England.

Table of Contents
Vol 5 Insight Living with Monks, Music Lessons, Suicidal Mouse Meditation, Adventures in Varanasi, Himalayas Note: If you wish to hear the audio, which is embedded in this pdf, open it with Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. It is free and very good. ( This pdf includes maps, photographs, letters and diary extracts )