Following 『A Journey to the Sky Lake』
Another special travelogue of India

“There was no need to take a separate book with me when I went on a trip.
The world was a book.
The train was a novel, and the bus roof, the fields, and the remote village were poetry books.
I read that book.
“Whenever I turn the page, a new path appears.”

Ryu Si-hwa, who writes poetry, translates books on meditation, and travels to India and Nepal every year, is a poet on the road.
"Traveler of the Earth" is a record of the life lessons and realizations he gained while traveling to India every year for 15 years and staying in one place for a long time.
Encounters with saints, beggars, desert nomads, innkeepers, shoe thieves, and fortune tellers clearly reveal the poet's perspective that we are all travelers on this world and students learning life's lessons.

Just like 『A Journey to the Sky Lake』, which was loved by 800,000 readers, 『Traveler of the Earth』 is a book that you can read lightly but gain great insight from.
The virtue of this book is that it conveys the most profound stories in the easiest way possible, with a philosophy full of humor.
Travel essays without a single portrait or landscape photo are more vivid than documentaries.
Each and every phrase is filled with reflections and meditations on the essence of freedom and enlightenment he had dreamed of.
However, this does not mean that he traveled to places with great people and historical sites that ordinary people would rarely meet in their lifetime.
There are the fortune tellers who wait for the escaped bird, the restaurant owner who likes to say a famous saying at the end of every sentence, the man who sneaks up and cracks peanuts while trying his best to monopolize travelers from other people, and the robber boss who likes poetry.
To the author, they are the 'archetypal models' of all people in this world.
So, it's a story about Indians, but it's not just their story, it's all of our story.


The book begins with the question, “Where is God?” and ends with “Are you happy?”
'Shin' means a utopian world, but people always create their utopia by shouting 'No problem' as if it were a spell.
There are many anecdotes that are so absurd that they make you laugh, but this book is so full of truth that it's hard to just pass it by.
It's a series of captivating stories that anyone who picks up once will be compelled to read to the end.
I can recommend this book even to people who don't like books or travel, and the moment you close the book, it makes you want to say "Namaste" and go to India.
The author calls freedom the discovery of one's own order, rather than conforming to the order established by others.

“Don’t forget this.
All the important people we meet in life are people who meet each other with a promise between their souls.
We are born with a promise to play a certain role for each other.
“Everyone is a guide who appears in your life for a short time or a long time to teach you and guide you to your destination.”
--- p.63

“In India, think only of India, and in Nepal, think only of Nepal!”
I couldn't help but laugh at those words.
When travelers meet each other, they are busy talking about the different places they have visited.
In India, they talk about Nepal, in Nepal, they talk about India, and in Mumbai, they talk about Kolkata.
As is the case with most things in life.
Even though we live in this moment, we always talk about yesterday and tomorrow.

--- p.101

“If you put salt in food, it tastes good and is seasoned well, but if you put salt in food, it becomes salty and you can’t eat it at all.
The same goes for human desires.
You have to put desire into your life.
“You shouldn’t put your life into desire.”
--- p.105

“If you are a true writer, you should write only about what you have experienced.”
I nodded in agreement.
Then he said.
“If you have truly experienced something, you will never forget it.
There is no need to write them down on paper.
Because they are engraved in your heart.
Isn't that right?"
I could only nod again.
The old man spoke again.
“If you are a true writer, you should write not from notes scribbled on paper, but from your own experiences engraved in your heart!”
When I heard it, it was such a wonderful thing.
I thought I should quickly write those words down in my notebook before I forget them.
Just as I was about to take out my notebook again, the old man spoke.
“If it is not a true experience deeply engraved in your soul, it is not worth writing about.
“If you write about things that only flash through your mind for a moment and are quickly forgotten, how can that possibly move others?”
--- p.117~118

After walking for a while, I looked back and saw that the gypsies were still standing in front of the tent and waving their hands.
It was the same whether I went a hundred meters or two hundred meters.
Every time I looked back, the gypsies were still standing there in a line, waving at me.
The field was so flat that it was difficult to break up.

--- p.133

“You, do you know this? The people you’ll meet in your next life are the people you’re meeting right now.”
--- p.144

“Have you ever seen anything white? A place where everything is filled with white light.
It's a world of nothingness.
There is nothing there.
“It’s just a white world.”
--- p.169

Wherever you go, be there!
--- p.175

Needless to say, after that, I would often fall asleep and forget that I was a Buddha.
Sometimes I acted so thoroughly as if I were not a Buddha that I became convinced that I was not a Buddha.

--- p.200

“Now, how cool is that?
This is a good item.
The price won't be too expensive for you.
If you wear this necklace, you will never put anything off until 'next time'.
“Every time you wear this necklace, you will remember what I said.”
--- p.204

Stay in one place for a long time.
So become one with them and tan your forehead with the same sun.
That is the only way to break down the wall of the ego and become reconciled with the world.

--- p.205

“I understand Marwari, my native language, the language of my camels, and the language of the spirits that speak with God.
The last two may be foreign languages ​​that you cannot understand.”
--- p.217

India taught me, above all, how to accept.
The world, the people, the weather excited by the sun and heat, the dust that accumulates on shoes and the sacred cow dung that spreads on the streets.
Sometimes, I had to endure unbearable heat and even dark nights when I couldn't find accommodation and had to sleep in a quiet train station.
It was like fate for a traveler like me.
Accepting and celebrating who I am and wherever I stand has been the most important rite of passage for me as a traveler.

--- p.246

In fact, not all travelogues are from travelers.
Travelers write as if it were their own story, but it really isn't.
All the stories are about the locals he met, the rickshaw drivers, the street children, the tricksters, the postmaster who invited him to his home for the first time.
Even though it is only a story of an old begging monk who waved goodbye and left, it is not his own.
--- p.248

“You claim to be lost, but you are not.
We are all going somewhere exactly according to God's plan.
Even when you think you're lost, you're definitely heading somewhere.”
--- p.263

As I was sitting there looking at the goat, one of the sadhus said:
“There are many people in the world who live tied to the past, like goats tied to a stake.
“If you break the rope that binds you, you will be able to roam freely like me.”
After saying that, the monk left freely.
--- p.289

Az ham bahut kus he.
I am very happy today.

--- p.291