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Mississippi Journals Mississippi Pilgrimage: The Journals of Venerable Jotipalo Bhikkhu and Austin Stewart on a Spiritual Journey up the Mississippi River Valley From New Orleans, Louisiana USA to Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada March 1st – July 8th, 2005 Index: Jotipalo’s Journal Postings Day 1: New Orleans, Louisiana Day 20: south of Kosciusko, Mississippi Day 2: Destrehan Plantation, Louisiana Day 20, Part two: south of Kosciusko, Mississippi Day 3: La Place, Louisiana Day 21: St. Therese's Catholic Church, Day 4: Gramercy, Louisiana Kosciusko, Mississippi Day 5: Baton Rouge, Louisiana Day 22: Kosciusko, Mississippi Day 8: Port Gibson, Mississippi Day 23, Part One: French Camp, Mississipppi Day 9: Rocky Springs, Mississippi Day 23, Part 2: French Camp, Mississippi The Natchez Trace Day 24: Jeff Busby Campground, Mississippi Day 10: Along the Natchez Trace Day 25: Houston, Mississippi Day 10, Part two: Rocky Springs, Mississippi Day 25, Part 2: Houston, Mississippi Day 11: Junction of Highway 27 and Natchez Day 26: Immaculate Heart Catholic Church, Trace Houston, Mississippi Day 12: Utica, Mississippi Day 26, Part 2: Immaculate Heart Catholic Church, Houston, Mississippi Day 13: Near Raymond, Mississippi Day 27: Unitarian Church, Tupelo, Day 14: Part One Mississippi Day 14: Jackson, Mississippi Day 28: Davis Lake Campground, Mississippi Day 15: Vicksburg, Mississippi Day 31, Part Two: Oxford, Mississippi Day 16: Jackson, Mississippi Day 32: Oxford, Mississippi Day 16, evening: Jackson, Mississippi Day 33: Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas Day 17: Yazoo City, Mississippi Day 34: Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas Day 18: Ross Bartlett Reservoir, Mississippi Day 35: Memphis, TN Day 19: Natchez Trace, north of Ross Bartlett Day 36: Memphis, Tennessee Reservoir, Mississippi Day 37: Memphis, Tennessee Day 38: Memphis, Tennessee Day 64: Buddha-Dhamma Meditation Center, Hinsdale, Illinois Day 39: Amtrak enroute to Chicago Day 65: Hinsdale, Illinois Day 40: Chicago, IL. Day 66: Chicago, Illinois Day 41: above Chicago, Illinois Day 67: Chicago, Illinois Day 43: Chicago, Illinois to Lafayette, Indiana Day 68: Chicago, Illinois Day 44: Crawfordsville, Indiana Day 69: Urbana, IL Day 45: Crawfordsville, Indiana Day 70: Urbana,IL Day 47: Crawfordsville, Indiana Day 71: Urbana, IL Day 48: Crawfordsville, Indiana Day 72: Crawfordsville, IN Day 49: Crawfordsville, Indiana Day 73: Crawfordsville, IN Day 50: Crawfordsville, Indiana Day 74: Crawfordsville, IN Day 51: Crawfordsville, Indiana Day 75: Boarding Amtrak for Staunton, VA Day 52: Buddha-Dhamma Meditation Center, Hinsdale, Illinois Day 76: Amtrak - New River Day 53: Hinsdale, Illinois Day 77: Bhavana Society Day 54: Hinsdale, Illinois Day 78: High View, West Virginia Day 55: Hinsdale, Illinois Day 79: Winchester, VA Day 56: Hinsdale, Illinois Day 80: High View, WV Day 59: Buddha-Dhamma Meditation Center, Has anybody heard from Austin? Hinsdale, Illinois Day 82: High View, WV Day 60: Buddha-Dhamma Meditation Center, Hinsdale, Illinois Day 83: High View, WV Day 61: Buddha-Dhamma Meditation Center, Day 84: High View, West Virginia Hinsdale, Illinois Day 85: High View, WV Day 62: Buddha-Dhamma Meditation Center, Hinsdale, Illinois Day 86: Sick in bed Day 63: Buddha-Dhamma Meditation Center, Day 87: High View, WV Hinsdale, Illinois Day 88: Bhavana Society Day 89: Bhavana Society Day 90: Bhavana Society Day 91: Bhavana Society Day 92: Bhavana Society Day 93: Bhavana Society Day 94: Bhavana Society Day 95: Bhavana Society Day 96: Bhavana Society Day 97: Bhavana Society Day 108: Bhavana Society Day 109: Bhavana Society Day 110: An interview by Steve Charles Day 111: Bhavana Society Day 114: Last day at the Bhavana Society Day 116: Lafayette, Indiana Day 123: West Des Moines, Iowa Day 126: Minneapolis, Minnesota Day 128: Collegeville, Minnesota Day 129: St. John's Abbey Day 132: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada Day: 6 Canadian Day 10 Canadian Index: Austin’s Journal Postings Day 14: Jackson, Mississippi Day 53: Hinsdale, IL. Day 16: Jackson, Mississippi Day 55: Hinsdale, IL. Day 18: Ross Bartlett Reservoir, Mississippi Day 56: Hinsdale, Illinois Day 19: Natchez Trace, north of Ross Bartlett Day 58: Hinsdale, IL. Reservoir, Mississippi Day 59: Hinsdale, IL. Day 20: South of Kosciusko, Mississippi Day 61: Hinsdale, IL Day 21: St. Therese's Catholic Church, Kosciusko, Mississippi Day 63: Hinsdale, Illinois Day 22: Kosciusko, Mississippi Day 64: Hinsdale, Ilinois Day 23: French Camp, Mississippi 5/14/05: Chicago, IL. Day 27: Unitarian Church, Tupelo, Day 76: Bhavana Society, West Virginia Mississippi 5/19/05 Bhavana Society, WV. Day 28: Davis Lake Campground, Mississippi Day 84: Bhavana Society, WV Day 29: Tupelo, Mississippi Day 85: Bhavana Society, WV Day 30: Tupelo, Mississippi Day 87: Bhavana Society, WV Day 34: Memphis, Tennessee Day 92: Bhavana Society, WV Day 35: Memphis,TN Day 97: Bhavana Society, WV Day 38: Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas Day 105: Bhavana Society, West Virginia Day 40: Chicago, Ilinois Day 110: Bhanava Society, WV Day 42: Chicago, IL. Day 112: Bhanava Society Day 43: Lafayette, IN. Day 117: Des Moines, Iowa Day 46: Crawfordsville, IN. Day 48: Crawfordsville, IN. Day 50: Crawfordsville, Indiana An impossible task? Day One: New Orleans, Louisiana Jotipalo Bhikkhu March 1, 2005 It's 1 pm Tuesday, March 1 and I'm on a pier above the Mississippi River. Taking the train from Chicago to New Orleans made me feel like we have an impossible task ahead of us. It seems like an eternally long way. A little bit of doubt has crept in and last night I came down with a sore throat and a low-grade fever. Just something mild. On the train, I was reading John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley. He mentions a similar apprehension at the beginning of his journey: "In long range planning for a trip, I think there is a private conviction that it won't happen. As the day approached, my warm bed and comfortable house grew increasingly desirable and my dear wife incalculably precious. To give these up for three months of the terrors of the uncomfortable and unknown seemed crazy. I didn't want to go. Something had to happen to forbid my going, but it didn't. I could get sick, of course… " We've been staying with Chris and Billy Finney, two of Austin's friends he's known since high school and Austin admitted feeling a little apprehensive and nervous about the trip. I was feeling like, "Oh, God, what are we getting into." And Chris and Billy were saying, "We'd give anything to go—you guys can't really be talking this way!" Everyone is excited about the journey but we're the ones doing it, and I think it has occurred to us: "Just what are we getting into?" This morning we just decided to go for it; if I wait until my health is great, I'll never get started. And today is an absolutely beautiful day in New Orleans. Billy Finney said they get this kind of weather maybe three weeks out of the year—mid-60s, completely sunny, a gentle breeze. We've decided to walk along the levee at first. We've walked three miles so far, and we're going to try to walk about nine miles a day. We have no idea where we're going to stay tonight, but we did see a couple of plantations up the way with some long, beautiful lawns. We're going to stop and ask if we can sleep on one of them. The owners will probably say no, but Billy said the people have a reputation for kindness, so we'll just ask and see if we can't spend our first night on a plantation! Monday, I had the best cup of coffee I've ever tasted. They put chickory in the coffee and it was so good. My first taste of New Orleans. Then Billy drove us through the river delta where the Mississippi empties into the sea and down to Pilottown, where we stood by a sign that said, "You are now on the southernmost point in Louisiana." On Sunday we came here to Rivertown and a Greek man came over and started talking with us. He said, "Ah, yes, I have a neighbor who went to a Buddhist monastery in Germany, and it's been very good for him. Buddhists—now they're the ones who ride horseback blindfolded and shoot at targets, right?" He has inspired us to start writing down all the stories we here when someone says, "Ah, I know about Buddhism . ." As we were standing on the same pier, four kids from the neighborhood, ages six to ten, came up to us. They were great, and we talked to each other for a long time. Then one of them looked at me and said, "Why do you wear them ugly clothes?" Billy asked him, "Do you go to church?" "Yeah." "Does your minister wear robes?" "Yeah." "Well, that's what Jotipalo is doing." "Oh, yeah." The people we've been staying with have been wonderful. Billy's brother, Chris, does musical mixing as a recording engineer and he was working last night with a famous saxophonist, a Grammy winner. On the train down here I was walking back from the view car and a man put his palms together in anjali (a greeting of respect). I talked with him later and found out he is from the Missouri Zen Center. We had lunch together and I asked him if he knew the monk Santikaro. He said he'd once driven with him all the way to Missouri. We exchanged emails and he's going to try to set up something for us when we show up in St. Louis. It's such a small world. Still, I'm kind of worried about this first week.
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