From Pu Ling Lai

I am a Chinese student in Holistic Science in Schumacher College, Devon, United Kingdom. I plan to start a walking pilgrimage in September 2013 from the college to my hometown Guangzhou, China, visiting ecological and spiritual centres on the way.

I will walk without money in order to have more connection with people while receiving food, accommodation, clothes, etc freely and giving away freely without attachment. I wish to explore the diversity as well as the unity of the world, to learn to love all members of this planet as my family with all our differences, and to find common ground. I choose to walk because I want to be slow enough to embody the natural and cultural landscape from the west to the east, and to be transformed by the beauty of Nature and humanity. East is the direction of sunrise and enlightenment. For me, this is not just a walk back home, but also a walk that connects the east and the west within me, a walk back to the source, towards sunrise, towards illumination.

My possible route is via France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia/Herz, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Iran, (or via Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan), Pakistan, India, Nepal, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong(China). My plan remains open and flexible.

After the walk, my dream is to build a community where people are in love with each other and with Mother Earth. I wish to learn from different cultures along the way in their way of living in harmony together in Nature and to share stories and inspirations wherever I go, so that more seeds of love, joy and peace can be spread and grow into a stronger reality.

At present, I am looking for people who are interested in supporting my pilgrimage in different ways, such as

• walking together for some parts or the whole of the pilgrimage
• hosting me in their hometown
• suggesting ecological/spiritual centres in different countries
• spreading my story around (public relations, connection with media, etc)
• giving donations to make the pilgrimage possible (the fees required for applying for visas and insurance alone will cost about 2000£ )

If you wish to contribute, please feel free to contact me by:

email: vivian-ling@hotmail.com
phone: 00447438426310 (UK)
Pu Ling Lai
Schumacher College, The old postern, Dartington, Totnes, Devon, England, TQ9 6EA