Hunter Mountain via Spruceton

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Hunter Mountain via Spruceton




If you're on a mission to see awe inspiring views, then fire towers are the place to be. I did a sunset jaunt up Spruceton and had the trail (and tower) entirely to myself. 



Most of the trail was pretty dry except for a couple muddy spots past the intersection to the Colonel's Chair. The bugs were also minimal except for one fly that took a particular liking to me. 




Right before leaving for the hike, I had watched a YouTube video of this Buddhist monk who was answering questions from people who write to him. One of the questions was about how to get along with someone who is being consistently hurtful to you in a relationship. His answer was a play on the "kill them with kindness" trope. 



I couldn't help but be struck with how naïve (and potentially dangerous) this advice was. If this person is in an abusive or toxic relationship, kindness isn't going to help. Furthermore, it might keep this person hopelessly dedicated to fixing an unsalvageable situation because they think they can change the person if they just give more and love them enough. This monk came across as someone inexperienced in when to aptly apply spiritual philosophy to real life situations. (I don't think all monks give poor advice, just this one situation.)


As I was hiking, I was wondering why religions often have a sect of clergy that isolate themselves from the world and / or abstain from having certain worldly experiences. I would think that the ideal situation is to experience the world and then have periods of solitude to process those experiences and get in touch with your spiritual guidance. But if you don't have a breadth of experiences to draw from, it seems like your spiritual understanding would also be limited.


People often seek guidance from others that they think are wiser, but what's to say that their guidance is better than your own intuition? That's why I've been trying harder to hear my higher self instead of the voices of others. However, that can be very challenging when you have a lot to worry about. Still worth the effort, though. 

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