A Buddhist’s Journey Through Northern Spain has 27 reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.5 stars.
The Way Is a River of Stars: A Buddhist’s Journey Through Northern Spain on the Camino Pilgrim Route by Helen Burns
In a memoir of saints, sages, and swollen ankles, Helen walks across the Catholic heartland of Northern Spain. Her chosen route is the picturesque Camino Way, a Christian pilgrimage revered since medieval times. Ancient towns and villages, each with a distinct culture and cuisine, mark the way.
Memories and miles intertwine, spanning not only the countryside but also her Christian upbringing and later life as a Buddhist. What is it that compels her into the cathedrals and rustic churches she finds during her month-long journey?
‘Just as I walked from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela – a different woman now to the one who began – I also travelled from one religion to another. Perhaps I put on pilgrim boots to better understand the message of each – the verbs of their prayers – what it means to engage with life, the joys of aloneness and the delights of company.’
Through recollections of meditation retreats, monasteries in Burma and encounters with the gilded Saints and Madonnas of Spanish cathedrals, Helen contemplates the heart of two religions, in her quest for deeper meanings that can unite us all.
About the Author of A Buddhist’s Journey, Helen Burns:
Time in Sarnath and Bodh Gaya, where it is said Gautama the Buddha gave his first teachings, led her on a path of inquiry. Sitting at the feet of lineage holders and teachers she has practiced within the three Buddhist traditions – Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. Extended silent meditation retreats in Myanmar and Australia provided a foundation for living, working and relationship over the next decades. Toward the end of this period she began writing. An early draft of a travel manuscript about the pilgrimage to Santiago do Compostela was awarded a Byron Bay Writers Festival Residency in 2004 and later selected for a Varuna LongLines Residency at Australia’s National Writers’ House. Close to completion, in 2009, it was shortlisted for the annual Varuna Harper Collins Award. “The Way is a River of Stars” was published in 2013.
Helen has practiced as a Herbalist and Iridologist and created several businesses catering for what was once known as the New Age. She now divides her time between a tiny house in Byron Bay, a slightly larger abode in Far North Queensland, and India wherever it takes her.
To find out more about the author of The Way Is a River of Stars: A Buddhist’s Journey Through Northern Spain on the Camino Pilgrim Route, visit her website: https://www.authorhelenburns.com/