Road to True Self

Adventures and spirituality of a battered soul in search of love... of oneself. It's intimate, raw, sensitive, blunt, and funny. Follow a young man who dares what most wouldn't, and live his daily life for over a year - from Europe to Asia, in 1990. If you dream of luxury hotels, guided tours, aligned deck chairs or crowded cruises, this isn't for you. But if you like to see the world differently, to face absurd, moving, sometimes harsh or striking situations, this book will speak to you.
A dry, punchy style, stripped of ornament - with humor and sensitivity. Pages full of self-questioning and naked honesty. He's like you. Aren't we all the same?You step into his heart - not so different from yours - perhaps with a bit more courage and a genuine hunger for spiritual answers. He shares his intimate journey to better understand our own lives. It's day by day. The adventure carries us away - we're in it, we travel, and it flows.
Between meditative serenity and emotional overflow, from noisy capitals to the depths of the Thai jungle, in a Buddhist monastery surrounded by cobras where his life takes a new inner turn, he takes us on a journey that is both physical and spiritual. Here, no marketing filters: rough roads, swaying trains, markets heavy with smells, seas that teach humility, long fasted walks that wake the mind, and encounters that move inner mountains.
A bike, a bag, sometimes almost nothing - and that stubborn compass always pointing inward. Along the way: masters, strangers, fleeting friendships, loves that start and end, and that fine line between discipline and desire. You'll read about fear tamed, simple joy, exhaustion, euphoria, failure, and bursts of laughter. Concrete lessons unfold: breathe, be silent, stand back up, look the world straight in the eye.
The text reads like a path - one step at a time, unvarnished, with flashes of raw life. At times, meditation deepens the silence; at others, life overflows and forces confession. You close a page feeling as if you've driven, walked, swum, loved - and shifted something inside yourself. For those who seek both adventure and clarity, the road and the compass, this book makes you want to go - or simply to dare.
Excerpt:"Jungle. A cobra darts into the brush. I grab its tail, release it. Do it again. Not smart, maybe. But alive, definitely. We move side by side through the grass. It slithers, I trot. Perfect contrast: light green, glossy black. No lies possible here. Fear? Absent. I realized afterward that I had been running with death - the way you can walk on a rooftop without vertigo when your mind is truly empty.
Meditation, simple food, silence - it all clears out the noise. I'm not advising anyone to do the same. I'm just saying: that day, I was clear."Later:"I grew up in what was called a Catholic family - let's say more by tradition than conviction. My mother forced herself to go to church on Sundays, as much to see as to be seen. So I marched through ceremonies dressed in burlap with a string around my waist - Christ's little errand boy - for the grand parade of confirmation.
The whole family there, thrilled, mostly happy to feast afterward. I confirmed. What exactly? Mystery. Probably vows to the Church, and a hand on the wallet during the collection. There are still pretty photos: me holding a candle, awkward look, frozen smile. A puppet child following adults in their rituals. Brotherhood, hospitality, selflessness, compassion - we didn't see much of that at home. My mother was mostly fighting to get through the day, with heavy doses of medication, trying not to slip into the dark."