{"id":6068,"date":"2013-06-24T09:21:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T15:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manyvoices.soundstrue.com\/manyvoices\/?p=1144"},"modified":"2020-04-07T20:02:45","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T20:02:45","slug":"the-hobo-code-for-spiritual-pilgrims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources2.soundstrue.com\/blog\/the-hobo-code-for-spiritual-pilgrims\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hobo Code (for Spiritual Pilgrims)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right behind the Sounds True office backyard, just a hop over tangled barbed wire, run these local railroad tracks:<\/p>\n

\"AndrewY<\/a><\/p>\n

The other day I was watching television\u2019s most underrated exploration of the Jungian \u201cshadow principle\u201d\u2014Mad Men<\/i>\u2014and it reminded me of these tracks. In the episode called \u201cThe Hobo Code,\u201d we get a glimpse into the protagonist Don Draper\u2019s childhood during the Great Depression. And we learn about a secret vocabulary that was chalked and carved on fence posts and telephone poles across America.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, the hobo code was real<\/i>. It varied from region to region and across the years. Countless souls used it to help each other find food and shelter and to avoid the perils of the day.<\/p>\n

Here are some of those hobo signs (scraped from cyberspace) that still feel relevant to me, if only metaphorically:<\/p>\n

\"ST<\/p>\n

I spotted one of my first \u201chobo marks\u201d decades ago. It came as a crackling transmission of Roy Tuckman\u2019s legendary Pacifica Radio show \u201cSomething\u2019s Happening<\/a>.\u201d I was homeless, hopeless, and definitely \u201chobo\u201d at the time, couchsurfing in a friend\u2019s farmhouse in Carmel, California.<\/p>\n

The clock radio clicked to 2:00am and, drifting in and out of the night static, was the voice of Alan Watts<\/a>. He was chuckling at the folly of \u201ctrying to catch an ocean wave in a bucket.\u201d Which is exactly what I was doing with my life at that time\u2014trying to rack up achievements and experiences that would assure my permanent, foolproof success.<\/p>\n

Um, yeah, right.<\/p>\n

Alan\u2019s \u201chobo mark\u201d pointed me onto the boxcar of radical self-inquiry, though I didn\u2019t realize it until years later. And ever since, I\u2019ve shared his humor and wisdom whenever it\u2019s felt right to.<\/p>\n

In fact, I had the privilege of working with Alan Watts\u2019 son, Mark, to hand-pick the sessions for the audio set Out of Your Mind<\/i><\/a>. Alan\u2019s \u201ccatching waves in a bucket\u201d allegory is in there.<\/p>\n

Is the spiritual path so different from those rolling train tracks? Maybe the markers we find on our own journey\u2014a haiku by Ikkyu, a meaningful photograph, the advice of a friend\u2014reflect the same pilgrim\u2019s spirit that says \u201cwe\u2019re all in this together brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n

If I ever go back to visit Victoria\u2019s family farm, I think I\u2019m gonna chalk this symbol on their fencepost:<\/p>\n

\"image3_hobo_sign_watts_bucket\"<\/p>\n

So, what was your first metaphorical \u201chobo sign\u201d on your life\u2019s journey?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right behind the Sounds True office backyard, just a hop over tangled barbed wire, run these local railroad tracks: The other day I was watching television\u2019s most underrated exploration of the Jungian \u201cshadow principle\u201d\u2014Mad Men\u2014and it reminded me of these tracks. In the episode called \u201cThe Hobo Code,\u201d we get a glimpse into the protagonist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[381,386],"tags":[],"contributor":[658],"class_list":["post-6068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-self-compassion","category-spirituality","contributor-sounds-true"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Hobo Code For Spiritual Pilgrims | Sounds True<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore spiritual wisdom and practices with Sounds True. 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