"You cannot live sheltered forever without ever being exposed, and at the same time be a spiritual adventurer. Be audacious. Be crazy in your own way, with that madness in the eyes of man that is wisdom in the eyes of God. Take risks, search and search again, search everywhere, in every way, and do not let a single opportunity or chance that life offers pass you by, and do not be petty and mean, trying to drive a hard bargain."
- Arnaud Desjardins

Okay. For those of you wondering about the new blog title, "Buddha Rhubarb Butter" is the name of a song by M. Doughty recorded by Soul Coughing ("And at the salad bar a man stares into the croutons hypnotized by powers of the Bac-O-Bits"). Don't think too hard about it - it just sounded good to me.

Meanwhile, yesterday I went up to the North Georgia Mountains to recon next month's Zen hike. Just north of Dahlonega, at the intersection of U.S. 19 and S.R. 60, I passed the big rock pile literally in the middle of the road known as Trahlyta's Grave. According to "The Ghostly Folklore of White County" by Nathan Couch, Stone Pile Gap is the burial mound of the Cherokee princess, Trahlyta, the fairest and most beautiful of all the Cherokee women. But as age came upon her, her beauty faded and she went to the Cedar Mountain Witch for help. The Witch told her of a spring of water in the mountains that held the power of The Great Spirit, and as long as drank and bathed in the water, her beauty would last forever.

Then one day, a rejected suitor named Wahsega kidnapped Trahlyta and held her captive. Kept from the magical waters of the mountain, she faded in front of the young brave. Her last wish was to be buried amongst the mountains she loved so much. And there she lies, under a pile of stone, and they say if you place a stone on her grave good fortunes come to you. But it's also said if you remove a stone, you will suffer the curse of the Cedar Mountain Witch. Twice in history men have tried to move the stones to build roads. Both times horrible accidents happened, and people were killed. And that is why the roads were built around her grave. The water in the area, Porter Springs is still said to hold healing powers.