Process and Pilgrimage walking with science
Satish Kumar(from Earth Pilgrim,Green Books):
'At the beginning of the journey you feel weak because you have been conditioned to be cautious. You have been pressured to play safe. You have been encouraged to walk on the well trodden path; get a degree, get married, get a house, get a job, get insurance, get a pension, have security, look to your self interest. These are recepies to divert you away from the hero’s journey. When I started my pilgrimage for peace, and set off on my walk around the world, I too felt weak, I too was discouraged '
'Yet that was again my opportunity, to sleep under the stars and connect with the whole universe, with the cosmos. These [weak] moments came to tempt me to give up my journey, but such moments of despondency and despair also pass. For this reason, undertaking a physical journey is necessary because you come face to face with your fears and you discover that the fear you were gripped by was momentary and illusory.'
'I managed to overcome my weakness through devotion to the ideal; the quest for peace and unity in the world, moved me beyond my fears and gave me strength in my weak moments.'
'Being a pilgrim is a state of mind. We travel in life, and through life. All of life is a journey. The journey is metaphorical as well as literal. Making a journey from A to B, is only the ostensible goal. But going from to A to B is not the point of the pilgrimage. Wherever you are, with your consciousness, with your way of being, with your way of looking at the world, with your way of connecting with the world, you are a pilgrim. A pilgrim is someone who sees life as a sacred journey, who sees the earth as a sacred home.’
'Life itself is a pilgrimage. To be a pilgrim is to be on the move, physically, mentally and metaphorically. Life is a pilgrimage because life is not static. Life has no ultimate objective. Life is to be lived in every moment. As a pilgrim I discover the mystery, the magic, the meaning, the magnificence of life in every step I take, in every sound I hear, in every sight I see. To be a pilgrim is to experience life as an endless and eternal process of being. Life is not a product, but an ever unfolding process. The moment I think of the word 'Pilgrim' I imagine 'movement', 'process', 'unfolding' and 'flowing'.'
'When you are making a physical journey and living thanks to the hospitality of people along the route, you experience generosity in your host, and humility in yourself. That experience can linger even when you are not on a physical journey. So, the physical pilgrimage and the metaphorical pilgrimage are inter-related. We make the outer journey in order to make an inner journey. Our inner landscape is shaped by the outer landscape. Therefore, by making a journey to holy places, such as the river Ganges, Mount Kailash, Santiago de Compostella, or Iona, we are moved to explore our inner landscape, and make our journey to the holy source within. The abundance and the majesty of the earth, inspires us and lifts our spirits. Thus, the outer journey and the inner journey become one .'
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