Life as a Pilgrimage Pilgrimage As I am planning another pilgrimage to India I was thinking of all of life as a pilgrimage, a journey of discovery, challenge, of overcoming obstacles and then reaching a sacred destination. Every part of life of your life can be seen with new eyes when you conceive of it as a spiritual passage. It is part of tradition, both in the East and the West, to leave hearth and home to seek out holy sites or to wander without carrying money or food. These examples can make us doubt that our lives, our ordinary lives, carry any special meaning. And yet this notion of being ordinary is exactly what needs to be overcome for either the itinerate wandering pilgrim and for the householder yogi. It is the deep seated idea that your life cannot be holy, the river you live near cannot be sacred, even the culture you are raised in does not have unique and special virtues. Beyond the Ordinary Listen to the words of Kahlil Gibran s The Prophet and how he lifts life up to a higher level: You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth. For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life s precession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite. When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison? In this poetic imagery Gibran speaks to your higher angels; not to be mundane about anything in life. And yet there is something about the way you interact with life that creates a sameness from day to day. A need for security through predictability, a kind of laziness that likes the tried and true, the need to filter out too much information to make sense of things and many other factors that collude to make life feel comfortable. And yet that very comfort can also have a stultifying, a numbing effect that can convince you there is nothing special about your life. 1
The True Kingdom To awaken to life s dynamic potentiality does not require you to go on an exotic vacation, to become James Bond, or to leave behind everything you have ever known. Rather, to attune yourself to being alive to the moment, perceptive of the dynamism of life contained in a flower, or exploring the breadth and depth of God-experience that is inextricably woven into each and every moment of life, you must have a perceptual shift of mind, heart and soul. In the gospel of St. Thomas, the long lost gospel, one of Jesus intimates asked: "When will the kingdom come?" "It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Rather, the Father's kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it." 1 And from St. Luke Jesus answers about the Kingdom: And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 2 The Astounding Truth Much of the world would be astounded at the profound implications of such words; somehow they see it, but do not see it even though those words have been repeated and studied for thousands of years. And how can it be that the Kingdom of God is spread out upon this earth, and it is to be found within you, and yet humanity at large has absolutely no notion of it? This truly is a great mystery. Now, either the Master is lying, or it is a Truth yet to be discovered. And many of us as aspirants for truth and realization may nod our heads in agreement at the above truth. And yet, do our actions reflect the fact that the greatest experience known to mankind is awaiting to be revealed within us right here, right now? And, the truth is, of course, that answer is no, we often times do not act like we really believe it. 1 The "Scholars' Translation" of the Gospel of Thomas by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer 2 Luke 17:20-21 2
Delusion This delusive power in yoga is called Maya when it is creation wide, and when found in the individual it is called Avidya. In the Holy Science Sri Yukteswarji writes, The manifestation of Premabijam Chit (Attraction, the Omniscient Love) is Life, the Omnipresent Holy Spirit, and is called Holy Ghost (Kutastha Chaitanya or Purushottama), and shines on the Darkness (Maya) to attract every portion of it toward Divinity. But, the Darkness, Maya, or its individual parts, 3 Avidya the Ignorance, being repulsion itself, cannot receive or comprehend the Spiritual Light, but reflects it. This Holy Ghost, being the manifestation of the Omniscient Nature of the Eternal Father, God, is no other substance than God Himself; and so these reflections of spiritual rays are called the Sons of God Abhasa Chaitanya or Purusha. See John 1:4, 5, 11. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shinneth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. There is a definite power then, in all Creation that repels the light of realization. This repulsive power is universal, Maya, and individual, Avidya. To overcome this delusive power one has to purify the mind. Remembrance of God is the central focus for gaining this realization. One may remember through Jnana, clarifying what is not God, and through Bhakti, concentrating the mind on what is God. Seeing God s Attributes One way to keep your mind on God is to begin to see this world filled with the attributes of God. Like priming a pump you can start the flow of God by attuning your thoughts to Divine Qualities. To loosen the hold Maya/Avidya has upon you bring to mind that your true nature is spiritual, not material. Remembering that your life here is a spiritual pilgrimage is just such a way to attune yourself. Your life here on this material plane is temporary. When you came to into this life you brought with you, buried deep in your consciousness, your desire to grow in sacred awareness. 3 That is, its presence in each man. [The word Avidyā (ignorance, delusion) is opposite of Vidya (knowledge), derived from the Proto-Indo-European root weid-, meaning "to see" or "to know". It is a cognate of Latin vidēre (which would turn to "video") and English "wit". 3
Attachment However you became enamored with this world, both with its positive and its negative aspects. It is interesting that you can be at least as attracted, if not more, to the painful parts of life as to the pleasurable parts. Pain and sorrow has a way of capturing your awareness and rivets your attention to the passing phenomenon of this life. To extract yourself from this attachment to the world you must overcome this attraction, consciously and subconsciously, in order to put your full attention onto God and find freedom. A very powerful form of attachment is the story you tell yourself about your life. The energy you can put into your story, the judgment about right and wrong, and the energy you get from others by telling your story indicates the power of attachment. For instance, you may feel such shame about something from your life that you would never tell another person, however your attachment in this case would still be very high. Or, the feeling of pride, self-righteousness, sense of drama, the glee in the telling of a story, or even the feeling that your life does not have a story worth telling can all be indicator of attachment. Now you may think that if you do not value your life enough to think it important, or if you have shame or regret that you would be far from attachment. However, the ego-sense in these examples will be, perhaps, more hidden and therefore harder to identify and let go. Life as a Pilgrimage As householder sadhakas we are required to live in the world, but not be of it. For some people who struggle with weight gain and eating too much it would be easier if they did not have to eat at all and just be done with food. Of course, this is not possible. So too, with keeping the mind upon God and living and working in a worldly environment, you can imagine living simply in a cave and not having any of the stresses of the world to think about and just be done with it! But even for the removed yogi there are still demands of the body, it requires ongoing care, and the mind will still be busy with moha, attachment for things of the world; in some instances the forbidden fruit gets an even greater hold on the mind. Dry Tinder You must become like dry tinder that catches fire easily. For this you must practice loving God more than you love the world. I have put wood in the fire that looks dry from the outside, however even when one end is catching fire, water is literally running out of the other end of the log. Most aspirants are of mixed nature, wanting God (partly dry) and wanting things 4
of the world (partly wet). To become completely dry tinder for God is a rare thing but is required to know God fully. Burnt Offerings There was a man who wanted to go on pilgrimage. He thought he would greatly benefit from this, inspired by other people going to holy sites and meeting saintly personalities. He had obligations in the world, but started to save his money to go on just such a pilgrimage. However, anytime he got a little money saved up he would see something to buy that he thought he needed, so he used his savings to get what he wanted. So much time went by and he had not saved anything to go on pilgrimage. The real pilgrimage is our conscious realization of God, or having Godexperience. You meditate a little, think of God through the day, especially when you feel in trouble. But the world is too much with you and you end up drawing from your savings accrued during meditation and loving God and you spend it on the things of the world. In the end, you have little to show of God-experience and your life s energy is nothing but burnt offerings to God. Setting Sail If the mariner sits in the harbor ready to set sail, he feels the wind urging it on, he smells the sea beckoning, and he looks to the distant horizon with anticipation, but he never retrieves it anchor he remains exactly where he is anchored, never going anywhere. If this inner spiritual journey we are on, were only so simple as to go to Mecca, to Jerusalem, or the holy sites in India, then those whose passports are filled with stamps would be Self-realized. However, only when God is stamped upon your thoughts, your actions and your words will you be truly transported to your heavenly destination of eternal peace and bliss. God Experience is Your Pilgrimage There is no experience in the world that comes close to feeling the Bliss of God radiating throughout your Being. The revelation of wisdomthoughts that come from the Superconscious mind is unlike any thought generated from your own mind; the difference between your mind and the Divine Mind is like comparing a small candle to the rising sun. Preserve the gold of Spirit in your heart, even while going about your duties to the world. Stamp God upon you thoughts, in your heart and deep in your soul so there is only one supreme love of God in all you do. Weigh your anchor of worldly attachments and set your sites on the horizon of complete realization. Do not spend your life on this world, only to have it all taken away from you at that moment of bodily death, but walk boldly in the sun of Omniscience, Omnipresence and Omnipotence. 5
Victory Is Yours Be a stalwart pilgrim and discover the great mystery, bliss, and wisdom-thoughts that lie deep in your soul. You are setting out on the greatest journey known to humankind! Be of cheer and great courage; victory is yours assures the Lord. Victory is yours! Readings Second Coming (SRF) Discourse 5: The Unknown Years of Jesus Life Sojourn in India [with a special emphasis on the pilgrimage Jesus made to India that he both benefited from in meeting great spiritual Masters, and was a blessings when teaching spiritual aspirants from his great state of realization. Focus Through the Rest of the Year: See your life as a pilgrimage. Every day, whatever your circumstances you are in God s holy temple and remembrance of Him is with you each step of your journey. That, like any pilgrimage, there are severe challenges, and these challenges are not mistakes, rather they are exactly designed for you, to test you, to strengthen you, and to make you a fit instrument for Divine Consciousness. 6