In every age, men have set out on pilgrimages. Those who have studied religions and mysticism of East and West would be familiar that the human soul has been equated to a traveller.
In India, pilgrimages have long been ways of fulfilling religious vows. For centuries, people are used to the familiar habit of journeying to famous shrines, mountains and rivers. Sick people come seeking a cure. Others, now recovered come to fulfil a vow of gratitude. People go to holy rivers to wash away their sins or undertake long and arduous journeys to mountains as a penance.
These journeys undertaken to distant lands, liberate them from their daily routine, giving them a sense of adventure. Whatever the motives, such a journey often gives the pilgrims new perspectives on the meaning of their lives, and converts their lives for better, though temporarily.
There is another journey that the contemporary seeker undertakes, which is that of a personal quest. The emotionally troubled man of today, the contemporary pilgrim seeks the help of a contemporary Master or a workshop for self-improvement and transformation, to make sense of his life.
This does not surprise me. Whenever a man faces periods of stagnation, uncertainty, anxiety, doubt, despair and personal unrest he seeks such a guidance. It is when one faces a major crisis in life, there is enough opportunity for personal growth. Crisis always unsettles us as it disturbs the status quo and represents a challenge. People seek guidance only when their usual, limited, risk avoiding ways of operating are not working, and there is pain and distress in life. Otherwise people are too willing to continue living with the familiar, so long as it seems to work, no matter how colourless and ordinary life may be.
The Chinese always understood the profound connection between crisis and change. The term they use for crisis is wei – ji. It is composed of the characters for “danger” and “opportunity.”
“Opportunity” represents possibility for “Growth”, whereas “Danger” evokes “Fear”. Therefore, one must see one’s feeling of uneasiness as being a chance for making “the growth choice”, rather than “the fear choice.”
If you are operating from “fear,” you should not undertake such a journey because “the way is not without danger.” Everything good is costly, and the development of personality is the costliest of all things. It will cost you your illusions and your innocence. And, if you are afraid, you might as well stay at home, safe in your familiar illusions.
If you are operating from your desire to grow, this journey becomes an adventure. Search we must. Each man must set out on this journey for self-growth. The important thing is to begin because, “a journey of thousand miles starts from beneath one’s feet.”
And also remember, setting out on this journey alone does not by itself guarantee success. There is beginning and there is persevering, that is beginning again and again and again. Make the desire for growth and excellence your lifetime pursuit.
Make the Growth choice !
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