Why Pilgrimage?

by Kathy Doore

I was initially drawn to my first pilgrimage over two decades ago when a friend sent me a photo postcard of Machu Picchu, Peru. In that moment something uncanny happened--I experienced a place recognition at a soul level. It would take 12 more years before I was able to travel there in person. Then the journey changed me in ways I couldn't have imagined at the time.

I don't think it's possible to fully comprehend the enormity of a pilgrimage unless you've actually taken one. It's a living experience. No amount of words can adequately convey this. So I encourage anyone who deeply desires to journey to a sacred place, to simply go.

Long before the first step was taken I was given subtle messages, synchronicities, alerting me to the possibility that I might not be returning from this quest. In fact, I was told it might challenge me in ways incomprehensible, that I might even die. This caused me no small amount of consternation. At that time, but not now, Peru was in the middle of cultural and political upheavel. My decision to take the journey culminated in a telephone call from a friend who worked in Peru, and knew the country well. He encouraged me to follow my heart and to use common sense. His matter-of-fact groundedness helped me reclaim my own. It was shortly after this conversation that I vowed to take the journey. At that point I realized that the death, that kept coming up for me, might well be a metaphor, although the people around me didn't think so. There was pressure from loved ones not to take the journey. I have come to realize that others will often mirror their fear back to you. Prepare to be tested.

In order to overcome these obstacles it was necessary for me to stand firmly in my inner knowingness. This is a singular path and it is not an easy journey. Therefore, it's important from the very beginning to realize that a pilgrimage is NOT a vacation, nor is it for the faint of heart -- it is the process of actualizing a spiritual transformation. Inner resolution is absolutely necessary if you are to gain the gifts you seek.

I had voiced my intent to take the journey. This was a major decision for me, as I had long known that I didn't want to continue my life in the same manner I'd been living. Spirit had gently begun my wake-up. I didn't know it at the time, but I had already taken my first step. The pilgrimage had begun simply with the intent to do so.

I would in fact die a spiritual death on that journey. The "small death" is the releasing of the outer life to make way for an internal transformation. My intuitive senses had been right. Following the pilgrimage, the process of undoing lasted for several months, allowing a new life to come forth. In releasing the old I was able to make a profound leap into the new. At a soul level, I was in agreement with the process.

It is said that when the student is ready, the master will appear. Although I had no living mentor or guru to facilitate the journey, the process was lovingly guided. I was deeply aware of this gentle force sustaining me throughout the transformation. I was only given what I was ready for--a classic awakening guided entirely by one's connection to Source. A spiritual teacher or guru may help you avoid many pitfalls, but ultimately it is a singular journey.

There are many fine books written on pilgrimage and the awakening process, including the rising of the kundalini. Throughout the ages ordinary people have encountered different levels of kundalini rising as their experience spontaneously unfolds. When this energy rises it activates our inherit light codes and the abilities associated with them. The kundalini is not a mysterious force, although it may seem so at the time, but quite simply our life force connection to the Divne.

If you seek true enlightenment you must take the inner journey. However, you need not experience the utter and complete unfolding of the kundalini to come away with inner gifts. It's what you bring to the moment that's important. You can make giant leaps or take small baby steps in your unfolding. This is your special gift to you, when you are ready for it. The sacred place is, of course, within. But it is the magic of these outer places that can facilitate years of questing, into single moments of pure illumination, and that is why we go.