Pilgrimage Coming Home Letter

Fellow Pilgrims,

As we journeyed together I took upon myself the holy work of reminding us of the meaning of pilgrimage at every step. It’s so easy to go unconscious, to become mere observers, rather than holy participants in the unfolding of Life’s mystery. To be a pilgrim means to receive each moment as precious and significant and integral to the whole of the journey.

I am as forgetful as anyone. The only thing that keeps me “in remembrance” is being in service to you. And so I made it my job to be guided by these questions that I asked at every opportunity along the path of our pilgrimage:

What is the power of this place?
How can I honor the ancestors of this place?
What is the significance of this moment to the whole of our journey?
How can I open my heart to receive the precious gift of this moment?
What is the hidden blessing?
What spiritual challenge is being given?
What practice can help me?
What can I learn?
How can we serve each other along the way?
How can I use the outer circumstance of this now, to become self-aware?
How can I dedicate the power of this moment in service to my loved ones, community, world?

After we parted in Lima, I had a hard journey home. My flight was delayed and then finally cancelled. I was getting a bad cold which has since turned into an even worse sinus infection. And in the midst of all these difficulties, I missed you all and felt the blessing of our journey together.

My Pilgrimage culminated in one expanded moment of realization that I experienced at 4:30 in the morning at my sister-in-law’s house in Tyler Texas, on my way home. It was such an amazing moment that wrapped up the gift of pilgrimage and handed it to me to open. I’ll try to explain its power.

Sometimes it happens in the process of waking up, that there is a space between the soul-reality and the person that you are and your particular incarnation. And as you wake up you are briefly aware of that space between. It is as if you had gone home to your expanded soul and then as you wake up, you return to the particular personality, identity, and circumstance of this life.

Well, as I was waking up to a not-very-pleasant moment of being sick in Tyler Texas, I was able to hear the message of my soul that said, “The practice of pilgrimage that you are teaching your students is really the same practice that I’ve been trying to teach you. From my perspective, this lifetime that you are living is like a ten-day pilgrimage. Those very same questions that you asked during your journey to Peru are the questions that I, as your soul wisdom, have been trying to teach you to ask about this very life.”

In that moment I was able to see my life from my soul’s perspective, as one very interesting pilgrimage through the lands of incarnation. And then as I slipped back into the familiar landscape of my life, I tried to remember the perspective of my soul. And as I deal with the everyday challenges of being sick and paying bills and answering emails, I still try to remember.

In that moment the gift of my pilgrimage was given to me. In every gift, in every blessing there is a spiritual challenge to be unwrapped. How do I keep remembering to be guided by those questions of pilgrimage? How do I access the perspective of soul even as I dive into the challenges of this life?

This exploration of The Art of Pilgrimage was really my first experiment in taking what I’ve learned about sacred travel and attempting to teach about it. I hope to learn from my mistakes. And I would also love to hear what you have learned from this practice as the lessons settle in you. It has truly been an honor to journey with you.

May the gifts of our pilgrimage continue to be unwrapped.

With love,
Shefa