Tourist and a Pilgrim: Take The Journey Within
Both of them are on a journey. Then, what is the difference between a tourist and a pilgrim? While a tourist is satisfying the senses, a pilgrim is in the quest for truth. A tourist gets tired and tanned, while a pilgrim radiates with spiritual energy. Every move a pilgrim makes is filled with sacredness and gratitude, while a tourist is often preoccupied and unaware. A tourist compares with other experiences and places, and so the mind is not in the present moment. But a real pilgrim has a sense of sacredness, so he tends to be in the present moment completely.
Most people in life are just tourists without even being aware of it. Only a few make their life a pilgrimage. Tourists come, look around, take pictures in their minds, only to come back again. Pilgrims are at home everywhere and are hollow and empty. Tourists go from place to place looking for beauty, but they return tired and tanned.
Do you know which is the most beautiful spot in the world?
When you come here, you find that wherever you are, everything is beautiful. Where is this place? Don’t look here and there. It’s right within you.
If you are unhappy, you find the sweetest things nauseate you, good music disturbs you, and even the moon or the rain irritates you. When you are calm and centred, noise is musical, clouds are magical, and rain is liquid sunshine. Often, people run after parties and celebrations, but for the one who doesn’t run after them, parties and celebrations simply follow. If you are running after parties, loneliness comes to you, but if you are in the solitude of the self, parties surround you. It all depends on you.
The dilemma of life is that everyone is looking for a perfect balance. People who are in the company of others all the time look for the comfort of solitude. People who are in solitude feel lonely and want companionship. People who are in a cold place want to be in a warm place. People who are in a warm place would do anything to get away somewhere cooler. But few people know that perfect balance is like a razor’s edge. It can only be found in the Self.
There is a story. Ten people were travelling from one village to another. On the way, they had to cross a river. After crossing, they wanted to be sure everyone had crossed. Each one started to count and counted only nine people. They were very distraught and began to cry over the loss of the tenth one. A wise man came along and asked them, “My dear friends, why are you crying?” One of them replied, “We were ten, but now we are only nine.” The wise man saw they were ten, so he asked them to count again. Each counted nine but left themselves out. Then the wise man made them count again, and he said to the last person, “You are the tenth!” and they all rejoiced for having regained the tenth.
Similarly, the five senses and the four inner faculties (mind, intellect, memory, ego) all lament when they lose sight of the Self. The joy is in finding the ever-present.
With the knowledge of the Self, everything is truly joyful. Wisdom that doesn’t give rise to feeling is incomplete. Feeling that doesn’t translate into action is incomplete. Action that doesn’t give rise to fulfilment is incomplete. Fulfilment is returning to the Self.
Often, people think of the Self as only this mind-body complex. This is an erroneous notion. Neither the body nor the mind is the Self. All the yoga you do is for the body. All the meditation you do is for the mind. Whether calm or disturbed, your mind remains the mind. Whether sick or healthy, your body remains your body. But the Self is all-encompassing.
Among all the planets in the solar system, the Earth is privileged to host life in its many forms, and among all species, humans are most privileged, for they can host knowledge. Again and again, you must remember that you are peace, you are love, you are joy, and that you are hosting the Creator. This gratitude is important to embark on the inward journey. If you are blaming and complaining, how can you move closer to your Self?
The only purpose for this body to exist is to make you aware of how beautiful you are, and to make you aware that it is possible to live all the values you cherish and create a world of divinity around you. Like the birds returning to their nests, again and again come back to your source; only there can you realise that you host the Creator.
If we take out some time, say two or three days in a year, to be in silence and simply observe our own thoughts and emotions, then you will get a sense of what quietness is, what beauty is. The ease with which you are able to handle your environment, or the situation around you, is what I would call being able to utilise your full potential. When you are in touch with your full potential, nothing or nobody can shake you. Silence puts you in touch with your own Self.
Becoming spiritual simply means recognising life everywhere, the spirit everywhere. I don’t see a division between the spiritual and the material. The finest aspect of matter is spirit. The gross aspect of spirit is matter. It’s like body and mind. You see through the eyes, but actually the eyes are the means through which the mind sees. The mind is the spirit. The whole world is a combination of spirit and matter.
Inner journey and events in the world reflect each other. It is a big secret. If you are happy inside, you are able to work dynamically outside. The more dynamic you are, the deeper and better your rest and meditation. Therefore, being spirited, happy, compassionate, loving, and generous are also spiritual practices.
See your whole past as a dream. In the future too, you will accomplish many things, and they will all pass like a dream. Knowing this and being aware of it, the space within us starts to open up, and we experience heightened awareness.
Repose in that peaceful, cool, calm, serene depth of your being - this is precious. Bring the mind, which is all over the place, back to its source. It is only when you come to yourself that every place looks beautiful. And wherever you go, you add beauty and bring comfort to others. Book yourself on a trip to this most beautiful place in the universe. Then you will find that every day is a vacation and a celebration. Become a pilgrim.
