"Life will always conspire to give you everything you deserve and everything you desire."
The line above is what I wrote after my first experience around Shikoku in 2011. Maybe what I would add is that that there is nothing conspiratorial and looking at my own life, life has mostly been the outcome of decisions I consciously and unconsciously made. I didn't expect to do this journey again so soon or to do it again in this life time. The fact that I did, was maybe because I was fortunate enough to be able to make the choice and because all the choices I had made lead me down the same path again. I've always been interested in two simple questions, namely - "Why am I here ?" and "Why am I what I am ?" and even before I did my very first pilgrimage I had my answers to these.
|
The first pilgrimage simply helped to reinforce what I already felt regarding these two questions. More interestingly, during this pilgrimage I realised that maybe these were not the best questions to be asking myself. As I continued on my journey I thought that maybe better questions to ask were "What purpose can I serve in this life ?" and "How can I be what I want to be ?"
The second time round was to take a step backwards, slow down and think about where my life was heading. What I wanted was to cultivate a more fertile mind into which I could sow seeds of the sort of changes I wanted to see in my life, especially in my inner life. That more fertile mind slowly took shape as my journey progressed around Shikoku and whatever the results are, they will be fair and just because thoughts are like actions and out of those thoughts our lives take shape. Good comes out of good thoughts. Foolishness comes out of foolish thoughts. This at least seemed to be true for me, when I looked back on my own life.
And like the first time, there were moments of peace and calm, when I felt in tune with a higher spirit and just like the first time I was left with that same feeling of immense gratitude. A feeling of gratitude for being fortunate enough to experience that something which words alone are not enough to express.
The second time round was to take a step backwards, slow down and think about where my life was heading. What I wanted was to cultivate a more fertile mind into which I could sow seeds of the sort of changes I wanted to see in my life, especially in my inner life. That more fertile mind slowly took shape as my journey progressed around Shikoku and whatever the results are, they will be fair and just because thoughts are like actions and out of those thoughts our lives take shape. Good comes out of good thoughts. Foolishness comes out of foolish thoughts. This at least seemed to be true for me, when I looked back on my own life.
And like the first time, there were moments of peace and calm, when I felt in tune with a higher spirit and just like the first time I was left with that same feeling of immense gratitude. A feeling of gratitude for being fortunate enough to experience that something which words alone are not enough to express.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to all my fellow pilgrims, the temple staff and the scores of ordinary people I met along the way. For me, the pilgrimage could not have been what it was without them. The ordinary people looked at me as someone special for doing the pilgrimage but it was they who were special. It was through the support and encouragement of some of these extra-ordinary people that I came away with a fuller appreciation of the ohenro spirit.
I conclude as before by thanking God, that force for good that guides us through that other journey, the journey we call Life.
I conclude as before by thanking God, that force for good that guides us through that other journey, the journey we call Life.
CONTACT
The purpose for creating this site was to document my journey for my own reference and to help others who might be thinking of doing the pilgrimage themselves. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.