Spiritual gathering and pilgrimage

From time immemorial, humans have long travelled to holy destinations seeking sacredness and peace, enduring hardships like walking barefoot, bathing in cold rivers, and chanting God's names. These pilgrimages test their endurance, faith, and commitment, often taking them through tough terrains and adverse weather. Today in India, large groups gather to show their love and respect to God. This month, millions of yogis come from forest caves for a holy dip in sacred rivers. Thousands of devotees visit the sacred mountain to witness a holy light near the temple in the evening.

While often seen as a path to liberation from sins, these journeys mainly focus on personal transformation, helping individuals develop detachment and strengthen their relationship with God. Since ancient times, people have undertaken these pilgrimages without modern conveniences, facing numerous hardships such as walking through forests and encountering wild animals. They relied on astronomical signs and planetary alignments for timing, managed their food supplies, and returned to their routines once their mission was complete.

Various spiritual paths offer different pilgrimage methods. As individuals grow spiritually, they often transition from physical rituals to meditation, which expands awareness to universal consciousness. Self-inquiry, an advanced practice, uses focused attention to dispel illusions and move inward without physical movement. Any method that purifies the conditioned mind is similar to holy water, making the process itself a pilgrimage for the individual. This post is dedicated to the numerous devotees participating in Maha Kumbh and Sabarimala.

Year 2025

The previous year 2024 marked many major concerns that  include wars, global elections, extreme heat, and the unnoticed shift of the north magnetic pole.

The newly elected political leaders working on expanding their empire over fulfilling promises to reduce inflation. One might wonder how certain leaders attained their roles despite lacking ethics and morals. In the peak of kali yuga, unfit individuals often hold esteemed positions globally. Same goes for the mainstream media, which is ever busy manipulating facts, while a few social media influencers strive to reveal the truth. 

Year 2025 began with incidents like plane crash, an earthquake, winter storm and wildfires. It is likely there will be more events that would unfold. External events change internal priorities, demanding everyone to adapt and transform to survive.

The long-anticipated collapse of human systems and long delay in emergence of Lord Kalki, the world spiritual leader is testing the patience of those awaiting a new era of Truth. Some have nearly lost hope. Some have forgot about it. One must come to the realisation that expected events may take time to manifest. There is a saying, "Light comes, slowly, gradually, but surely!"

Recently a department store worker told that his 2025 resolution is to pray more and increase meditation. Individuals like him inspire hope for a better tomorrow.