Vow: Pilgrimage Week 1: 143 miles, San Diego to San Bernardino

What is a pilgrimage? How is what we are doing different from a road trip or a long distance race? 

In many ways it is not. Yet, the intention is. What we are doing is not primarily for enjoyment, nor to have an experience, nor learn something, it’s not to win nor to have a good story. Not that any of those intentions are wrong or bad, or that they don’t simultaneously happen alongside our primary intention. Yet, our intention is a spiritual one. It is for the awakening of ourselves, all those who do and will practice with us, and all of life. And it is to gather financial resources so that we may establish a center towards this purpose at Bells Mountain. 

Because the seeds of greed, anger, and delusion are alive in all but the most saintly of us, we must make regular efforts to remind ourselves and stay aligned with our most true and clear intentions. In the mornings we do three full bows and make the following prayer: 

There are myriad suffering sentient beings in this world, of which I am one. Today we embark on spiritual pilgrimage, (I on foot), that we may found a place of deep, sincere, and courageous spiritual practice, wherein people may exercise their faith in the basic goodness of this life, become intimate with and release the causes of pain, fear, and misalignment, and live lives of true connection, contentment, and compassion.

Maezumi Roshi, our teachers' teacher, would say that our forms and rituals make the invisible, visible. These bows and prayers remind us of our truest intentions, the invisible currents of love, wisdom, and joy functioning in us. 

It’s a lot of work running 25-30 miles a day in the hot sun! It’s a lot of work taking care of a baby and a dog in a van, doing all the online stuff of running a fundraiser, staying in touch with everyone, plus getting gas, groceries, water, cooking, doing laundry and all the chores of everyday living. There’s always a list of things to do. If we loose touch with our primary vow, it gets stressful and we wonder why we are doing it. But if we keep our breath deep and our minds and hearts wide with the prayer for the awakening of everyone we encounter, it’s all worth it and each moment becomes an opportunity to let go of whatever stress we are carrying and enter the current of our vow.

~Shinei