Among the many virtues of the late Dom Bede Griffiths, his implicit trust in Divine Providence stands high on the list. I remember days when Christudas, the administrator of the Ashram, would approach him and mention the absence of funds to keep the Ashram running. Bede would always smile knowingly and say, "be patient Christudas" or "don't worry, we'll be fine". Sure enough, money would arrive from some source in time to make the transition smooth and worry free. This of course did not stop Christudas' growing alarm till the funds arrived.

Anxiety about outcomes is a major factor for stress in Western Culture. Everything is so well delineated and clearly mapped out. If a sign on the freeway says that it's three fourths of a mile to an exit you know that you can clock your odometer and verify the distance to be correct to a fraction of a mile. The East is just the opposite: it is the land of the unexpected. There are maps and rules and guidelines but there isn't the slightest indication that everything is going according to plan. The popular answer, "soon coming", to an inquiry about the arrival of a train could mean a few minutes to a few hours. The real answer under the reply is "Don't worry. Whatever time the train arrives is just right. It has been ordained this way by Divine Providence and you are meant to be here on this railway platform till then. Bhagavan, the Beloved, has mysterious designs. Trust in that Great Mind and you will not need to suffer this delay."

India is amazing. It is remarkable to observe how stress-free many Indians are despite the harshness of their lifestyles and environments. Their secret to stress release seems to lie in their extraordinary capacity to accept what life places on their path; there is a genuine sense of trust that whatever is happening is happening for the best. Many modern spiritual teachers are finding innovative ways of helping us achieve this in the West but the masses think differently. You can have what you want now! There is always someone willing to give it to you, at low cost, differed payment, or on credit.

Pilgrimage is a time that we set apart from our regular pace of expected outcomes and surrender ourselves completely to the joy of the moment. Willing to be surprised and challenged by the unexpected, we relearn how to trust implicitly in Divine Providence and rediscover the power of being protected by God's love and God's care. "Oh you of little faith, observe the lilies of the field and the birds of the air…" In our competitive work environments, we are obsessively self-reliant and have little place for trust, our eyes unwaveringly fixed on the stock market quotes of the day. Life is all about getting ahead and not about being here now. The price is a distressing mangle of physical and mental complications.

Historically, Christianity's emphasis on the past, the crucifixion and resurrection, and the future, the preparation and anticipation of Jesus' second coming, has often diminished the power and reverence for the present moment. This power of the present moment is well addressed in eastern spirituality and perhaps explains why many in West look to the East for answers and ways of coping with life. A comical representation of this was expressed in a cartoon I once saw that depicted a doomsday prophet with disheveled hair and a large placard announcing "Beware! Jesus said, `I am coming'". He is marching toward a street corner and around the bend, shielded from his view, is a bald headed Buddhist monk seated on the sidewalk holding a small placard displaying, "Be Aware! Buddha say, "Be here now'"!

The experience of being in India and living at a Christian ashram offers each one of us many wonderful ways of appreciating both Christianity as well as Hinduism.  We learn to compare "shadow with shadow and light with light".  When we are confined to the perspective of one culture, it is hard to appreciate the value of another.  This is why exposing ourselves to another tradition is immensely rewarding.  Invariably, this process invokes in us a deeper respect for our own roots.

January 2002 was not a comfortable time to travel. Not too long after September 11th, with the threat of nuclear weapons ready on the border between India and Pakistan and a full-scale war being waged in Afghanistan, it was a tense undertaking to say the least. We were deeply moved by our retreatants who were keen on making the pilgrimage despite all the heavy news updates that we were receiving through the media.  Their trust and their faith in Divine Providence were nothing less than phenomenal. This is the true spirit of pilgrimage and we were all struck by the sense of profound blessing throughout our journey.

Safety has become relative, the planet has grown even smaller and life has come to mean more than the physical body. The titles of Fr. Bede's books are aptly indicative of what is happening today. We are indeed awakening to a New Vision Of Reality, the Marriage Of East And West is taking place in many fields and our common need to Return To The Center in midst of all this chaos has never been truer.

Have you experienced pilgrimage on such a scale?  Temporarily letting go of your family, your friends, your occupation and life as you are used to it, and trusting completely in the unknown can lead you through a path of self-discovery and spiritual adventure that is unparalleled.  You return refreshed, nourished, seeing with new eyes and feeling with a new heart. Journeying to Find the Other Half of the Soul has enhanced the lives of our participants. Year after year we receive heart-moving responses and people continue to return with us again and again.

Pilgrimage has become essential to our lives. Shantivanam and India rejuvenate our spirits and give us the perspective to live with a constant sense of the sacred in the West. We will be journeying again in January of 2003 and we would love to have you with us.

Russill Paul