Guest post from Evans Bowen, Author of Pilgrimage: A Modern Seeker’s Guide
My teachers have always told me that wisdom is knowledge applied to life. We all know wise people who have an insight into life that takes us by surprise. Intelligent people usually speak gently and lovingly because wisdom has taught them that kind words go deeply into the heart without resistance.
Wisdom is such a “big” word but also incredibly simple. I believe that wisdom isn’t something that separates “the wise” from “the ignorant” but that it’s something everyone already has. It’s knowledge that’s both personal and ancestral. When someone is accessing wisdom, they live life with more ease. The wisest people don’t know they’re wise because they’re just living. So finding wisdom is finding the truth inside each of us, guiding us on our unique journeys that are part of the Divine journey.
Today, look deep in your heart where wisdom lies and find some truths that have helped shape your life.
Did they come from a wise grandmother or a book that changed your life? Wisdom can be found in the most simple moments of life or in the most profound spiritual teachings. It can be located deep in your heart. If you take the time to listen, you will begin to hear the wisdom of your inner voice. You won’t have the perfect answers immediately, but time and an open heart will put you in the right direction and let life unfold.
When you listen to the whisperings of your heart – like you did when you first heard the call to take a pilgrimage– you then make an effort and take the following steps on your journey to your authentic self. It is this effort toward the life you desire that opens the doors. The daily steps move you forward, just as you have taken the first tentative steps on your pilgrimage. There is an ambiguity to wisdom. Sometimes, you get the answers you seek; sometimes, you don’t; sometimes, you must let the questions go and live the mystery of life.
Here are a few ways to access the wisdom of your life: first begin with an open and loving heart. This may bring up old sorrows but allows entrance to your soul’s desire. Next, have an observant mind. Notice what is around you and what has been put in the path in front of you. Take the time to stop and notice the flowers and trees, listen to the wind, and pick up the random book on the table. Remember your dreams and look for clues in your life.
The most crucial part of finding wisdom is the willingness to follow your path. The world’s well-trod path will give you the same results everyone else has, and you have asked for more. Courage and wisdom combined bring new opportunities and a new perspective.
On my most challenging day on the Camino, I required my bottomless courage and wisdom to trust myself. Did I have the courage to keep going with a headwind that made every step double the effort? There was no turning back, and I had no choice but to find the strength and keep going. I finally made it to the next town –exhausted but triumphant– because I had found the place in myself to know I could manage a difficult situation and find meaning and purpose in the experience.
Each of us is called to different places and to different journeys as we seek our most meaningful and authentic lives.
Pilgrimage is about devotion, initiation, and transformation. It is a journey from one way of seeing to another. (Page 10) Sometimes, what we need most in our lives is solitude and quiet so we can listen to our hearts. Pilgrimages to monasteries, ashrams, retreat centers, or places of quiet feed the soul.
About The Author of Pilgrimage: A Modern Seeker’s Guide
Evans Bowen’s voice is clear and comforting as she encourages spiritual travelers to engage in mindful journeying before their first footfall on the path. Then she takes us into the heart of the journal of 40 transformative days with her deep questions to lead us toward soulful integration. I highly recommend this work for even the most seasoned traveler. ~ Normandi Ellis award-winning author of Awakening Osiris
Evans Bowen is the creator of The Perpetual Pilgrim, a travel blog inspired by her life of sacred travel. Always a traveler, Evans has been to all 50 states, Peru, Egypt, Jordan, Europe, Thailand, Taiwan, and Cambodia.
In 2014, she walked the 500 miles of the Camino to Santiago, Spain, with her 20-year-old daughter, Alexandra. This 40-day pilgrimage inspired this book. Evans has a BA in Education from the University of Tennessee and is currently working on an MA in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. When not visiting sacred sites, she lives a quiet life in an old farmhouse in rural east Tennessee with her husband, two cats, and lots of books.
Synopsis of the Book
A tradition of all religions, Pilgrimage is a journey to sacred sites as an act of devotion and dedication. It is time to expand the definition of Pilgrimage to inform modern life.
Taking time to visit a place near home or around the globe as an intentional act to open the mind and heart to the Divine brings healing and new meaning to life.
Pilgrimage is both an external journey to a place longed for and an internal journey to the center of our most authentic self.
Each part of the journey, from the first desire to visit a holy place to the return home to integrate the experience, becomes the pilgrimage to expand our world, both body and soul. Combining practical steps for the physical journey and 40 days of inspiration for the spirit, this guide book gives this time-honored journey to the Divine to inform the whole person in our increasingly fragmented world.
Pilgrimage: A Modern Seeker’s Guide by Evans Bowen can be purchased at the Audrey Press Bookstore, Amazon, and Kindle.
