PREMA JYOTHI - Newsletter of the Prema Trust and Sacred Earth Community May 2025
“Remember that with every step, you are nearing God; and God too, takes ten steps towards you when you take one step towards God. There is no stopping place in this pilgrimage; it is one continuous journey, through day and night; through valley and desert; through tears and smiles; through death and birth, through tomb and womb. When the road ends, and the Goal is gained, pilgrims find that they have travelled only from themselves to themselves, that the way was long and lonesome, but the God that led the pilgrims unto it was all the while in them, around them, with them, and beside them! The pilgrims were always Divine. The yearning to merge in God was but the sea calling to the Ocean! Humans love because they are Love! Humans crave for melody and harmony, because they are melody and harmony. Humans seek Joy, for they are Joy. Humans thirst for God, for they are composed of God, and they cannot exist without God. “ Sathya Sai
This month’s newsletter sees us exploring the fascinating topic of pilgrimage. All cultures have, to a greater or lesser degree the practice of pilgrimage. The methods and nature of the pilgrimages may differ, but the essential drive to travel to sacred places is inherent in humanity as a whole. During our exploration we will come to understand that, at the heart of the urge to travel to these special places, is deep devotion that arises from a place inside ourselves. Whether it is a Muslim going on The Haj, a Christian journeying to Lourdes or Rome, a Hindu travelling to Varanasi or Kailash or a Buddhist to Sarnath or Bodhgaya, the urge to the be close to the Divine source is strong in humans. Could it be that the outer pilgrimage is reflective of the inner urge to come back to our true source, our true nature?
Let us embark on our exploration with the faith, love and insight of the pilgrim seeking the sacredness of the holy place. - Satyavan
The Pilgrimage
Before we take the first step on our journey, it may be useful to ponder the following:
A spiritual journey is a journey you would take to find out who you are, what your problems are in life, and how to come to peace with the world. The purpose of a spiritual journey is rarely to find an answer; rather, it is a process of continually asking questions. I cannot say what a spiritual journey should look like but there are tools that may be important in structuring such a journey.
Preparation
Before a great journey, preparation is required. This may involve:
Emptying the head of all unwanted thoughts
Filling the heart to overflowing with Divine thought
Slowing down, awakening to, and tasting subtle energy
Contemplating the wider existence beyond the mind
Seek the blessings of the inner or outer teacher
Beginning the process of detoxifying on the inner and outer. Reduce bad habits and create at least one new good habit
Come to realise that the journey is not only an outer one but, perhaps more importantly, an inner one. The journey from the self to the Self.
What to take on a pilgrimage (an inner list)
A pilgrimage is a conscious journey. Before we embark upon such an endeavour it is important to be mindful of its purpose, to be loving towards all we meet, and to be ever light and free in our being. To embark on a pilgrimage is to take as little luggage as possible. As Sai states:
“Reduce the luggage you carry about, when on the journey of life. Remember, all that is not 'you' is luggage! You are not the body. So, the body is an item of luggage. The mind, the senses, the intelligence, the imagination, the desires, the plans, the prejudices, the discontent, the distress all, all are items of luggage. Jettison them, soon, to make your travel lighter, safer and more comfortable. Learn this lesson watching the great, who are humble and simple. They are the elders whom you should admire and follow. They are the people who bring forth your tears when they pass away; there are others who bring forth your tears, when they pass your way! They are to be avoided. – Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Ground of Being
We all have access to the ground of being, this our own true nature. We overlay it with our minds, our conditioning, desires and attachments. Our version of who we think we are, is built on these concepts
If we can lay all this at the feet of silence, we will discover all the happiness and joy and love we have been searching for, is our own Self
Meditation - Discovering our natural state
Once we identify ourselves with something we are not, we lose the One we really are! If we lessen our identification with something we are not through by shedding these perceptions and attachments along the path as we traverse the pilgrim road, we become more aligned with the purpose of the pilgrimage. One key to facilitating this process is meditation.
In meditation we are not drawing predominant experience from the outside world, but the inner source, wherein we come face to face with our true nature. Meditation is a true companion who will help us as we traverse the pilgrim road.
Be in the Now
On a pilgrimage, we can easily become distracted with the journey’s end, forgetting to enjoy what is in front of us. Whilst pilgrimages have a goal in mind – to reach the sacred place – it is best to be mindful of the sacred place within us! To do this, we can become friendly with the now and welcome what is, transforming the present circumstances into our friend and teacher. In that way we honour each moment on the path, each delight, each challenge, each moment of insight. We begin see our lives unfold with an ease. Not so much that the journey becomes easier, that the heart begins to feel at home with itself, more aligned with our inner being, despite the circumstances. When we enter the now, all we experience as a pilgrim becomes sacred.
A simple but radical spiritual practice is to accept what arises in the moment within and without. - Savitri
Experiences on the Path
Pilgrimage to a Sacred Cave
In 1976 I was in India. The journey had started out as a journey of discovery, as I had been drawn to India from a young age. The seed was planted by my teacher at the age of 12 years and, in the back of my consciousness, I guess there was always the possibility that I would sometime go to India. I had no idea what would unfold, a characteristic of the whole journey that is reflected in this short narration of a chapter that occurred.
Somehow, I had this desire to go to Kashmir. After leaving Sai’s Ashram, I travelled north and ended up in Delhi. I was at somewhat of loss as to where to next. I was also running short of funds, and even contemplated returning to Australia to work and earn so that I could stay longer in India. This is when the desire to visit Kashmir opened in the heart. Catching a train and a bus, I found myself descending into the beautiful valley of Kashmir. With the backdrop of mountains, and the green of meadows and trees, it was a stark contrast to the stifling heat and brown landscape of the Indian plains.
Houseboats on Dal Lake - Kashmiir
It was an instinctive choice, to visit this famed valley. It was also somewhat impulsive, as my money belt was not looking healthy at all. Once in Srinagar, I was able to find some accommodation on a houseboat that floated on the lake. Whilst there, I was told that I should go and visit Ladakh. This was tempting, but something in my heart whispered that this was not the choice I should make. It was then I heard of Amarnath Cave. The realisation came that this was, somehow, a better choice. I had been travelling, but really wasn’t very fit, and the cave was said to be high up in the mountains. Still, I knew I had to take that walk up to the sacred cave. I knew so little about it, only that the trail started at a place called Pahalgam.
Setting off from Srinagar on a crowded bus, I reached Pahalgam in the afternoon of the same day and started to walk. It was a short distance when I was accosted by a fellow who said that I needed to take a guide, and he would be the one to show me the way. He said that the way was difficult and he would carry me there on the back of his pony. I prevaricated within myself, mostly because of the cost, but also as I knew my fitness was a factor. Giving into fear, I accepted his offer and climbed on the pony. I have never really been a horseperson, and the ride on the pony was uncomfortable. I soon found myself walking, along, puffing and panting (for it was at some altitude).
After some time I became enraptured with the surroundings. The mountains were unbelievable to me, as I had never really been in mountainous country like that. We passed a magnificent lake and, after spending the night in a shepherd’s shelter (a fire to warm the body and soul) we traversed the steep incline up to Amarnath Cave.
The awe inspiring Amarnath Cave
This cave has been revered by Hindus for centuries. It has an ice formation that waxes and wanes according to the moon cycles. On full moon the ice sheet forms a large Shiva Lingam which, at new moon becomes a flat surface. As it was around new moon I was not expecting to see much or to feel anything significant. How wrong I was!
The Ice Lingam
The cave is large and the entrance opens up to the surroundings, so there is a grand view across the valley. It is, indeed an impressive cavern temple. However, after the climb I was not really in a fit state to take in the surroundings. I felt tired and lonely somehow and wondered why I had come to this remote place, when could have been taking a lovely bus ride to Ladakh.
These feelings were about to change. On stepping into the cave I was struck with a powerful sense. I was not quite sure what it was, but it felt strongly that Sai was giving me darshan in the form of Amarnath (Lord Shiva). I was so stunned I sat down and went inside. (On this journey I had begun to attempt meditation when I stayed with Sai in Southern India. But stilling the mind had always eluded me, leaving me dispirited about my prospects.) When I sat in the cave something extraordinary came over me. I was plunged into a place a deep surety. It wasn’t a trance or even a stillness, just a sense that I was to leave India and travel to the UK. There was no rhyme or reason behind this sense, but I felt strongly that this was what Sai wished for me. This was like a command rather than simply an intuition. What came through was that I was to travel directly to the UK. I wasn’t to stop or take side trips.
Coming down from the cave to Srinagar, I arranged to travel by bus and train back to Delhi, from where I could set off on the long road to London. The mind is always rebellious, and I had a thought to take a (forbidden) side trip to Rishikesh, a place I had long yearned to visit. To do this required me to leave the Delhi train at a certain stop, where I could catch another train to Rishikesh. But Sai had other ideas, I fell asleep on the train and missed the junction! It was then that I knew I had to follow His command and make my way to the UK. On that journey, every time I had the thought to take a side trip, something happened to thwart that desire. However, there was great grace. I travelled from Delhi to London on $100US!
In the UK I was to find my path forward in life. I was introduced to natural medicine by some friends and knew in my heart that was the route I was to follow. In a sense, a continuation of a lifelong pilgrimage.
These occurrences show clearly that a pilgrimage is often a journey into the unknown. We find ourselves having to move into a place of uncertainty. But that great unknowing can also be a pathway to exquisite grace, we simply have to move with the heart and let the mind take a backseat. May we all be blessed with such Divine Uncertainty and Divine Grace. – Satyavan
The Long Pilgrimage – A story of spiritual tenacity and wise courage
Baba at 90 years
In the 19th Century, a little-known Indian sadhu left India to complete a circumambulation of the planet. His name was Sri Govindananda Bharati (later known as Shivapuri Baba), and he was responding to a directive from his grandfather and guru to first meditate until he became Self-Realised, then take a pilgrimage around the world. In India many sadhus and swamis are required to take a ‘world circumambulation’, which is usually meant as a journey around the Indian sub-continent. However, Govindananda’s grandfather told him he had to traverse the whole globe.
The young sadhu followed his grandfather’s instructions and went into the forest to meditate. After 25 years in the forest, at the age of 50, he achieved the beatific vision and became aware of the divine as absolute, beyond name and form, which in Vedanta is considered the highest and most difficult stage of God-realisation. He then set off to walk around the world. Fortunately, his grandfather had revealed the location of the family fortune, buried in the same forest that he was meditating in, so he was able to finance his own journey, and not be reliant on begging as so many other sadhus are.
After visiting many sacred sites in India, as well as meeting two great Indian spiritual luminaries, Sr Ramakrishna and Sri Aurobindo, he left the sub-continent heading westward. Crossing into Afghanistan (Pakistan wasn’t a country in those days) and onward to Persia (Iran), he had no difficulty travelling through Islamic countries, able to mingle with people from all faiths. From Persia, crossing the gulf to Arabia, he even visited Mecca. (Visiting Mecca for a non-Muslim is almost impossible, but Govindananda had made a habit of achieving the impossible!
Showing a preference for travelling to holy places on the globe, he travelled through Jerusalem and Turkey, coming into Europe through Greece and on to Rome. Illustrating his ecumenical outlook, his intention was to better understand the religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
The English Indian Secretariat had heard of his travels and decided to invite him to England. In London, he was surprisingly asked to attend Queen Victoria at the palace. The Queen had recently lost several family members, including her beloved husband Albert, and is said to have had many questions of a spiritual nature that none of her Christian spiritual advisors were able to answer. She asked him to stay with her for several years, meeting the sage eighteen times over that period. It seems that he gave her great solace in her grief as well as imparting the spiritual wisdom and understanding that the Queen craved.
Whilst in London, Baba met George Bernard Shaw (a famous writer and commentator of the time) who remarked after Baba was late for a meeting, “I don’t like Hindu yogis because you people have no respect for time”, to which Baba replied rather calmly, “You Westerners are slaves of time, but we dwell in the realm uncontaminated by the clutch of time, and are hence beyond its bondage.”
After Victoria died in 1901, Govindananda took a ship to the US. There he met the president Theodore Roosevelt and spent two to three years there. Thus, he was actually the second great Indian sage (after Vivekananda) to visit the US. Yogananda came to the US many years later. It is perhaps surprising that little information exists about Govindananda’s time in that country.
Leaving the US, he travelled through Central and South America, visiting the Andes in Peru. Following his time on the Americas, he took a boat through the Pacific Islands and even came to New Zealand and Australia. (A search of Papers Past website reveals no mention of his visit to New Zealand!) 1913 found him in Japan, from whence he travelled to China and, following an old pilgrim route (possibly past Kailash but there is no mention of it) he passed through Nepal and back to India. He lived in a few places but eventually settled in the Shivapuri Forest in Nepal. He was called The Shivapuri Baba from then on, living in that forest hermitage until his passing at the age of 135.
Shivapuri Baba died on January 28, 1963. His final words were: "Live Right Life, Worship God. That is all. Nothing more." Taking a drink of water, he uttered the words "Gaya" (meaning I'm gone). He then lay on his right side and left the body. His teaching was centred around dharma (right living) and God-Realisation. He is not known to have any disciples as such, but he taught that message to all who came to him.
In total he travelled 25,000 miles, mostly on foot! What faith he must have had, firstly to undertake such a long journey at the direction of his grandfather, secondly to have a broad vision to visit sacred sites of many religions. His time in London with the Queen demonstrates how much wisdom and insight he possessed. His is an example of a true pilgrim. He followed the command of his grandfather/guru and set off with determination. We may not have a physical guru, but we have wise hearts, which can guide us. A pilgrimage may not be around the world physically, but we can all follow the example of Ganesha in the following story.
Ganesha and His Parents
A Wise Pilgrimage
Shiva, Parvati (parents) Ganesha and Subramanyam (children) are a family, the stories of whom make instructive tales. One tale tells of Shiva and Parvati asking their children to have a race around the world. They would reward the winner by showering boons. Subramanyam rides a peacock, but Ganesha rides a mouse! How could Ganesha beat Subramanyam – impossible! However, Subramanyam is impetuous and heads off to circumambulate the world. Ganesha is wise and knows he cannot beat Subramanyam in such a race. He is also intelligence personified, and he immediately understands that there is a way to win this race. He simply circumambulates his parents, Shiva and Paravati. Shiva is puzzled as to why Ganesha has done this and asks him, “Ganesha, should you not be racing around the world, not going round us?” Ganesha responds, “Lord Father and Mother, to me, you are my world, so I went round you.”
Shiva and Parvati were very pleased with this answer and rewarded Ganesha with the honour of being the deity who is worshipped before all others in rituals. (There is no mention of Subramanyam’s reaction. However, he was given the task of leading the armies of heaven, so I guess he was satisfied.)
This story indicates that the pilgrimages we undertake must be guided by intelligence and skill, as well as faith and love. It is an inner calling to take a step on the road. Will we answer that inner calling, or be too afraid to move into the unknown, to take Te Rerenga Wairua (the spiritual leap).
May all of us find the pilgrim path within and without our journey. May our steps be firm, but light. May our hearts be full and yet fly on wings of faith. May we all reach the sacred place within our own being. - Satyavan
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