Pilgrimage making progress on a spiritual Path

Pilgrims travel for spiritual reasons in a search to find meaning and purpose in their lives and to return spiritually rejuvenated. There are special destinations that by their nature help trigger this transformation.

"Holy places are undoubtedly centres of the outpouring of Divine grace, because on entering … and by observing reverence, both physical and spiritual, one's heart is moved with great tenderness."

Bahá’u’lláh

In order to experience this tenderness, there are things to avoid such as hypocrisy, pride or self-preoccupation.  Using valuable energy hiding the very worst of oneself is a waste of time in these special places. Pretence, prevarication or performance have no place here. True pilgrimage is facing up to what you are, warts and all, and being honest as you walk this path through life. 

The other thing that can distract you from this spiritual journey is focussing on the faults of those around you.  C.S. Lewis in his Screwtape Letters (Letters from a senior devil to a junior devil) gave a wonderful description of how this works as he advises the junior devil to merely focus the attention of a new member of the church’s congregation on those around him and how effective this is at distancing him from his spiritual path.

“When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbours whom he has hitherto avoided … Provided that any of those neighbours sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous.”

 C.S. Lewis

Too often the focus strays onto ourselves or others instead of the inspiration we seek.  On this spiritual journey, clarity or insights can suddenly bubble up. During this pilgrimage, you sense that God knows you better than you know yourself. Gradually a new you is uncovered as veils are removed between you and your own heart. You lean into God’s mercy and compassion and solace can come more easily. 

You may cry, beg or bring your deepest wishes. It helps to listen in heart-stopping silences to leave space for the guidance that may come unexpectedly. Leave it safely in His hands. Trust that only He knows the best path for you.  However, be aware, that this spiritual path is often full of a heady mix of emotions and experiences.

"This is the pilgrimage of joy, ecstasies, sorrows, shames, repentances and reformations that storm through one's being."

William Sears 

If the answer to a desire you expressed turns out to be a resounding NO! accept that. Rest your head on this threshold, bring all of you and leave it here. Confident that perhaps not what you want but what you need will follow. You are refreshed by feelings of gratitude for all the bounties that you already have been given in abundance. Thankful for every precious soul you have ever encountered who shared your life and helped you become you. In fact, helping others, especially those suffering or in need is a special kind of pilgrimage of its own.

"Of all pilgrimages the greatest is to relieve the sorrow-laden heart."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The hope that faith engenders on pilgrimage springs from the water of life, that potent elixir of transformation. Where there seems only mud, soil and dirt a seed is hidden.  From deep within, a glorious flower springs up in this rejuvenating light, quivering into bloom. Weeping its dew in the early morning sun. Tears are common on this spiritual journey.

We must walk on this path towards the loved One, never despairing how far we have to go but steadfast in our desire to progress out of the darkness into the light. We, the generation of the half-light, need to make that choice and take that step. 

 “… step out of the darkness into the light and onto this far-extended Path of Truth.”

The Báb

PS I find it heartening that C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters were dedicated to his dear friend Tolkien (author of Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit etc).

Changing climate linked to changing partners

There is a recent article in the Scientific American entitled Breaking Up which caused me some concern.  It highlights worrisome unexpected changes that are arising as a result of climate change.  In order to set it in perspective, it helps to understand some background information first.  

In a world where separation and divorce are ever more common it is also interesting to note that marriage itself has experienced a drop in numbers per 1000 people worldwide – see graphic below.  Admittedly this data stops at 2018 and who knows how much a pandemic will have altered the stats, it is a case of watching this space.  However, there are already a few red flags as one leading British law firm, post-Covid, logged a 122% increase in enquiries on divorce from pre-Covid levels in just four months.

Certainly, it seems as if marriage numbers are dropping significantly across most countries.  How about divorce?  Well, the picture (see below) is a bit more varied with divorces per 1000 peaking in the US in 1980 and then falling whilst the other countries seem to show a steady increase in divorces.  Even in countries where divorce is illegal or against religious principles the rate of divorce may be lower but is usually increasing.   

 

Some studies have suggested that divorce levels actually fall during difficult economic conditions, simply because people cannot afford a divorce.  Others have pointed out that additional stress of any kind, can contribute to divorce hence the jump in divorces post-holiday periods when couples are having to spend more time together than normal.  But stress is difficult to ascertain even during a pandemic.  In the US suicide levels from 2000-2018 rose by 30% but actually fell slightly during the pandemic years. However, it is complicated as there is considerable research indicating that past epidemics such as the Spanish Flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome led to increased suicide rates.  Perhaps we are too close to this event to accurately predict outcomes.  Although many, during this pandemic, were stressed about increasing levels of isolation at home there were others who actually relished the absence of bullying and stress in the school or workplace.  It seems trying to understand stress levels via the divorce or suicide rate is too complicated in humans and a different cohort is required for clarity.  

If we examine the animal species only 5% of mammal species are monogamous.  Mammals that buck this trend and mate for life are Oldfield mice, dik-diks, titi monkeys, red and grey foxes, coyotes and grey wolves.  Prairie voles take it to a different level, they split nest building and child-rearing equally with their partner and not only mate for life but even after the death of their life partner 80% never have another.  Mind you how we learned about Praire voles and the strength of their bond with their partner is a depressing business. From this academic paper on Praire voles, it is strangely disturbing to read the following quote,

“Disruption of an established pair bond (between voles) leads to high levels of passive behavior (immobility) in the forced swim and tail suspension tests, a behavioral response reminiscent of grieving and bereavement in humans.”  

To understand this line, you need to know what the forced swim test and tail suspension tests involve. The swim test involves the scoring of active (swimming and climbing) or passive (immobility) behaviour when vole are forced to swim in a cylinder from which there is no escape. 

In the tail suspension test, the vole is hung from a tube by its tail for five minutes approximately 10 cm away from the ground. During this time the animal will try to escape and reach for the ground. 

The time it takes until it remains immobile is measured.  So, to sum up, in order to measure the stress and distress felt by separating a prairie vole from its life partner, it is forced to swim until it gives up and is hung by the tail until it ceases to struggle for release.  The time it takes to give up is a measure of the degree of bereavement at the loss of a life partner.  I don’t know why all this leaves me impressed by voles but totally disappointed by human beings in general.

Strangely 90% of bird species are monogamous and it is largely because their young (like human babies) are tiny, helpless, and immature and require a lot of parental care.  

Exceptionally strong bonds are found in lovebirds, Atlantic puffins, Bald eagles, albatrosses, geese, pigeons, black vultures, and scarlet macaws.  In fact, when the geese’s mate is injured it will guard them protectively until they recover or die.  

The article I referred to in the introduction in this year’s Scientific American was about the black-browed albatross who are socially monogamous as the pair alternate between lengthy foraging trips and egg-incubation duties.  If their breeding is not successful in the course of a year a female albatross will leave and find a different mate.  Such divorces have been noted for some time in the black-browed albatross which breeds on New Island on the Falkland Islands.  There is now 15 years of breeding data available and this has been examined in relation to sea temperatures and wind strength.  High winds allow for a greater distance of foraging while higher sea temperatures lower the nutrients available by reducing phytoplankton and subsequently the marine food web.  Higher sea temperatures have been recently observed to increase stress levels among partnerships and decrease breeding success.  As a result, in the warmer conditions more female albatrosses are leaving their life partners.  The paper proposes an explanation it calls the ‘partner-blaming hypothesis’ which is when the female conflates stress caused by environmental conditions with poor performance by a partner.  I suspect you know where I am going with this.  

If stress can do this to a monogamous albatross population perhaps we should be more concerned about what stress is doing to our community.  Whether stress comes as a result of climate change, a pandemic, or an economically challenging situation there are those out there who are already suffering.  They may be trying to keep afloat in horrific conditions or find themselves suspended in a state of distress. Do what you can for those you encounter. These days are not kind to Prairie voles, albatrosses, or people.  

 “Do not be content with showing friendship in words alone, let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path.”

 (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 15)

 

  

 

Lessons on transformation from those that crawl to those that fly

When we talk of transforming ourselves we can often underestimate the effort and impact such endeavours entail.  In order to understand how much trauma can play a role in such a major alteration, it is worth looking at the animal world for indications of what can be expected.  For some creatures, transformation can be as simple as shedding skin like a snake. While for others it can involve a barbaric total acidic immersion.  There is a lot to learn from these processes as there are parallels to our own process of transformation.

Unlike humans who shed their skin continually, roughly 30, 000 to 40, 000 cells every minute, snakes lose their outer layer in one continuous sheet. This process can happen every few weeks, for young snakes, and only a few times a year or even less for adults.  The signs that shedding is about to happen are

1. Snakes have specially-adapted scales over their eyes called eye caps. Snake’s eyes that are about to shed their skin turn a cloudy bluish colour temporarily (this change arises as a result of a lubricant secreted just under the outer layer of skin). During shedding, even these eye caps usually come off 

2. Their old skin looks dull coloured and their belly may appear pinkish.

3. Habits change, the snake spends more time hiding and its appetite may decrease or it even may stop eating completely. 

4. The snake, whose eyesight during this period is poor, becomes more nervous or defensive.

5. In an effort to get rid of their old skin snakes may look for rough surfaces to rub against or search for water to soak in. 

6. Snakes should not be handled during shedding as this shedding process causes stress.

In preparation for this transformation, snakes change habits, their colour, their habits and their normal nature.  Until it is complete even their eyesight deteriorates. 

So, look out for these signs in your own transformation.  You may not be able to see clearly and feel insecure and slightly defensive. You long for closeness while on the other want to run away.

Perhaps one of the most dramatic and total transformations is that of a humble caterpillar into a glorious butterfly.  The caterpillar hatches from an egg and stuffs itself with leaves until it grows plumper and plumper.  Like the snake as it grows it sheds its skin.  Then, suddenly the caterpillar stops eating and hangs itself from a twig or leaf having spun a silky cocoon around it.  

Inside the cocoon, a bizarre nightmare begins.  The caterpillar releases enzymes that like an acid bath dissolves all of its own tissues.  If you cut into such a cocoon an amorphous gloop would pour out.  However, among this gooey mess, there are survivors of this digestive process, a group of cells known as ‘imaginal discs’. These dormant discs have survived since the caterpillar was developing in its egg and each one will provide ultimately each of the adult body parts it needs as a mature butterfly (one disc for eyes, another for wings, yet another for legs etc). The discs use the protein-rich soup from all the rest of the disintegrated tissues to generate the rapid cell division necessary to make wings, antennae, legs, eyes, genitals etc for the adult butterfly. This magical metamorphosis is at a pace hard to get your brain around. The imaginal disc for a wing can begin with just 50 cells and end up with 50, 000 cells.  

It seems although transformation is incredibly varied there are powerful parallels of the caterpillar’s metamorphosis that mirror our transformation process. It often starts with being broken down into a very basic form by challenges external and internal.  This process is painful and feels that almost everything that is you, experiences slow and almost total destruction. Then, following this an amazing reconstruction begins at an incredible unbelievable pace.  The person you were before crawled leaving slime behind. The transformed you can soar skywards in a blaze of beautiful joyful colour.  

"The most important journey you will take in your life will usually be the one of self transformation. Often, this is the scariest because it requires the greatest changes, in your life.”

Shannon L. Alder