Pilgrimages that deepen awareness

      We have discussed how our ancient masters have inculcated mind and body purification practices to deepen Awareness through enjoyable rituals and pilgrimages. One such yearly pilgrimage, is Sabarimala in Kerala. Ayyappa is the deity in Sabarimala  and this  temple is visited men of all ages but restricted to women of age group of 12 to 55.  One of the reason is that women at this age group has to take care of the family when men observe this 41 day ritual every year.   We will discuss the beautiful symbolic message why women do not go to Sabarimala in the next few pages.

        We had discussed the  importance of pilgrimage is to transcend to Awareness  state, the Source of Healing and all other creativeness. The mind because of its wandering nature, tries often to be away from its pure Awareness  state. Through rituals and practices (Sadhana) the wandering mind is brought to the state of awareness and finally realize Consciousness, the ultimate aim of life.

      To achieve this the mind and body should be purified and finally the Ego has to transcend to Awareness  state and realize the pure Consciousness .  The various practices and  rituals to purify mind and body and the practice of abstinence to transcend from the realm of Ego to the Atma is all beautifully integrated in this pilgrimage. This should be clearly understood, otherwise it will remain as a meaningless torture to the body and mind.