Quaker Life Navigation: ---- Select a Subtopic ---- Quaker Life Home Advertising Information Subscriptions Invitation to Writers E-mail quakerlife@fum.org Meeting Directory

One Step, One Seeing
A Spiritual Pilgrimage to Japan

By Valerie Brown

We can study rivers, trees and mountains, but unless we enter into intuitive communication with them we don’t know them—we know only about them. The act of pilgrimage is about changing our relationship with reality. It is about embracing a wayfarer’s spirit with a poet’s heart. The ancient image of pilgrimage suggests a curious soul who walks beyond known boundaries, crosses fields, touching the material and spiritual worlds. The pilgrim endures a difficult journey to reach the sacred center of her world, a place made holy by a saint, event or by sheer energy. The pilgrim’s motives are manifold: to pay homage, fulfill a vow, mark a life transition, rejuvenate the spirit and honor a loved one. She has reached an emotional crossroads. She surrenders to the mystery of her heart’s belonging, trusts that she will fi nd what she needs in the journey and has faith in the process. Ultimately, the pilgrim unfolds to a deep transformation of the soul that cannot be achieved by the casual traveler.

Pilgrimage is a journey of asking questions, listening to one’s heart’s desire and discerning direction. And yet, to experience God, the sacred, the Inner Light, one does not require a special journey, special learning or ability. To experience, to know God, to allow the act of travel to be sacred is an invitation to inner knowing, to see with child-like eyes and to reconnect and remember that we are made in the image of God and that this connection is deeper than any boundary defi ned by custom or culture.

Pilgrimage is about seemingly apparent contradictions, fear and hope. It requires fl exibility to anticipate and accept the unexpected, acceptance of oneself and others and openness to God’s loving grace. I began by embracing moments of great vulnerability, stepping out of my overburdened, overscheduled life, at least for a while.

My journey was a portion of a traditional Japanese pilgrimage, visiting 16 temples with a small group of pilgrims—two Americans and three Australians. The pilgrimage was dedicated to Kannon, the Bodhisattva (saint) of compassion.

I was challenged to closely examine my relationships with Quaker principles—seeing that of God in each person, putting the Quaker testimonies of equality, simplicity and peace into action. For the fi rst time in decades, I questioned my image of God and probed my deepest longings. This meeting of Buddhism and Quakerism tested my consciousness and notions of prayer and devotion. This pilgrimage asked me to look at the world through non-Christian eyes, to meet Buddhists of differing sects with respect and harmony, living my Quaker values.

Pilgrimage allowed me to see beyond myself and refl ect on my patterns of behavior and prejudices. I saw beyond cultural boundaries that divide me from others, boundaries such as race, language and custom, to look at the universal truth in all people. This truth is that people everywhere desire the same things, such as love, compassion and kindness; language and customs need not form walls of separation if the intention is to meet each person with respect, honesty and humility.

In many ways pilgrimage is like prayer. In prayer as Friends we continually open to the Divine and to a direct and unmediated relationship with God. Prayer offers us an opportunity to listen to our heart’s true longing, as well as to speak. It is made rich by silence and stillness. So too pilgrimage presents an opportunity to discover a closer relationship with God. Our movement through culture and custom, experience and exposure, through day and night, on land and sea can become moments of being prayed through God.

Much of my prayer experience has been intensely personal and private. However, praying this way—communally, vocally and in the presence of hundreds of other pilgrims—surrounds me with joy and healing, knowing that our different faiths do not divide us.

My pilgrimage to Japan affirmed the heart of my Quaker principles of equality, simplicity, peace. It invited me into spiritual unity with people of a distant land, asking me to express trust in God’s divine guidance, to be willing to rest in the Light and to be a personal witness to the path of prayer. This pilgrimage was more than a trip or travelogue; it was an opportunity to listen deeply for the call of God’s loving presence, even in remote places.

Valerie Brown is a member of Solebury Friends Meeting, Pennsylvania, and is writing a book on spirituality and travel. She serves as legislative Counsel to the New Jersey State Bar Association and as a court-trained mediator.