Day 311, Monday, November 11, 2024

Day 311, Monday, November 11, 2024

Reflections

The monumental elements of nature such as mammoth mountains, immensely vast oceans, milky way and galaxies stir deep wonder and dread that has a divine quality. That’s how I felt as I walked below the colossal rocks that seem to kiss the sky from where I stood. The feeling of dread, a side-effect of awe is similar to the feeling we get from death defying rides at an amusement park.

Inspiration

An astonishingly beautiful place is Zion National Park in Utah. “Zion” means “holy place” or “kingdom of heaven.” The park’s colossal mountains and steep cliffs and abundant crystal-clear streams are evidence of its majesty. Their beauty transports the traveler to a fantasy world. Temporarily I forgot where I was – in the human world or another planet. I felt the similar current of energy that had passed through my spine that I had sensed at the Kali temple in Himachal Pradesh or when mesmerized by Michelangelo’s David in Florence.

Those three different experiences can be grouped as secular spirituality, which irrespective of their subject, religious or natural, shook me up by their awesomeness and unearthly beauty. What universal power creates such unfathomable grandeur! Such visions are beyond human understanding.

Like pilgrims on the path to a pilgrimage center, the feeling of camaraderie among travelers in national parks unites them in a shared reverence toward nature. Peoples from different countries and of diverse religions and ethnic backgrounds hold high esteem for natural beauty. It infuses their relationship with each other. They treat strangers as friends. Sharing the aesthetic pleasure and enjoyment of holy nature imbues them with kindness and respect.

National parks have created a new religion, that of secular spirituality; they have created new pilgrimage centers, the national parks; they have created a new breed of parishioners, the travelers.

Journal Prompt

How does traveling effect you? How does going to a place like Disneyland differ from going to a national park?

Today’s Practice

Meditation: “Gratitude”
Read, reflect, and journal.