Are you a tourist or a pilgrim?

What is the difference between a tourist and a pilgrim? Both are on a journey. 

Where a tourist satisfies the senses, a pilgrim is in quest for the truth. 

A tourist gets tired and tanned, while a pilgrim sparkles with spirit. 

Every move a pilgrim makes is done with sacredness and gratitude, while a tourist is often preoccupied and unaware. 

A tourist compares his journey with other experiences and places and thus is not in the present moment. But a pilgrim has a sense of sacredness, so he tends to be in the present moment.

Most people in life are just tourists without even being aware of it. Only a few make their life a pilgrimage. Tourists come, look around, take pictures in their minds, only to come back again. But pilgrims are at home everywhere – they are hollow and empty. When you consider life to be sacred, nature waits on you. Are you a tourist or a pilgrim?

Considering our past, present and future

 

When people consider past events to be the result of free will they are filled with remorse and regret. When they consider future events as destiny, lethargy and inertia set in. 

A wise person will consider the past as destiny and the future as free will. When you consider the past as destiny, no more questions are raised and the mind is at ease. 

And when you consider the future as free will, you are filled with enthusiasm and dynamism. Of course there will be some uncertainty and some anxiety when you consider the future as free will, but it can also bring alertness and creativity.

Now, how do we remove the anxiety? By having faith in the Divine and doing sadhana. Consider the past as destiny, the future as free will and the present moment as Divinity.