THE COMPLETE EXPERIENCE
The total experience of both halves is the complete experience in India that 90% of our pilgrims choose. The first half is our signature pilgrimage!
"Inspired By Love, Transformed By Light"
This is our theme for our January 2024 Pilgrimage and Extension.
We are thrilled to resume our pilgrimages after COVID. 2023 was a fantastic experience for those who could travel with us to India in January and February. The theme for our 2024 pilgrimage is "Inspired by Love; Transformed By Light."
Signature Pilgrimage (First Half): Our signature pilgrimage is the "Journey to Find The Other Half Of The Soul." These first two weeks are our tried and true experience that offers chanting, some visits to temples, and our profound retreat sessions at the ashram.
ADVANTAGES OF THE COMPLETE EXPERIENCE
Instead of jumping on a plane after the first half of our pilgrimage, the second half allows us to settle into our retreat routine and go deep into our meditation and spiritual practices. We also visit many more temples, including special expeditions (see below). The total time for the complete experience (Signature Pilgrimage Plus Extension) is 28 to 30 days. Most of our pilgrims choose this option, although we understand when some need to return earlier.
Inspired By Love: In the second half of our pilgrimage, participants will be guided into more profound mystical practices that will offer opportunities for interspiritual dialog, relating to other traditions using the Hindu tradition as the essential platform. We intend to include Jewish, Buddhist, Sufi, and medieval mystics of Christianity (Meister Eckhart, Hildegard of Bingen, etcetera) in our chanting and sacred movements. We call this spiritual process inspired by the world's mystical traditions: "Inspired By Love."
Transformed By Light: During the second half of our pilgrimage, we will also focus on a deep practice of the Gayatri Mantra Sadhana. While many people know the Gayatri mantra, there are practices "around" the chanting of the Gayatri, placements on the body, ritual gestures, and more to enhance our experience and make it magical. This component of our extension is "Transformed By Light." Imagine learning and practicing these components at the spiritual hot spots we journey to in India.
Special Expeditions: Our second half will also include unique journeys to vibrant temples, rituals at sacred hot spots, and a mini-pilgrimage to "Temple Town." As the name suggests, "Temple Town," is a revered spiritual hotspot of numerous temples compacted into a tiny region, including UNESCO heritage temples and an off-the-beaten-path Tantric Healing Temple.
Online Study Option: We will focus on "Transformed By Light" practices during our new Yogic Mystery School year (June 2023 to May 2024) so our student community, many of whom travel with us to India, can prepare in advance. And for others, the online components can be a form of support after our return from India. All students who traveled with us to India on pilgrimage in January 2023 unanimously agree that our online courses complement their pilgrimage.
Over twenty three years of taking pilgims to India with us, we have learned what it takes to create a sense of community that is truly like a spiritual family.
We introduce YOU to the authentic, ancient India and ensure that you are given the support, diet and environments that allow you to dedicate your energies and attentions towards your transformation.
""How much I appreciate the enormous effort you both expended on giving us a perfect Pilgrimage. From my point of view it was flawless. Everything was taken care of so well that "life" could just happen. And it did! I will always hold our Pilgrimage experience as the example of how life can be when lived to the fullest of our capacities. Thank you for the finest, most meaningful travel experience I have ever had." "
An American College Professor teaching in Japan
ONE OF OUR FIRST TIMERS
WHY OUR PILGRIMS KEEP RETURNING WITH US REPEATEDLY
Our pilgrims return with us to India repeatedly, not because of the spots we take them to, but because of the process, they undergo, which is always different but delivers the same powerful results. At the end of the pilgrimage, our pilgrims are more empowered than before starting the journey. They are more awake spiritually than before. And they touch, or deepen, places inside them that are hard to reach otherwise. This is why they keep returning.
CAREFULLY CRAFTED MATERIALS PREPARE OUR PILGRIMS BEFORE AND DURING THE JOURNEY
After you complete your registration, you receive a specially prepared orientation handbook to help prepare you for this life-changing journey. Almost all our pilgrims speak of the mental, emotional and spiritual experiences that unfold from this point onwards. We bring our consummate skills and expertise to help prepare you for this journey.
WE KNOW EAST AND WEST: INTELLECTUALLY, CULTURALLY AND SPIRITUALLY
Over the past twenty-five years, we have understood what it involves to engage in authentic spiritual transformation in India, a culture different from any other part of the world.
We know India. We grew up there. And we've brought several hundreds of pilgrims to India to transform with us. This is our specialty!
When you are in India with us, our knowledge of eastern and western spirituality and our in-depth understanding of cultural sensitivities help sustain your focus on profound levels of spiritual transformation.
""No matter what obstacle was set before us, it was set aside with calmness, care & love. It got to the point in a short while, that I simply knew that the issue would be taken care of without any fuss. As pilgrimage leaders you were wonderful. As friends you were wonderful.""
FROM ONE OF OUR FIRST TIMERS
A Doctor of Ministry student from Washington D.C.
Dark and cold we may be,
but this is no winter now.
The frozen misery of centuries
breaks, cracks, begins to move;
The thunder is the thunder of the floes,
The thaw, the flood, the upstart Spring.
Thank God our time is now when wrong comes up to face us everywhere,
never to leave us till we take the longest stride of soul we ever took.
Affairs are now soul size.
The enterprise Is exploration into God.
Where are you making for?
It takes so many thousand years to wake,
but will you wake for pity's sake!
Christopher Fry
WE ARE THERE WITH YOU TO SUPPORT YOUR PROCESS
We are right there with you during the pilgrimage, helping shape and support your transformation with our 30-plus years of teaching expertise at leading-edge conferences and institutions across the US and worldwide.
Before each conducted experience, for instance, going out to a temple, we brief you on the deep symbolism and how to approach this as a spiritual experience.
And because we are not jumping from one spot to another, as in a typical travel schedule, you have enough time to assimilate each event while preparing for the next. In this way, your transformation unfolds moment to moment, day by day, week by week.
As a result, you grow and develop each day spiritually in ways you cannot imagine or anticipate.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FACILITATORS
