A Year of Divine Pilgrimage
What is a divine pilgrimage? Are you ready to make a pilgrimage to your divine self? On the 40th anniversary of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, Yogacharya O’Brian discusses the importance and role of spiritual pilgrimage using the examples from Autobiography of a Yogi.
Yogacharya O’Brian is the founder of the Yoga Hour. She is an acclaimed teacher, poet, award-winning author, and minister who has served seekers of spiritual enlightenment from all walks of life for over forty years. She is the recent recipient of the 2021 New Thought Walden Award for Interfaith and Intercultural Understanding. She has published several books including her latest book, The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity Through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga. A teacher in the tradition of Kriya Yoga, Yogacharya O’Brian serves people from all faith backgrounds who are seeking what is known as Self- or God-realization, or awakening and is the spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, a meditation center in San Jose, CA.
WEBSITES: EllenGraceOBrian.com CSECenter.org
YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Today's conversation with Yogacharya was deep and soul felt. She started with the idea of time being evanescence - unreal. That set the tone - sharing that it is important to know what is essential about what we do in this life and what will remain. For her, the essence of pilgrimage is defined by the intention one brings to opening to Divine grace, opening up to what you have not known and opening to the transformation that brings. Yogacharya's invitation to us to commit to a year of Yoga Yatra (Yoga pilgrimage) calls for the intention to journey from the self to the Self in our ordinary life. I was particularly moved by the Kabir poem she shared that started with "Don't go outside your house to see the flowers". I now have a much deeper understanding and appreciation of pilgrimages. Listening to Yogacharya share about her own pilgrimages and those of Paramahansa Yogananda from Autobiography of a Yogi was a call to deepen my own practice.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: What a joy to have a conversation with Yogacharya O’Brian about Yoga Yatra, pilgrimage to the Divine Self. It was so supportive to me personally to discuss this with you, the idea of being able to take a pilgrimage to our own deepest Self. I loved the questions she asked at the beginning of the conversation, prompted by her 40th anniversary of ministry: What is eternal? What is essential? What will remain? She discussed that one of the things that distinguishes pilgrimage from other activity is the intentionality we bring to it, the willingness to open ourselves to Divine Grace and to be transformed. I look forward to the 2022 New Years Retreat with her as a way to launch this year of Yoga Yatra. Listeners can find out more about the retreat at csecenter.org.