Episode 9: The Nature of Pilgrimage: Inner and Outer Landscapes - with Regina Roman Artwork

All Things Contemplative

There is a contemplative dimension of life (CDL) to which we can awaken via nature, science, art, religion or otherwise. A religious person might say such awakening is a grace and of god’s will. Other’s that it is simply a human potentiality, common to all. This podcast explores how people and traditions understand the CDL and related practices; and how such practices can enrich life experience. HOST: Ron Barnett received a doctorate in psychology and worked for many years in medical research with the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He is a lifelong student and teacher of contemplative practices and the flourishing of human well-being. Ron served as a Board Trustee of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. and Coordinator of its Chapter for metropolitan Washington DC. He now teaches with The Miksang Institute for Contemplative Photography. CONTACT: rbarnett@hey.com. BLOG: https://contemplativepodcast.posthaven.com/

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All Things Contemplative

Episode 9: The Nature of Pilgrimage: Inner and Outer Landscapes - with Regina Roman

January 23, 2021 • Ron Barnett

Regina Roman has been leading pilgrimages and designing travel/study programs since she was 18. She is a spiritual director at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, author of published articles on pilgrimage and spirituality, and is an icon writer. She also studies with various shamans and native American medicine women on the ancient healing traditions. Her gift is in creating the space and the study program for a meaningful experience within the journey. Her wish for us is to sense the experience, feel the wonder and awe, and ponder upon all the threads that bind us through time, place and people. (from the Sapira website – see below)

Update: In our discussion of the Aramaic meaning of Sapira, I should have said if you pray in secret "your being will blossom and flourish" (Matthew 6:6). - Ron Barnett

Regina Discusses

- What makes something contemplative?
- Socrates on truth as a wandering that is divine
- Two aspects of the contemplative stance: receiving, expression
- What is pilgrimage? Why go one one? What makes one meaningful?
- Two elements: outer desire to see or experience something; inner wish for transformation
- The story of Gary’s experience of silence, stillness, and absence of boundaries
- Importance of preparation and clarity of purpose
- Holy curiosity and inquiry – the mind and heart as sources
- An Executive Coach encounters the King’s inner chamber at the Pyramids
- Sapira – Journey with a Purpose pilgrimages to Egypt
- The Aramaic Sapira means first glimmer of light/continued illumination
- Amanda Gorman inaugural poet “There is always light….if only we’re brave enough to be it”
- Group silence – "What tugs at your heart?"
- Religious affiliations of Sapira pilgrims
- Pilgrimage - any journey with the purpose of finding something that matters deeply
- Stories of intimacy: Regina’s birth and the nuns, Ron and the psychiatrist
- The I Ching: “there are forces bringing people together who need to be together”
- Grace and gratitude
- Sting and relief; Kabir – “the breath inside the breath”

References Mentioned

Sapira - Journey with Purpose website
The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred, Phil Cousineau
Matsuo Basho, Japanese poet
The I Ching or Book of Changes
Kabir Das, mystical poet