“THE POST-MODERN PILGRIM”

by Elena Armstrong

     Most times, when someone speaks of travel nowadays, he isn't talking about setting off on a pilgrimage. He talks about getting discount airline tickets, he wonders about the weather, or if the car's exhaust system is going to act up in Toledo. Some people are excited about activities such as camping, fishing or going to an amusement park. Even those who set out to places such as Rome or Jerusalem talk more about sites they want to see even as they seek a spiritual destination. In a society imbued with the secular spirit, this tendency towards spiritual disconnection isn't all that surprising. In this vein, pilgrims are just a ragtag bunch of English people who landed on Plymouth Rock in the old days. Their place is in history books, not modern society.

     But the fact is that when many people embark on a trip, especially a long one, they are setting out on a pilgrimage, aware of it or not. People going through a job change, romantic breakup, midlife or quarter-life crises many times hit the road to gain perspective and take a time-out. They may not be looking to climb the same mountains the Dalai Lama has climbed to seek buddhahood, but they are looking to reconnect with themselves. This post-modern enlightenment holds to the belief that the self can only be found in circumstances removed from everyday life.



     Such journeys are usually in settings that contrast modern civilization. People seek the wilderness or Third World environments that are remiss in Western luxury. One famous example that turned infamous was the story of Chris McCandless, a graduate of Emory College that rejected the opportunities that modern life held for him, and instead sought the wilderness in the fashion of Henry David Thoreau. McCandless' fortune turned on him in the wilds of Alaska, where he eventually died of starvation. This cautionary tale is one that would make those hesitant about the wilderness head for the South Beach in Miami, where you can find yourself in a couple of margaritas. But it has done nothing to dissuade thousands of travelers from flocking to Alaska for their own wild adventure.

     What is it that compels people to leave the comforts of home to live in environments that are devoid of luxury? Bradford Angier, a New Englander who was the preeminent writer of the outdoor life, said that it is the "call of the trail" that did it for him. Australian traveler Robyn Davidson, who has earned the moniker "camel lady" for her camel treks across the outback and with nomads in India, felt that modern life, though comfortable, suffocated her. Similar sentiments have been expressed by many travelers, hikers, and outdoorspeople. To these people, modern life, with all its entrapments, is a form of entrapment. They need to escape from this prison, even though many times, the vacation they embark upon sounds more difficult than modern life ever could be. Why would civilized people choose a lifestyle of grubbing for dandelions over microwaved popcorn?

     Civilization certainly brings wonderful things, such as universal education, literacy, communication, media, and nationality. But in order for it to work to full capacity, most people operating within its parameters are forced to conform to certain standards. For example, in order for a company that makes software to operate, people have to be there at certain times, do certain things, and behave in certain ways in order to make sure the product is viable and available for consumer use. These modes of behavior are also necessary for the company itself to remain viable and competitive, thus enabling society to thrive via the service it provides and the people it employs. City ordinances, such as noise regulations, the level of one's lawn, regulation of pet waste, and zoning laws help maintain a certain sense of order and decorum in a densely populated area of what is most likely disparate peoples. Rules such as these are meant to curb the chaos that could be possible if everyone just did as he pleased in urban areas.



     But, understandably, constantly living with behavioral constraints that seem to proliferate by the moment and appear increasingly petty can put a damper on one's spirit. The idea of freedom seems muted when the police are called to your house because your radio was on at 11:05 on a Thursday night. Even when the law isn't involved, the idea that you have to join in on block parties, office parties, and PTA meetings or risk people thinking you ritual worshipper behind closed doors makes life somewhat stifling. And all the good stuff that comes with wealth, like cars, homes, nice clothes and such, require maintenance. The Dalai Lama has challenged the idea of the "good life" in the West being one of leisure. He sees this lifestyle as one that requires a man or woman to constantly be looking at the clock, every minute of his or her life determined by outside forces, albeit because the person "chose" it, via choice of profession, status, or the like. Peace Pilgrim, an American woman who gave up a middle-class lifestyle to live as a mendicant beggar traveling the country, said possessions saddle people more than they liberate them. She pointed out as one who owned nothing, any time she wanted to travel, she could just get up and go.

     The idea of wanting to liberate oneself of the constraints of modern life is paramount in the soul of the post-modern pilgrim, though a cynic may point out that most of these people seem to always come back to this so-called prison. It is true that generally people who climb Mt. McKinley generally go back to their real life "outside" Alaska. People who live in Alaska or Maine or upstate New York may hunt for meat, but even most of these hunters don't hesitate to go to Wal-Mart or buy something online if they really need it. For the most part, the comforts of civilization is only a phone call away in all but the most remote pilgrimages. Even Alexandra David-Neel, the first white woman to visit the capital of Tibet via trekking through the mountains with her adopted son, had servants who carried her possessions with her, and returned to her France afterwards. It may seem a bit like cheating: if you're going to do a daring pilgrimage, cut the apron strings. But on the modern pilgrimage, the courage might have more to do with the willingness to say no to the comfortable life to begin with, rather than renouncing it outright.

     Pilgrimages have always been a part of the human drama, whether they were medieval Christians going to Jerusalem, Muslim of all eras going to Mecca, Shias going to Kerbala, or Tibetan Buddhists visiting Lhasa. Since the Enlightenment, Western society has attempted to separate corporal life from the spiritual life. Rationality was to answer all the questions that had been left unanswered by the mystics and the myths of religion. But after several centuries of the rational experiment and a century where scientific achievement has exploded into a technological revolution, man still seeks a refuge where there is nothing between him and his spirit. Without even dedicating a trek to a particular deity, man still seeks connection with his spirit in ventures that defy logic, embarking upon a quest that is as old as history himself, a voyage to find himself in the place of the cosmos.