Tourism, like most other industries, has
trends. Backpacking, gap years, eco-tourism, voluntourism- they all have
companies catering specifically to their corner of the suitcase market. The
latest trend, building over the past few years is spiritual
tourism. With the growth of yoga and mindfulness has come the desire for our
holidays to also have a deeper connection, a bigger meaning than beach
umbrellas and plastic souvenirs.
I am not really known for being
particularly on trend, but every so often, I find myself accidentally caught up
in something that has caught on. I first found myself being a spiritual tourist
when I signed up for a month long course on Buddhism at a monastery in Nepal. I
was going to Nepal to do some trekking and wanted to study philosophy at the time, so thought the course would be a good way to understand
the philosophical basis of Buddhism and justify the expensive plane ticket.
It turned out to be the most fascinating
month, but not for any of the reasons I would have thought. The course itself
was actually a study of the Lam Rim, the Buddhist basic text, so it was more like Bible class than philosophy. And even more disappointingly,
debate, dissention and dissection were discouraged! The course was being taught
by a Western monk who struck me as being a bit like a reformed alcoholic-
Buddhism had “saved” him from his previously sad and aimless life and he would
hear nothing against it. As someone who had gone from zero to zealot, he
had no middle ground- there was no space in his belief system for moderation or
discussion and it was not encouraged in the group either. It took me a while to realise it was him, rather than Buddhism as a whole, but I was still shocked that he was not as warm and sweet as the Dalai Lama!
I definitely did not become Buddhist in
that month but I did become more certain that dogma, no matter how sweet the leader, was not for me. I did become more aware that I was not going to follow someone
else’s idea of what was spiritual and I did become more confident in my own random
path.
Since then, I have travelled to participate in the ceremonies and practices of various spiritual traditions. I
have spent a lot of time in Bali, where their unique form of Hinduism steeps the island in a unique magic. I have been cleansed in sacred fountains,
meditated in temples and travelled in large groups of locals for blessings and
pilgrimages. I have done kirtan (devotional chanting) in the Grand Canyon, I
have meditated at the sacred sites in Peru and ingested plant medicines in the
jungle. I have astral travelled with a shaman, I have had tantric bodywork, I
have connected with my mind, my body, my heart and my soul with various
teachers, gurus and guides.
And I have learned oh so much! About
myself, about fellow travellers and about those who set themselves up in the
spiritual travel industry. Like so often happens with these things, the quiet
success of the original few operators has spawned a plethora of wanna-be
imitators. From sexual assaults in ashrams to people dying from plant
medicines, the risks of following the wrong spiritual path can be serious.
As a traveller, the best way to find the true teachers is to know someone who was an early ‘spiritual tourist’ or who hippied
off to live somewhere awesome and knows all the true spiritualists. Going
to the country first and asking around sometimes works, but you could just as
easily get scammed and sent off to your taxi drivers cousin or neighbor or any
other random person. Going to place and asking other expats might get you
further, but even then it will depend on who you come across and who they have
come across.
So here’s my conclusion- you won’t really
know if the person you have been sent to or found on the internet is the real
deal or not (though you won’t find many old-school spiritual practitioners on
the net, you can find guides who will take you to them). You just have to do as
much research and homework as you can, get as many personal recommendations as
you can and then take a leap of faith.
But here’s the other thing: I have never
been on a wasted spiritual journey. Even when the other people in the group
have been driving me insane, even when I did not feel like the teacher
understood where I was coming from, even when I left the retreat early, I have
never felt like I made a bad choice.
I know you think I am going to say
something about being able to learn from every situation, or every choice being
perfect for that time, but I’m not. I am going to say that none of these
situations were a waste because I made them count. If the guru didn’t
understand my questions, or tried to give be rote answers, it made me more certain that being myself was ok.
If the rituals and practices seemed trite, I quietly connected my own was in my
heart. If the other travellers had totally different beliefs and agendas, I
listened as much as I could stand, then tuned out to good music or practiced
finding my happy place.
And because of all of these experiences, I
am spiritually tough. I know exactly where my connection with the energy of the
Universe sits, I know how to tap into that under just about any circumstances,
I know how to say no to participating in things that don’t feel ok, I know how
to tell a guru to get out of my energetic space. Being a spiritual tourist gave me the chance to just be spiritual.
So if you are looking for a holiday with a
deeper meaning, go for it. Do your homework- most operators have some sort of
TripAdvisor entry and I find that is a great way of weeding out the dodgier
setups- but don’t be too afraid to take a leap. No matter what happens, I guarantee
that your faith in yourself will thank you!
