What ails you? Spiritual Tourist.

                                             Aboru Aboye

              I have read Facebook posts in the past about people who go to Africa for Initiation and come back with little or no knowledge and no training. What I find amusing is that most people who travel home for whatever it is rarely spent more than two weeks in Nigeria.  I don't think it is possible for anyone to attend a medical school and ultimately become a certified Doctor within one year let alone two weeks. 

              People have different reasons for returning home, some people go back to motherland to get initiated and for initiation only and not to enrolled in studentship, some embark on pilgrimage for personal development alone and to find their path, while for some, its for the purpose of becoming a practicing priest or priestess.

           

  Whatever your reasons are for going to Africa for spiritual pilgrimage, it is important to make your intention and purpose known to the people who are going to be accommodating, initiating you, educating you in order for them to be able to propel you in the right directions. That been said, most of the things you will be able to learn within the short time of your visit will be preliminary, but if you had already educate yourself before you embark home, you will be able to understand the process better.

                     

              Majority of the people back home in Nigeria are not aware of  how deep the root of the religion is here in America, Brazil or any other countries and most especially, the extent of knowledge that people from outside world possesses. So there is a tendency of been treated like a baby even though many have practicing for extended period of time. 

             The cultural difference played a lot of role when it comes to acquiring knowledge. Even though a Yoruba proverb said "a bere ona kii sina" meaning he who ask for direction will not miss his way. The culture still have a no no about asking some questions especially in the spiritual cycle where most things are treated as secret. If you ask suspicious questions, the gate will be shot at you. Watch, observed and ask the right questions. This is because some information is released to students based on the level of commitment and tenacity.

             

              So how does one learn if one cannot ask questions? It is not that one cannot ask questions, but some people frame the questions in an investigative way. Some information are only revealed to the people that I will refer to as Baba, these are real sage Baba and Iya not the two years initiate ones or religion newbies. One need to know how to be humble and romance the elder in such a way that they will feel comfortable to share. There need to be a measure to bridge the gap and ensure free flow of information for those who are willing and committed.

               We all know how expensive the journey is, so make good of your time while at home and make your intentions known, so as not to return as an unhappy child or client. I will round this up by sharing the Fisher King story with you.

               What ails you? This is the right question that the knight must ask the Fisher King in the Grail Legend. In one version of this legend, the king lives in his castle with the grail. He has a wound that does not heal and all about him, his kingdom is a wasteland. He can only be healed when a knight finds the castle and the grail and asks the right questions. Only then will the king return to health and the land becomes green and fertile again. If the knight does not ask the question, the castle vanishes and the knight must start the search for the grail all over again.

In this legend, a Jungian interpretation is that the Fisher King represents the Self: his wound is a symbol of the split between the rational mind and the self or the divine aspect of our being. The wound never heals unless the right question is asked; unless we begin to do self-inquiry, contemplating, “Who am I?” or as the legend states, “What ails you? This form of self-inquiry leads us on the path to wholeness. 

                 Many of us are like the knight who arrives at the castle and sees the king but fails to ask the question. We are spiritual tourists; we go to visit sacred sites, we go to meet venerated spiritual teachers, we read spiritual books and fall in love with the trappings of spirituality. We miss the opportunity to truly begin the hero’s journey that will bridge the divide between the ego and the Self. It is fitting that the path to wholeness is called the hero’s journey because it takes courage, a willingness to be stripped of what ails us; our ego and its accoutrements.....

                                           Ire o

                    Ela boru, Ela boye, Ela bo sise