Tag Archives: Camino de Santiago

by | June 1, 2026 · 8:54 am

Embracing Self-Love on the Camino de Santiago

While walking the Camino de Santiago, I sometimes encountered pilgrims who seemed to confuse pilgrimage with an act of self-punishment. Despite their bodies sending unmistakable signals—painful blisters, swollen joints, and deep exhaustion—that it was time to rest, they would continue pushing forward. Determined to conquer the path at all costs, they ignored their physical limits until, inevitably, they were forced to abandon their journey altogether.

There is a saying I learned from another pilgrim on the way. “If you don’t learn to approach the path with humility, it will teach you humility.”

Others approached the Camino very differently. I remember older pilgrims, some well into their eighties, who walked slowly and with intention. They moved at their own pace, stopping occasionally to admire the landscape, sitting quietly in contemplation, or choosing to walk only half a stage in a day. Rather than measuring success by distance covered, they seemed to delight in the journey itself. Remarkably, many of these pilgrims completed the entire 800-kilometre route to Santiago. Even more striking was the vitality they radiated. They appeared youthful, not because of physical strength alone, but because they had learned the wisdom of walking in harmony with themselves.

Pilgrimage offers many lessons about life, but one of its most important teachings is the often misunderstood art of self-love.

Modern psychology increasingly confirms what many spiritual traditions have taught for centuries: self-love is not a luxury but a necessity for human flourishing. Research on self-compassion, pioneered by psychologist Dr Kristin Neff, shows that people who treat themselves with kindness during times of difficulty tend to be more resilient, emotionally balanced, and motivated than those who constantly criticise themselves.

Contrary to popular belief, harsh self-judgment, especially negative self-talk, does not produce stronger or more successful people. Instead, it often leads to anxiety, burnout, perfectionism, and emotional exhaustion.

Self-love, in psychological terms, means relating to oneself with the same care and understanding that one would naturally offer a good friend. It involves recognising one’s limitations without shame and acknowledging one’s worth without needing constant external validation. Such an attitude fosters emotional well-being and enables people to respond more constructively to life’s inevitable challenges.

These findings resonate deeply with the teachings of the 13th-century mystic Meister Eckhart. Eckhart believed that what turns human beings into compulsive graspers—unable to let go of possessions, status, relationships, or beliefs—is ultimately a lack of trust. Beneath our attachments lies a profound insecurity, a fear that we are somehow incomplete or unworthy.

For Eckhart, self-love and trust in the divine are inseparable. Compassion arises from confidence in the goodness that lies at the heart of existence, while compulsive striving grows from the belief that we are fundamentally lacking or flawed. The person who learns to “let be” and at the same time allows themselves to be is expressing a deep confidence in the creative source of life.

Eckhart writes: “If you do not know how to love yourself, how is it possible that you will love God? There can be no love of neighbour without love of self.” To love oneself, in his understanding, is not an obstacle to spiritual growth but one of its essential foundations.

Such ideas were controversial in Eckhart’s time. Many theologians were preoccupied with sin, moral regulation, and the strict enforcement of doctrine. God was often portrayed as an authoritarian ruler who rewarded obedience and punished transgression. Shame and guilt became powerful tools of religious instruction—a dynamic that continues to influence some religious traditions today.

The divine potential in every person

Yet Eckhart offered a radically different vision. Rather than beginning with fear, he began with trust. Rather than emphasising human depravity, he pointed toward the divine potential present within every person.

This brings us to an important distinction: self-love is not the same as ego.

The ego seeks validation, superiority, and control. It constantly compares itself with others and measures its worth through achievement, status, or recognition. Ego asks, “How can I become more important?” Self-love asks, “How can I become more fully myself?”

The ego is rooted in insecurity and therefore always needs more. Self-love arises from a deeper acceptance and therefore has nothing to prove. The ego separates; self-love connects. The ego grasps; self-love releases. The ego seeks to protect an image; self-love nurtures a living reality.

Far from encouraging selfishness, genuine self-love often leads to greater compassion. People who are at peace with themselves generally have a greater capacity to listen, empathise, forgive, and care for others. They are not depleted by the endless struggle to earn their own worth.

The spiritual path, whether on the Camino or in everyday life, invites you to confront your fears, loosen your attachments, and ultimately learn the difficult art of letting go. This includes letting go of the false stories you tell yourself about who you should be.

At the heart of Eckhart’s teaching is a beautiful image. The essence of the divine, he says, is “birthing”—a continual process of creation and emergence. Life is not a static state to be achieved but an ongoing unfolding into what we are meant to become. We are not passive observers of this process but active participants in it.

Perhaps this is one of the Camino’s greatest lessons. The journey is not won by those who push themselves the hardest. It is completed by those who learn to walk with wisdom, humility, and kindness toward themselves. In learning to love yourself, you discover that you are not separate from the sacred journey but part of its unfolding.

Reino Gevers – Host of the LivingToBe podcast

P.S. Over the years, my own Camino journeys have inspired two books exploring the deeper inner dimension of pilgrimage and transformational walking: Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul and the newly revised edition of Walking on Edge. Both reflect on the Camino not merely as a physical journey, but as a path of inner change, reflection, and rediscovery.

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by | May 25, 2026 · 8:25 am

Why the Camino de Santiago is Captivating Today’s Seekers

A lost ritual once firmly embedded in medieval Europe has found new life among modern burned-out souls and those disillusioned with institutional religion. Walking the same ancient paths travelled by pilgrims centuries ago has become, for hundreds of thousands of people, a modern route to purpose, silence, healing, and experiential spirituality.

During the Middle Ages, a vast network of pilgrimage routes stretched across Europe — from Warsaw in Poland, Oslo in Norway, and Walsingham in England to Einsiedeln in Switzerland, Cologne in Germany, Rome and Assisi in Italy, and the Via Tolosana, or Arles Route, in France. These paths eventually converged toward some of Christianity’s most revered destinations, especially Santiago de Compostela in Spain and Rome in Italy.

For medieval pilgrims, it was common to leave directly from one’s doorstep and walk for months across mountains, forests, and foreign territories. The journey was often undertaken as an act of penance, spiritual devotion, or thanksgiving. In some cases, one member of a family would walk on behalf of the entire household.

Pilgrimage was never easy. Even in medieval times, it required considerable resources, endurance, and courage. Pilgrims faced illness, disease, hunger, harsh weather, and the constant danger of robbery. Many never returned home. Yet despite the risks, historians estimate that by the late Middle Ages, millions of people had travelled these sacred routes, making pilgrimage one of the defining spiritual practices of medieval Europe.

  • Map showing medieval pilgrimage routes and shrines to Santiago de Compostela across Europe
    Historic routes highlighting key pilgrimage paths across Europe to Santiago de Compostela

Pilgrimage also became deeply woven into the economic and cultural fabric of the continent. Pilgrims needed food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and transport. Inns, monasteries, bridges, hospitals, and marketplaces flourished along the routes. Wealthier travellers journeying on horseback or in carriages relied on blacksmiths and craftsmen for repairs and supplies.

But the pilgrimage routes were far more than economic arteries. They became channels for the exchange of ideas, languages, customs, art, and knowledge. Along these roads, Europe slowly developed a shared cultural consciousness.

One important spiritual centre on the Camino route was the monastery of San Juan de la Peña near Jaca in northern Spain. According to medieval tradition, the monastery housed the Holy Grail for several centuries — the cup believed to have been used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Beyond its religious significance, San Juan de la Peña also became an important centre of scholarship and monastic learning during the Middle Ages.

By the 18th century, however, much of the great pilgrimage tradition had declined. The Protestant Reformation, the suppression of monasteries, political upheaval, changing religious attitudes, and centuries of war dramatically reduced pilgrimage across Europe. In England, King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries between 1536 and 1541 and effectively outlawed many traditional pilgrimage practices.

Then, in the late 20th century, something remarkable happened.

In the early 1980s, the Spanish priest Father Elías Valiña Sampedro became convinced that the ancient Camino de Santiago could live again. Armed with cans of yellow paint and driving his small Citroën 2CV through rural northern Spain, he began marking forgotten sections of the route with the now-famous yellow arrows that guide pilgrims to this day.

Father Elías was far more than a parish priest. He was a respected scholar who had completed a doctoral thesis on the Camino de Santiago in the 1960s, long before the modern revival began. At the time, very few people could have imagined that the Camino would once again attract pilgrims from across the world.

When I first walked the Camino in 2006, around 100,000 pilgrims received the Compostela certificate in Santiago annually. Most were students, retirees, or spiritual seekers with the time to undertake such a journey. Since then, the numbers have grown dramatically. In 2024, more than 446,000 pilgrims officially received the Compostela in Santiago de Compostela, and the real number of walkers is believed to be substantially higher, since many people complete sections of the Camino without registering officially.

Over the years I have walked more than a dozen Camino routes through Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain, speaking to hundreds of pilgrims along the way. My overwhelming impression is that many people walking these ancient paths are searching for something they are no longer finding within institutional religion alone.

Pilgrims come from every imaginable background, age group, profession, and nationality. Many are standing at a crossroads in life. Some are grieving the death of a loved one. Others are recovering from divorce, burnout, illness, or emotional exhaustion. Some arrive carrying deep spiritual questions they can no longer ignore.

Few people return home unchanged.

Stepping away from the noise and acceleration of modern life for several weeks affects body, mind, and soul in profound ways. Long days of walking create space for reflection rarely possible in ordinary life. Many pilgrims return home and change careers, relationships, priorities, or even countries after realizing that a life centred on Being feels fundamentally different from a life driven primarily by external achievement and accumulation.

What we are witnessing may be more than the revival of an ancient tradition. It may reflect a broader transformation in humanity’s understanding of spirituality itself.

Increasingly, people are questioning whether spiritual meaning can be mediated exclusively through institutions, doctrines, or systems of belief. The modern pilgrimage speaks to a growing hunger for direct experience — for silence, mystery, transcendence, and inner transformation.

Experiential spirituality cannot simply be inherited intellectually. It must be encountered.

And perhaps that is why so many people are becoming pilgrims again.

Reino Gevers – Host of the LivingToBe podcast

P.S. Over the years, my own Camino journeys have inspired two books exploring the deeper inner dimension of pilgrimage and transformational walking: Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul and the newly revised edition of Walking on Edge. Both reflect on the Camino not merely as a physical journey, but as a path of inner change, reflection, and rediscovery.

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by | April 3, 2026 · 9:15 am

The Cross: A Symbol of Resurrection and New Beginnings

Wishing you a peaceful Easter. I’m sharing this extract from my book: Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul as a reflection for the season — on the Cross, on suffering, and on the possibility of new beginnings.

“It is easy to bond with people on the Camino. You share daily experiences, memories and the highs and lows that come with a pilgrimage walk.

Then comes the time to say goodbye, which can be a painful process if you have spent days and weeks walking with someone. It is like saying goodbye to an old friend when you know it will be some time before you will see each other again.

Ray was a veteran pilgrim, walking the Camino for the last time. He had undergone surgery for colon cancer some weeks before, and was taking his walk slowly and with great mindfulness.

It was from the awareness that every moment that he still had to live was precious. “I’ve been on this same path many times,” he confided, “but this time I am seeing so many things I did not see before.”

“It is like reading a good book, and then you read it a second time and a third time, discovering each time something new from a different state of awareness,” he said.

Talking with Ray led to the realization that life itself is meaning and the purpose of each individual is moving to a higher state of consciousness during a lifetime whose end we cannot predict.

Ray decided to take a few days’ rest near the town of Sarria, wanting to walk the last 100 kilometers (62 miles) to Santiago in his own time.

On saying goodbye, Ray gave me a Christian cross that he had lovingly carved out of wood from an olive tree.

While I was touched by his gift that came from the heart, I had mixed feelings about the cross that also symbolized the “corporate identity” of the church with which I had a long-troubled relationship.

I was unaware at the time that my pilgrim friend had given me an astounding gift. I hung it around my neck, its mystery opening to me with every step to Santiago and healing the old wound.

In the Christian tradition the cross is the symbol of Christ’s pain and suffering. It resonated with the people in the Middle Ages who themselves went through a dark time of humanity. But in the modern era?

The tragedy is that the fixation on this symbol of suffering misses the essence of Jesus’ teachings—that of transmuting suffering and death in resurrection.

This might sound blasphemous for some but we have a religion focused on life being an endless endurance of pain and suffering with the salvation only coming in the hereafter.

This was very much the thinking during the Middle Ages. Christians paid tithes to the church to “buy” their way into heaven. With disease, war and childbirth being a constant daily reminder that life on earth could be a short sojourn, the church fed into the fears of what comes in the afterlife. If certain beliefs, habits and rules were not followed, you ended up in the eternal flames of hell.

Life on earth at the time must surely have been hell for many people, struggling to eke out a living in the overcrowded towns and cities infested with rodents and human excrement. Living in the rural areas was no better, as every freak weather condition could mean a failed harvest and famine.

The devil was blamed for bad luck, accidents, immoral behavior, theft, illness and death. He was frequently depicted in places of worship, paintings and manuscripts of the time. Hell was a dark underground world ruled by Satan and full of demons, monstrosity and deformity. The horrors could not be worse if you turned your back against God and the church.

At the same time Christ was the savior in the sky above. Depictions of heaven and Christ could frequently be found on high ceilings and on top of the altar. God’s mercy and the reward in the afterlife came after leading a life following rules and beliefs.

There are many depictions of the world of darkness and the world of light in the old cathedrals, chapels and churches on the Camino, such as in Jaca, Lugo and Oviedo, giving an inkling of the mindset of the time.

The dividing lines between good and evil could not be more vivid.

In contrast, the Cathedral of Santiago is an expression of joy. It probably stems from the joy many pilgrims felt in finally reaching their destination after months of arduous walking. The Monte de Gozo, or Mountain of Joy, is situated on a hilltop from where the pilgrims had a beautiful view of the ancient city of Santiago.

The Portal of Glory in the cathedral features over 200 Romanesque sculptures, featuring angels, saints and prophets. Angels carry and lead the soul to paradise. The angels play instruments in concert to the glory of God.

Built in the form of a cruciform, the cathedral is almost austere coming from the entrance but opens up to a magnificent organ and choir with illuminated chapels on either side.

Even today pilgrims are overwhelmed when entering the cathedral for the first time.

If he or she has walked on the northern route, he/she will have passed by numerous crosses along the wayside, depicting the crucified Christ in many shapes and forms of gruesome suffering.

No wonder the first Vikings visiting England went back to their homeland telling their people that the Anglo-Saxons were easy prey because they were worshipping a dead God.

The cross is in fact an old symbol pre-dating Christian times and deeply embedded in pagan and Celtic tradition.

In many of the churches and chapels on the Camino the “Goddess,” the Virgin Mary, is the central figure on the altar. Especially in Galicia the ancient stone crosses depict Jesus on the one side and the Mother Mary on the other, which on a symbolic level unites the male and the female aspect.

One of the sad aspects of the Protestant movement was the banishment of the Madonna, the female aspect, from the altar, replacing it with the crucifix.

Many priceless artifacts were burned and destroyed in the fanatic 30-year religious war between Catholicism and Protestantism that ravaged central Europe in the 15th century.

While the Roman Cross has a long central vertical line, the Celtic cross has both the vertical and horizontal lines in equal length, with a circle around it.

The horizontal lines symbolize the past and the future, with the mind locked in one of these two thoughts on a daily basis. The vertical line, however, represents the alignment with the above and the below, the awakened state of the present “heart moment” in the center where the cross meets.

We thus find many an ancient painting depicting a heart or a mandala in the center of the cross.

As we say the old Celtic powerful prayer of protection, we visualize the Goddess, the Mother, Mary, the Madonna:

She is as above me as below, to the left and to the right, before me and behind me as well as within me.”

Reino Gevers – Host of the LivingToBe podcast

P.S: If you enjoyed this article you might be interested in reading more in “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul” published by Morgan James, New York. Get it today on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where all good books are sold.

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by | January 25, 2026 · 4:53 pm

From Struggle to Awe: A Pilgrimage of Transformation

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” — Meister Eckhart

There was a time in my life when I believed I had to hold everything together by sheer work and effort. If I paused, I feared I would disappear. Only later did I begin to understand that disappearing was not the danger I imagined. It was, in fact, the return.

Life is something like a ripple on the ocean, momentarily appearing, briefly defined, then gently dissolving back into the vastness from which it came. The ripple feels separate while it lasts, yet it has never been anything other than the ocean. This simple image has accompanied me through many seasons of exhaustion, loss, and quiet awakening.

The mystics gave language to what I was slowly learning through experience. The 13th-century Mystic Meister Eckhart puts it into words: “The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.” If this is true, then separation is not the final truth of a lifetime.

When Separation Feels Real

For many years, separation felt very real to me. I lived on the surface—busy, capable, outwardly functional—while something deeper waited patiently. I now recognize how easily we mistake movement and activity for meaning. Eckhart’s warning feels almost tender in hindsight: “As long as you are seeking God, you are not yet aware that you have found Him.” I was always seeking, rarely resting.

The poet-mystic Rumi names this restlessness with compassion: “Why are you so busy with this or that or good or bad; pay attention to how things blend.” When you allow things to blend, you surrender to strength, vulnerability, certainty, and doubt, faith and the unknowing.

The Descent That Saved Me

My own turning point came not through achievement, but through fatigue. I had reached a place where distraction no longer worked. What emerged instead was a quiet invitation to walk—both literally and inwardly. An annual pilgrimage became my way of consenting to descent.

One day, on the Camino Primitivo in northwestern Spain, I found myself struggling up a steep mountain path amid darkness and driving rain. Each step felt heavy. The trail seemed endless, and my inner landscape matched the weather—tight, effortful, and discouraged.

Then, without warning, the heavens opened. The rain softened, the clouds lifted, and beneath me appeared a vast sea of clouds stretching all the way to the horizon. The shift was almost instantaneous. Within seconds, my mood changed completely. Where there had been struggle, there was awe. Where there had been resistance, there was gratitude.

I stood there, soaked and breathless, perceiving not only the incredible beauty of that moment, but the beauty of life itself. I felt truly blessed—not because anything had been solved, but because something had been revealed. I had crossed a threshold without even realizing it.

The Christian mystics speak of this movement without sentimentality. John of the Cross calls it “the dark night,” a phrase that once frightened me. Now I hear it differently: as a stripping away of the onion layers of what no longer carries life. What felt like loss was actually a clearing.

Living Lightly on the Surface

It is so easy to confuse your ripple with your worth. There is a deep need to be seen, to be heard, and to be validated. But it can create much pressure. Accept who you are with loving kindness, and the old burden of control is no longer that important. Meister Eckhart’s invitation is simply: “Let go of yourself and you will find yourself.” This letting go is a daily practice rather than a single event.

To live as a ripple is to accept impermanence without fear. To rest as the ocean is to trust belonging without proof. Somewhere between the two, a quieter wisdom emerges.

A Gentle Invitation

A Pilgrimage to New Beginnings grew out of this lived knowing. It is not about fixing what is broken, but about remembering what has never been lost. If these reflections echo something in your own life, you are warmly welcome to join.

The reservation window remains open for ten more days—not as an urgency, but as an invitation to step across a threshold.

The ripple does not need to earn its place in the ocean.

Reino Gevers – Host of the LivingToBe podcast

P.S. For those who feel drawn to explore this in-between season more intentionally, I am offering a six-week online course, Pilgrimage into New Beginnings. It is a quiet, reflective journey for times of transition, starting March 4th.

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by | December 26, 2024 · 3:30 pm

Walking the Camino: Lessons in Life and Faith

Walking the Camino is a spiritual journey that mirrors the journey of life, unfolding in three profound stages: a beginning, a middle, and an end. Kierkegaard describes these three stages of life as the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious.

The first stage—the crucifixion—represents the struggle and hardship of making mistakes, forcing the boat upstream, and losing your way on the wrong path. During the first stage in life we face trial and error, effort often feels futile. You sometimes engage in aimless wandering and deviations. You may easily lose your way with countless distractions in the monkey mind.

The middle stage, symbolized by the Valley of Death or the Meseta, is a surrender of the ego to a higher purpose and deeper meaning. Here, the ego must die for the soul to awaken to its inner truth, allowing for transformation and clarity.

According to Kierkegaard the appeal during this “ethical stage” lies in walking the path with confidence, even though it may be monotonous and exhausting at times.

The final stage—the resurrection—is a state of flow, where you align with the current of life and begin to see that every experience, even the challenges, has been an expression of divine grace, sculpting you into the BEING you were always meant to become.

You feel the ecstasy in the dance of life. Your walk is a gentle surfing of the path without a sense of gravity. There is an unspoken faith in the journey that drives you forward, and quickens your pace.

Reaching the Cathedral of Santiago is a celebration of joy and homecoming, marking the soul’s return to its true essence. Ultimately, the Camino is a journey of the soul, finding its way back home.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. If you enjoyed this article you will be interested in my books available where all good books are sold.

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by | September 16, 2024 · 3:38 pm

Pilgrimage, Mystery, and Healing

In London’s Westminster Cathedral stands a strikingly beautiful statue of Our Lady of Walsingham, emanating timeless grace, peace, and compassion.

The Marian shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, located in Norfolk, England, traces its origins back to the early 11th century. Known as “England’s Nazareth,” it became one of the most significant and ancient pilgrimage sites in the country.

Known as the „Walsingham Way,” countless pilgrims visited the Holy House with a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary as a focal point of contemplation. It was a time when monasteries and shrines connected medieval pathways in a powerful matrix throughout Europe.

But in 1538 Henry VIII ordered the Walsingham statue to be taken to London and destroyed. As part of his break from Catholicism, monasteries were dissolved, pillaged and pilgrimages prohibited.

Only in recent times, the Walsingham pilgrimage path has been revived now officially forming part of the network of pilgrimage paths to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

The shrine in Walsingham has regained its medieval significance, often referred to as the “English Lourdes” because of its central place in Catholic and Anglican devotion in England.

Pilgrims to Walsingham seek healing, spiritual guidance, and a deepened relationship with the Virgin Mary. It remains a place of great spiritual renewal for many, with visitors walking the Holy Mile, a traditional part of the pilgrimage route.

The beautiful statue of the Walsingham Lady in Westminster Cathedral was commissioned by Cardinal Griffin in 1954 and sculpted by Pius Dapre. For many years it remained hidden and almost unknown in the Cathedral Crypt until it was recovered.

Mystery still surrounds the original wooden shrine which may have never been burned and destroyed as ordered by Henry VIII.

An article recently published in The Catholic Herald quoted art historians as saying that The Langham Madonna, a battered 13th-century English statue in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, is in fact the original statue of Our Lady of Walsingham.

There were no eyewitness accounts that the statue was actually destroyed in London, according to the historians but hidden by Catholic loyalists until it reappeared centuries later in the museum.

Throughout history, countless myths, legends, and mysteries have surrounded the figure of the Goddess—whether Mary, Brigid, Kali, Isis or others—appearing and reappearing in various forms. At times, she has been revealed as a beautiful statue, carved from wood, stone, or marble, inspiring the creation of shrines, monasteries, or cathedrals at the place of her discovery.

Mary, in particular, has been known to appear in sacred apparitions at sites like Walsingham, Lourdes, and Fatima—places where the veil between worlds seems thin. Regardless of whether one is a believer, agnostic, or of another faith, her presence has been tied to stories of miracles that defy logic. Yet, time and again, she has brought comfort, solace, and peace to those facing pain and confusion.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. If you enjoyed this article you will be interested in my books available where all good books are sold.

Check out also the recent episode on the Living to BE podcast and Youtube with our special guest Matt O’Neill. The topic: Happiness is a Choice.

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by | June 17, 2024 · 8:16 pm

Truth of the Heart

Just having completed the Camino Aragonese pilgrimage route in northwestern Spain, I was deeply inspired by the diverse landscapes, rich vegetation, and the symphony of nature that emerges when human noise recedes.

Immersing oneself in nature reveals the interconnectedness of all living beings. Nature is an expression of the divine, with diversity as a fundamental principle of creation.

In times when external voices grow increasingly loud with hate-filled tribalism and ethnocentricity, the truth of the heart becomes paramount.

Monoculture is lifeless

Compare a lifeless monoculture with a meadow buzzing with the sound of birds, insects and the aroma of wild herbs and a multitude of flowers.

Thoughts and beliefs – religious, philosophical or political – have become so much part of tribalist identity that some people would rather die than admit that they have all along placed the ladder against the wrong wall.

Attachment to fanaticism in all shape and form hardens mind and body, and is one of the biggest obstacles to personal growth and elevation of consciousness.

One humanity or chaotic tribalism

Currently humanity is at the cusp of an elevation of consciousness of a one humanity or regressing into another chaotic age of divisive tribalism, nationalism, and intolerance.

There have been brief periods of enlightenment in the past when faith was more experiential in nature, with individuals gaining higher insight through contemplation, art and music.

Beautifully restored Romanesque cathedrals, especially in Jaca and Sanguesa, on the Aragonese route provided sanctuary in medieval times for quiet contemplation and inspiration from sculpture at a time when most people were illiterate.

Divinely inspired music and art

Later construction of the grand cathedrals such as Notre-Dame in Paris and Chartres, with their stunning stained glass windows inspired awe and devotion.

During the Renaissance era religious art with masterpieces by artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael communicated complex theological ideas through visual means.

Sacred music by composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, and Beethoven created elaborate musical compositions elevating the liturgical experience and deepening the spiritual experience, connecting with the divine in profound sensory-rich ways.

When a religion degenerates into claiming the ultimate truth, subjugating its members into what to believe and how to behave, there is empty ritual and stagnation. The head-mind closes the door to the heart-mind and the whispers to the soul.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. I’m excited to announce the release of my latest book, “The Turning of the Circle: Embracing Nature’s Wisdom for Purposeful Living.” If you enjoy it, you might also be interested in my previous works, “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul” and “Walking on Edge: A Pilgrimage to Santiago.” You can find all of these titles at reputable bookstores near you.

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by | May 8, 2024 · 9:02 am

Is religion stifling spiritual growth?

During my childhood in South Africa, I started having my first doubts about religion when clergy defended from the pulpit the abhorrent policy of apartheid and prevented a devout black priest from attending a church ceremony.

The message of salvation failed to resonate in the obligatory Sunday services which I found to be extraordinarily melancholy and joyless occasions, steeped in empty ritual. It did however serve the purpose of sending me onto a path of intensive ongoing spiritual exploration.

If you are one of those people who left the church in frustration after being shamed for thinking differently or questioning doctrine, then welcome to the club.

For centuries religious institutions have stifled spiritual growth and prevented people from living their divine purpose by telling them how to behave, what to believe, and even what politicians to vote for. This, for me at least, is the ultimate sin for which the church needs to take responsibility.

Spiritual but not religious

Especially younger people in Western countries are seeing through the hypocrisy and leaving the church in droves. But does that mean that more people are becoming agnostic, atheist, or have lost their belief in the divine?

Seven out of ten Americans describe themselves as spiritual in some way including 22 percent who say they are spiritual but not religious.

Even the first Christian communities were often divided between legalistic interpretations of the Gospel and experiential spirituality. There is a lovely passage in Galatians 5 of the New Testament of the Bible where St. Paul criticizes an early church in today’s Turkey.

Paul underscores the centrality of the Gospel, calling on the faithful to practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as opposed to the legalism of what foods to eat and what could and could not be done on a Sabbath.

Jesus, the ultimate revolutionary

Some 2,000 years ago Jesus broke all religious conventions by healing the sick on the Sabbath. He was eventually crucified when openly exposing the hypocrisy of the clergy, by dining with sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and other outcasts – who were excluded from the Temple.

Jesus never had plans to establish an institution or a church and would probably be horrified by what people are saying and practicing in his name today. When someone starts confronting me with the words: “Have you found the real Jesus?” it is for me a signal to run.

Temples, churches, and places of worship could be turned into sanctuaries of peace by opening their doors to people of all faiths. Many Christian churches however are stuck in tribalistic doctrine, especially when it comes to who is entitled to holy communion, abortion, or whether women can be ordained as priests.

Thriving churches, however, are vibrant meeting places for people joyfully dancing, singing, praying, and sharing meals together. In a positive sense, they can cement the community spirit, especially in urban environments where we have an epidemic of isolation and loneliness. These church members practice a living faith by visiting the aged, providing comfort to prison inmates, and refugees, and establishing food banks for the hungry.

Spiritual growth comes from a place of brokenness

There is a saying that religion is for those who fear hell while spirituality is for those who have been there. The seeds of spiritual growth come from a place of brokenness.

On my more than a dozen walks on the Camino in Spain I have met countless people who have gone through the hell of losing loved ones, confronted life-threatening illnesses, the dark holes of depression, financial ruin, and relationship breakdown. What I can say about all these people I’ve met on the Camino is that such life-changing events made them come out stronger, forcing them into deep introspection on the purpose and meaning of life.

A cosmic religion of the future

Experiential spirituality is a process whereby the shutters of the soul window are opened. It is a feeling of connection with the divine, and the mystery of creation. The great scientist Albert Einstein once said that the religion of the future will be cosmic in nature. 

“The most beautiful and deepest experience a man can have is the sense of the mysterious. It is the underlying principle of religion as well as all serious endeavors in art and science. He who never had this experience seems to me, if not dead, then at least blind,” Einstein is quoted as saying.

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, encourages individuals to go beyond the superficial differences among religions and recognize the deeper essence of spirituality and morality that can be found in all faith traditions. 

The fundamental principles of compassion, love, and ethics are not limited to any particular religious tradition or belief system. These principles, the Dalai Lama believes, are universal.

Already early into this year, a record number of pilgrims are walking the Camino. All share the common quest that has resonated through the ages:

“From whence do I hail? Whither do I journey? What purpose guides my days ahead?”

In echoing the ancient Sages and Mystics, emphasizing the innate spirit of man: Where there is a lighthearted spirit of joy, peace, positivity, and kindness, negativity and darkness recede.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. I’m excited to announce the release of my latest book, “The Turning of the Circle: Embracing Nature’s Wisdom for Purposeful Living.” If you enjoy it, you might also be interested in my previous works, “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul” and “Walking on Edge: A Pilgrimage to Santiago.” You can find all of these titles at reputable bookstores near you.

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by | January 15, 2024 · 10:11 am

Can you be a divine messenger?

In ancient oral traditions saints and prophets are often said to return as angels in disguise after departing from their earthly existence, assisting those in desperate need of help, but sometimes unwittingly you too can become a divine messenger by imparting one word or deed that can completely change the trajectory of a person’s life.

Several stories reflect the universal theme of saints and prophets in the afterlife intervening in human affairs, in unexpected and unassuming forms.

Guidance and healing at crucial junctions

In ancient Greek mythology, the deity Asclepius is associated with healing and is said to have returned to the mortal world in disguise offering healing and guidance.

In the Islamic tradition, Khizr is often associated with the archetype of a wise and immortal figure who appears in challenging times, disguised as an ordinary person.

In Slavic folklore, the supernatural being Baba Yaga comes in disguise to test individuals and those who treat her kindly are well rewarded.

According to Jewish-Christian legend the Prophet Elijah intervened at several crucial junctions of human history. During the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 the Christian forces in Spain faced a formidable opponent against the soldiers of the Almohad Caliphate. The Christian army was about to be defeated when a mysterious knight wielding a white banner with a red cross appeared on the battlefield, believed to have been Elijah in disguise, and providing the crucial assistance that turned the tide.

The red cross against a white background is today a familiar symbol on the scallop shell worn by pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago, many of them probably unaware of its origins. In my novel “Walking on Edge” I refer to several mysterious encounters with strangers that the main character Jake has on the Camino. Some of these accounts are based on real stories that I came across on my own pilgrimage walks.

It is common for pilgrims to have a really low moment while on the Camino, where they are at the point of giving up. I’ve met several people who reported having an epiphany after overhearing a conversation or having a chance encounter with a stranger, giving them the courage to continue.

You should never underestimate the impact your words and deeds could have on a fellow human being. Sometimes you also need to be cruel to be kind.

A teacher or parent might implement a policy of no-nonsense adherence to deadlines and assignments to prepare the student for the obstacles they might encounter in future professional environments, instilling a sense of responsibility and discipline, even though momentarily demanding.

If you have a family member or friend suffering from an addiction problem, the only way you are going to help them is by setting clear boundaries and deadlines where they can get professional help.

But sometimes a simple gesture or act of kindness can leave an everlasting imprint on a person’s memory.

In Charles Dickens’ novella “A Christmas Carol,” the miserly and bitter old man Scrooge is transformed with a child’s kindness that serves as a catalyst for his redemption, reminding him of the joy and warmth associated with Christmas and the importance of human connection.

It costs absolutely nothing to be kind. You never know what impact that could have on a fellow human being. The exact right words and actions might resonate with another person more than you realize.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. I’m excited to announce the release of my latest book, “The Turning of the Circle: Embracing Nature’s Wisdom for Purposeful Living.” If you enjoy it, you might also be interested in my previous works, “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul” and “Walking on Edge: A Pilgrimage to Santiago.” You can find all of these titles at reputable bookstores near you.

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by | October 2, 2023 · 4:16 pm

Walking the earth with reverence

On one of my walks on the Camino de Santiago in northwestern Spain, I met a woman who was on the pilgrimage to deal with the grief of just having lost her husband to whom she had been happily married for many years.

Like her many people walking the Camino are at an inflection point in their life, walking off their grief from the loss of a loved one, the trauma of a divorce, or the fears of dealing with a life-threatening illness.

The shared community experience of doing an 800-kilometer walk over many weeks is one reason why some pilgrims come back every year to walk the entire route or some sections. There are few places in the world where complete strangers would exchange some of their most intimate experiences only minutes after meeting each other.

The sacred path

One morning, as we continued our journey, the woman I had been walking alongside for several days seemed unusually introspective. Eventually, she shared a vivid dream she had experienced the previous night.

In her dream, she found herself before the iconic burning bush, a scene drawn straight from the pages of the Bible’s Book of Exodus. In this powerful vision, God revealed Himself to her through the flames, just as he had to Moses centuries ago. But in her unique version of the story, a gentle voice emanated from the fiery foliage, urging her to tread the path ahead with reverence. The encounter left her awestruck, marking our journey with an undeniable sense of divine purpose.

The universe, or God, has many ways of whispering to your innermost soul, particularly in dreams. Treading the Camino path with reverence has led to a profound transformational shift in people who have walked this ancient path. It is a crash course in the lessons of life.

When traversing the earth with reverence, the senses awaken to the profound beauty of God’s creation. In the presence of mindfulness, enchantment permeates every moment. Conversely, when the mind is agitated and in haste, there is disconnection. Life’s wonders appear fleeting and superficial. A stressed mind remains trapped in the tunnel vision of flight, missing the intricate magic that weaves through existence.

The magic of the moment

Magic reveals itself in the tiniest of moments. Just a few days ago, I ventured into a rocky cove for some snorkeling. In the midst of the tranquil turquoise water, a pair of fish glided past, their scales aglow with a rainbow of colors, a mesmerizing effect created by the angle of sunlight filtering through the water’s surface.

It was a fleeting encounter, but within those brief seconds lay an astounding beauty. I would have entirely missed the moment had I not chosen to pause in stillness at one particular spot for a few precious minutes. In that space of quiet connection, the universe unfolded its secrets, reminding me that the most extraordinary experiences often come from the simplest acts of presence.

Serenity unfurls its wings in unhurried slow, deliberate breaths. It whispers through the silence of the mountains and echoes in the steady, gentle cadence of the waves.

Nature, in its eternal wisdom, guides you inward with each inhalation and exhalation, inviting you to rediscover the tranquility within. Amidst the clamor of the external world and the cacophony of maddening crowds, respite can be in the simplicity of aligning your breath with the rhythm of the natural world. Chaos fades, and solace is found in the gentle embrace of the universe.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. I’m excited to announce the release of my latest book, “The Turning of the Circle: Embracing Nature’s Wisdom for Purposeful Living.” If you enjoy it, you might also be interested in my previous works, “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul” and “Walking on Edge: A Pilgrimage to Santiago.” You can find all of these titles at reputable bookstores near you.

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