Editing Dharmic Circuits: Sacred Pathways – Part 1 (section)

==== Life as a Journey ====
The teertha yatras also aligns with the nature of the Hindu society. A Hindu is an inveterate traveler. In spite of innumerable hurdles, every Hindu tries to undertake some sort of a teertha yatra at least once in his lifetime. Old age doesn’t deter him, financial worries don’t discourage him, the dangers of journey ahead don’t discourage him. He just goes with the flow and travels.

In a way, a Hindu is always prepared to travel for life itself is a journey for him. He has been transmigrating through various lives in various bodies, times and places since eternity and this life is just a passing station. He takes utmost care of it, but also knows of its ephemeral nature. To keep traveling until the final destination of moksha arrives is the goal of this seemingly endless journey. Therefore in some sense when living life according to dharma, the entire life becomes a teertha yatra and all of us are nothing but teertha yatris.

Teertha yatra is a journey – service towards this spiritual goal. The ultimate goal of all these arduous journeys fraught with all the dangers is to take a turn inwards; to look for one’s own real self; to search for moksha or liberation. The role of the sacred kshetras is to enhance this search. These teerthas make this inner journey easier. It is because the great rishis and devatas have made this place very powerful through meditation. The divine energy that resides in these sacred teerthas makes the inner journey of the teertha yatri easier. The word teertha literally means a ‘ford’, that place in a river which is comparatively easier to cross.