The only image the word ‘tirtha’ or pilgrimage site conjures is that of a densely populated religious place with endless droves of devotees going about performing rituals to please their favorite gods, burn off karma, accredit some spiritual brownie points and hopefully gain some diving advantage in this otherwise meaningless existence.
Ironically, most pilgrimages have turned into the very things they were meant to rescue people from – mundane activities, commerce and a life that’s running on autopilot on a course dictated by society.
Meaning of Tirtha
A tirtha is a place of passage, where one crosses over from the normal state of existence to an elevated one. Kind of a spiritual diving board, where people can experience a higher form of consciousness and transform themselves.
The whole idea of a pilgrimage was to undertake a journey that takes one away from their regular existence, gives them a break from their patterns and habits, allows them to see the world and themselves with a fresh perspective, and gain insights that help them grow.
It’s a little sad that in a country crisscrossed by thousands of pilgrimages and holy sites, hardly a handful remain powerful places of transformation. The rest have turned shells of empty spirituality, like their visitors. Call it the effect of modernization or rampant capitalization, the more accessible these places become, the more their potency fades away. Pretty much like how a restaurant suddenly starts feeling substandard after becoming a franchise. The magic goes away, once the masses find their way to it.
The psychedelic revolution
While the ancient channels to access higher forms of consciousness are now clogged with hubris, the innate human urge to seek something deeper hasn’t faded away. New paths have opened up – the p$ychede1ic ones. The trip now is no longer to the desolate terrain of a snow-capped mountain, but within the landscape of one’s mind.
Modern Tirthas
When the ancients charted the tirthas, they kept in mind the journey that one needs to make to arrive at these sacred spots. The risks and trials one faced during the trip are what made one worthy to experience the real power of these tirthas.
The same holds true for a p$ychede1ic trip a modern seeker would take – no one knows what and where a psychedelic trip would lead to, or what demons will one battle on the way. There’s always a certain amount of courage and faith one must hold on to while taking a p$ychede1ic trip. Pretty much the same attitude a pilgrim of the old times would embark on their pilgrimage with.
This marks the arrival of new-age tirthas, places like Kasol and Kodai, where seekers arrive to dip their toes into realms of higher consciousness with the help of p$ychede1ics.
Strangely, some of the ancient trithas like Pushkar and Varanasi, have stayed relevant to the modern seeker because of their p$ychede1ic roots. Experiencing the Minikarnika ghat after ingesting a ball of bhang can be just as potent and transformative an experience as tripping on $hrooms or L$D.
The Future
As portals discovered by ancient seekers drown into vacuous tradition, new passages are surfacing. No one knows what the future of seeking is going to be, but it definitely appears that these p$ychede1ic trails are going to shape the paths that lead us to the deeper mysteries of nature.