I connect with Bernie through his blogs and we also share in stages of his Soul prilgrimage and profound awakening. Our parallel experiences teach us that people often forget they are not giving up anything, but slowly beginning to expand and exist more fully. I engage Bernie in this dialogue after he has hiked nearly five months in the wilderness.
What prompted you to embark on such a pilgrimage?
The Journey of Life and Pilgrimage are ongoing. All trails lead to One place. A pilgrimage is traveling to a certain point or destination in the physical world where a sense of Holiness can be obtained. However, if one embarks on a pilgrimage to get somewhere, and if they have truly arrived, they will become intimate with the knowledge each step of the Journey is the Shrine. One feels complete in the Moment if One Lets go of want and is available to that which they can receive and sense in the Now. What one seeks is always there, but we are blinded by our preconceptions and the barriers and fears we place in our mind. Belief systems cloud our vision and keep us from becoming One with Nature and our surroundings.
Share your original expectations about your trip and how you feel now.
On a more familiar level, my intention was to hike the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail from the Mexican Border to the Canadian Border. This span of 2,650 miles takes one on a quest to Rediscover the Chaparral Country, the Desert, The High Sierras, The densely wooded forests, and the Volcano littered Range of the Cascade Mountains. The route took over four & a half months, travels from south to north through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. It is an exposure to extremes; Hot vs. Cold, High vs. Low, and Open Views vs. Heavy Vegetation.
The sensations one experiences are seemingly endless. There are flowers to enjoy every day. Beauty abounds. It is a journey of self-discovery. And how one sees self is determined by what enters the mind. I expected to engage in the Flow on a more fluent level. I expected to walk with grace. I expected to dissolve any issues or fears that I would encounter along the way. I wanted to become more aware of how I was a receiver and a transmitter in relationship to my surrounding world. Finally, I wanted to show my partner that she too can learn to walk with stillness and a sense of ease. Everything is only as Easy as we allow it to be. Therefore, by finding Grace through Walking in Stillness, I presently feel a greater sense of peace.
How do you view worlds around you before, during, and after this experience?
It must be said hiking or walking are not new to me. I have approximately 12,500 long distance trail miles under my feet. It would probably be more beneficial for me to speak in context of the collective hikes versus just this recent hike.
In 1997, I embarked on my first Quest, which was also the Pacific Crest Trail. At the time, what propelled me into the Back-Country was my distaste for the front-country. I wanted to go back to Nature. Essentially, I wanted to escape suffering. There was something I needed to find in the Wilderness that was lost ~ My Soul. During this first Trail of Searching I actually found more suffering and a strange mix of pain and pleasure. Along the crest one travels 20 to 30 miles a day. The body seems to be tested. But one learns it isn’t the body that is tested, it is the mind.
I learn we take our fears with us wherever we go. They are also transmitted to us by others. Fear is a dangerous virus on the trail. Hikers worry about illegal aliens, lack of water, high temperatures, the desert, rattle snakes, cougars, hitch hiking into towns, snow walking, river crossings with too much water, wet feet, blisters, high altitudes, low temperatures, running out of food, bears, and more interestingly, having to face the demons or issues in the forefront of the mind. The list of fears seems endless.
In 1997, I was fast. I had a sense of urgency in my steps because my mind was still in Washington State in an unresolved relationship. I couldn’t settle into the moment. Therefore, I walked quickly to get closer to WA State. I wasn’t in Nature, I was in the future because of what I couldn’t let go of in the past. I also walked fast because I was scared of the unknown. PCT hikers often have to walk between 100 and 150 miles between resupply towns.
In the high Sierra, there are even longer stretches. Rugged mountains are raw and isolated. The beauty is overwhelming and ever-changing. But your fears are constantly testing you. You get caught in snow storms. Your feet are numb, and the mind rambles on about what-ifs. It takes a lot of energy out of a person walking 25 miles a day in addition to the energy that is bleeding from you to one’s personal demons and dramas. The fear tenses the mind and therefore, the body. Friction then causes the muscles to get sore, and suddenly one loses alignment. One begins the process of living with an injury and the injury is state of un-ease. I ended up hiking only the CA portion of the PCT that year. I couldn’t follow through with my intentions. My ego took a blow.
However, the more long trails I hiked, the more I faced my fears. I learned to make friends with my immediate surroundings. I began seeing beauty in the faces of all things. I didn’t believe in the propaganda of fear in other people’s minds. They could keep their fears to themselves. As I began to ease up my mind, I saw that my body also began to glide with ease. I became intimate with the Moment. I didn’t need to be anywhere. I was happy where I was and nothing else mattered. I didn’t have to try to hike anywhere. I had already arrived. Therefore, I had no doubts in my mind about achieving my intention of hiking to Canada. I was only to glide upon the wave of the intention. I already knew I could do it by becoming a part of the trail its self.
Why does a person benefit from leaving the familiar?
When one journeys into Wilderness, one leaves behind the paradigms of society. One also can leave behind what they perceived themselves to be. A high percentage of hikers are in transition. They longer identify with jobs they had. They have sold their possessions or have placed items in storage. A pilgrim has momentarily escaped the rhythms of culture and detached from their former identity. Daily habits are discarded in exchange for a new and vast landscape waiting to be explored. One is no longer a slave to the old, but is now partaking in the odyssey of the new. Detached, one can engage to the rhythm of Nature.
However, what keeps one fully in tune with Nature is the unresolved chatter that plagues the mind. There is a lot of time to think on the trail, so it allows one to process the feelings of the past. If one is successful, they can marry themselves into the moment and can hear the greater song of life and living. For those who continue to worship their fears and who cannot face their own whirlwind of thoughts, they eventually fall off of the trail, as they cannot fully integrate with Nature. They go back to feeding society.
Which fears are you currently in the process of facing?
The distance pilgrimage has become the platform for me to face my fears. It has shown me that I can take care of my self. I can let go of expectations and anticipation and just trust in the process. Everything always works out. By hiking with little, one learns they can get by in life with very little. What we do have is always enough. One unlearns the idea of wanting. One embraces accepting the gifts that present moment has to offer. One’s sense of past begins to dissolve and one then feels a wondrous sense of freedom. One is liberated into Being. I have learned not to think in terms of problems. My mind finds the opportunity to continue dissolving the Learned. We follow so many unconscious scripts since we have forgotten what it is like to live outside the script. There are many walls to find, rules to disassemble on the Trail of Life.
Interestingly, this last hike has pushed me beyond fear. I can become anything I put my mind to. I can now invite that which I would like to experience in my life.
What do you notice about your relationship to energy and sense of separation?
With nothing on one’s mind while flowing through the great outdoors, one can place their attention and full awareness upon plants, birds, mammals, insects, the scenery, or a combination thereof. By not thinking, one can feel the essence of what is being observed. You can see the objects state of mind. You can see their joys and suffering. Empathy is achieved. An exchange of energy is encountered. I am the object and the object becomes me. We are one.
There is an idea out there in the modern world of Leave No Trace. This is pure fiction. The goal is rather to a leave a trace of self. This is achieved not by destroying the environment or disrespectfully altering it, but by embracing it. As one walks through an environment, one’s energy field interacts with the energy fields that surround us. We are, along with the environment, changed forever. Colors affect us. The shapes and form of vegetation move us. The vista’s invigorates us. These objects, frequencies of vibration, respond to what we feel. Your energy has left an imprint. Angry thoughts are absorbed by the environment, and the place will not feel so light anymore. If people feel elated, it continues to reinforce elation in one’s surroundings. It is the same with our Sun that gives life to all things on earth. It too feels and absorbs the emotions that we emit on a daily basis. Everything affects everything else.
How do you think and feel about conditions since your return?
Obviously, I still have issues, but I have fewer issues than ever before. I have fewer emotional outbursts. I am more accepting to what is. For example, before I left, I would react heavily to conservative propaganda. Now I could not care less. I even laugh at the fear mongering. I am no longer triggered emotionally like I used to. I learn to embrace moment to a higher degree.
I just allow relationships to be what they are now. For example, I used to hold many expectations in my relationship to my girlfriend. On the trail, this summer, I wanted her to truly learn to walk where the long miles and constant ups and downs would become effortless. She would often suffer. I, therefore, became disappointed, and therefore I suffered. I found myself convincing myself to ride her hard to overcome her blocks. I noticed she sometimes walked with a depressed attitude. When she got angry, she would enter a higher vibration and could walk more fluently. So I spurred her sometimes in hope that she would then transcend the anger. However, this did not always work. It caused tension. She reached a breaking point, which paradoxically, is what we both needed. Her bubble burst, and she demanded I let her be. And so I did, and we have gotten along all the more better since. I no longer feel the need to change or mold her consciously or unconsciously. The event actually did empower her, and from that moment on, I knew she would make it to Canada. It had been important to me that she could do this. If she failed, she would hold onto this failure. But since she succeeded, she can embrace the idea of success in all that she does. She now knows how to fulfill her intentions and can bring that skill into everyday life. And now I feel I can let go of trying to control people, or the environment that I place myself in.
Another issue I had on the trail was that I was a much faster walker than my girlfriend. I had a totally different rhythm and pace than she did. I was always waiting for her. I felt bound and tied to someone else’s rhythm. This often frustrated me. However, I finally was able to let this go later in the hike when I realized I was defining my progress by what I used to experience on the trail from my past. The past, I realized, is gone. I have nothing to prove by going faster. In fact, I flipped it around and sensed that by having many variable speeds along the pilgrimage, I could have many more experiences. It made me more flexible to adjust my gait. It is a means to change one’s view from one moment to the next.
What would you say are your new rules of engagement for existence?
- Don’t take anything seriously.
- Allow the world and people to be what they are. They are having their own unique experiences. Trying to change anything comes from a position of judgment.
- When I have a quiet mind, I can listen more easily to what is truly trying to be conveyed.
- Flow with change and be flexible.
- Don’t think about how to act, but feel the moment by dancing with the object of your attention.
How do you understand what it means to live a high-frequency existence?
If we identify with the body, then we live in a heavier place within the mind. Our attachments to our appearance and how we should look or behave keeps us weighted down in a lower frequency. If we identify with the mind, we can learn to remove or add knowledge that can shift how we perceive the moment. The more we empty the mind, the higher the vibration one can invite into one’s being. If we identify not with the mind, but with the Soul, we can learn to find our personal genius which will take us into a high frequency existence. If we express and manifest our soul purpose, we may then be able to detach or dissolve the soul into pure spirit.
Which practical experiences suggest to you that you are expanding sensory perception?
As I have emptied my mind of attachments and psychological tendencies and habits, I have been able to see patterns and relationships within the world and within myself with a sense of ease. Everything I do is easier. If something seems hard, it is a block that I would like to dissolve and overcome. I can sense flow and lack of flow. I can often see what words or habits block spirit and inspiration from entering. I can see that the physical world is in itself a dream and that what everyone partakes in is a metaphor in action with symbols flying about everywhere.
I can look at a body and see what chakras are blocked. I can interpret my dreams and dissolve tension within me through the messages they give me. I can ask a question and the answer manifests quickly. Deja-vu experiences occur frequently. My purely intended wishes come true and manifest themselves. Synchronicity often presents its self. I am exponentially becoming more creative relative to what I used to exhibit.
How do you feel about the supernatural?
The Supernatural is becoming Natural. I have seen the dream world superimpose its self on the physical world with meaningful messages. I have seen UFOs in flight. I have had interactions with ghosts and spirits. I have traveled to other dream realms through relaxation and intention.
What does it feels like to know divine connections?
By exploring Nature and the Outdoors, one finds inner Nature. What one experiences in the Wild is inside one’s self. The outer world reflects the inner world. If one is comfortable in Nature, he is at ease with his own Nature. If one fears something in Nature, it is an internal block to the Divine. If one sees a bear or a cougar, and he or she runs, they are in essence running away from themselves. Being in Nature will show you where you are out of alignment or out of tune with the planet and with your Higher Self. When one is comfortable in Nature, then you flow with Nature. The animal kingdom then accepts your presence because you have found your place within it. You are no longer considered a threat because they sense your peace of mind and not one’s erratic and fearful chatter. There is Harmony.
Please share 5 lessons you learned from your recent journey.
1. Flow with Change and you will not have to change the world around you.
2. By quieting the mind for extended periods of time, one finds a true sense of peace and freedom.
3. State your intentions and the world will rearrange its self to have them manifest.
4. Wish for something to come true, and believe it with all of your Heart, and it will happen.
5. If you truly open your mind fully and listen, you can hear the entire world speak. Everything has something to say and to share.
What message would you leave our readers with as food for thought?
Never have any doubts. If you do, then you will fall into them. If you believe in what you are doing, then you can become anything.
We are grateful for insights you choose to share. You resonate that every human being is on a quest for deeper understanding. Every choice enables one to open doorways to inner expansion and to realize that stillness speaks. Thanks for reminding people the paradoxical journey has benefits at every stage.
Readers are invited to visit Bernie’s blogs;
http://walkinginstillness.blogspot.com and http://northwestnaturalmoments.blogspot.com