[Gocamino] Pondering...

[Kathy Gower]

Greetings, all,

I am seriously wondering if one's feelings of spirituality connected with 
their pilgrimage experiences have  a direct correlation to their spiritual 
path pre-pilgrimage.  In other words, does one's sympathy or antipathy or 
even apathy for organized religion have any affect on what they may have 
gained as far as personal spiritual insight. (not religious insight).

I know that there were many reasons why individuals chose to make the 
pilgrimage and not all of them had to do with the religious veneration of 
the bones of St. James, witness to the Transfiguration, apostle, and so on. 
I personally came across Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics, and people who had no 
obvious religious reason for undertaking such a pilgrimage.

Is is possible to have a deep spiritual experience with no prior connection 
to the tradition of the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James).

This is a serious inquiry and if you'd rather, I'd love to hear from you on 
or off the list-serve.

Thank you,
Kathy