I have interest in mainly Eastern religions.
Now I'm planning traveling as an ascetic, going on pilgrimage to holy places.
Wonder what your opinion is about this?
Well, I don't have much interest in asceticism myself.
And traveling is often a hindrance to meditation practice.
Not to put a damper on your plans.
I guess the real problem I see with that is the buffet style or the reinvent the wheel aspect of it.
That sort of thing is the Buddha, the path of a Buddha.
If your intention is to come to know everything,
then it's a good path.
If your intention is to become, to let go of everything, then it's probably a bad path.
Or it's not a bad path, it's the long way.
Because if you're just looking to let go, then your best bet is to follow the teaching of those who have let go.
I suppose the difficult thing is for you to accept that
This teaching or that teaching is the teaching of letting go.
And I talked about this before, that if you're not sure which is the path, then picking and choosing or going and exploring many different religions is a good idea.
But...
If you're asking me, all I can say is, well, this is the path, and if you want to find peace and happiness, you have to follow this way, which of course everyone says.
But regardless of whether you're going to go to many different holy places and so on, or many different religions,
The point there is that you're not really practicing.
A pilgrimage is for someone who is dedicated to a certain practice.
If you're a Buddhist and your intention is to visit the Buddhist holy sites, I say, very good idea, wonderful thing.
I've done it twice and now that I'm in Sri Lanka, I think it's probably a good chance to go a third time.
But it should be for someone who is set on that practice.
Otherwise, it's not likely to greatly benefit.
Or it's just the slow way.
It's not a substitute for actually practicing a path.
It's not a substitute for actually practicing people's...
and people's teachings, or the teachings of a certain religion.
So, I guess, the final answer is your life, and it doesn't sound like an evil thing to do by any means, but not...
Not what I'd recommend for my students.
I would recommend them to cultivate their own minds.
And once they get settled in that, then to consider augmenting their practice by things like pilgrimages and even teaching other people and so on, things that help you to develop your own practice in a more holistic or comprehensive way, which pilgrimage can do.