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The secondary pilgrimage
The
pilgrim’s primary pilgrimage is to (to wit: self-transformation into or as)
her overall goal, hence to complete wholeness (in religion-speak, holiness; in
secular-speak, authenticity or originality), the latter being defined as ‘an
identifiable domain’ (i.e. a True Self). In order to get there the pilgrim
has to go step by step. Each (whole) step she takes is a secondary
pilgrimage, that is to say, an oasis in the desert (or if you prefer the
oriental metaphor, an island in the Great Ocean). Each
secondary pilgrimage is a whole pilgrimage in its own right. To complete it
the pilgrim applies all the means and skills needed to complete the whole,
i.e. primary pilgrimage. In short, a secondary pilgrimage is a shortened,
diverted primary pilgrimage. In
a nutshell, each secondary pilgrimage functions as a minor recursion of the
whole (i.e. primary) pilgrimage. The
pay-offs for ending the secondary pilgrimage (i.e. its fruits) are not
different from those harvested for ending the primary pilgrimage, save that
they are of lesser impact (quality). The shrewd (indeed, cynic or con-woman)
pilgrim can increase their impact (or quality) to fullness, wholeness (indeed
to complete fulfilment) by means of pumping (i.e. energy), whereby she may
divert energy either from outside or inside (for instance, via increased
concentration). By
observing the means of achieving a secondary goal closely, then repeating
secondary goal achievement many times, the clever pilgrim (operating as a
mystic) begins to understand the means of goal achievement (hence of
pilgrimage ending), the production of the fruits of achievement, the uses of
those fruits and the aftermath of achievement. By wising up to the basic
function of goal achievement, the pilgrim upgrades her chances not only of
surviving the ordeal of her pilgrimage, but also of fully savouring and
surviving the arrival at her primary destination, namely her desired True
(i.e. whole) Self (i.e. identity-as-difference). In short,
the fact of recursion, namely the repetition of a basic (read: universal)
function (undergoing local elaboration with each secondary pilgrimage) allows
her to anticipate what will, in principle, happen further down her path and
at the end of her path.
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