Q: Do you have to be Catholic to go on a journey/pilgrimage to Lourdes?
Karin: Not at all! Lourdes is open to people of all different faiths! Just about all
of the world’s great religions and spiritual paths teach the story of Mary, and
people from those faiths and backgrounds want to come too !
As a body/mind/spirit counselor, and someone who has taken the time to study
just about all the world religions and many diverse spiritual paths,
I welcome people from all walks of life, faith and all over the globe!
People who have described themselves as Protestant,
Jewish, Lutheran, on a path of self realization, etc… as well as “it’s complicated”,
“A mishmash of beliefs” “I don’t know what to believe anymore” etc…
and all the different types of Catholics I have heard over the years –
practicing, recovering, wounded, cafeteria, born again…
all have expressed a desire to go!...and many who did not have a good experience
of the version they received while growing up, felt healed by being in Lourdes.
The more diverse the better! I am not a minister of any kind, so I don’t even ask,
I just assist in empowering everyone who comes along!
Q: Isn't Lourdes a place where you go only if you are very ill?
Karin: That's what I thought! Now, there are certainly many very ill people that go,
they are called malades in Lourdes, and are given the pride of place as VIP’s!
They often come as part of a big pilgrimage with many volunteers!
However, for the rest of us, the deep emotional and spiritual healing and empowering
that takes place there is absolutely immense!
I don't know too many people who don't carry around some type of inner pain
or trauma or haven’t been weighed down by something in their lives at some point.
For some it's the loss of a loved one, others, well, the loss of a job can be
devastating, the pressures of work, exhaustion from life in general, old memories of
growing up in a dysfunctional family, beng bullied in school, etc...The healing energy
there can transmute and heal so much of the pain and suffering we've been
carrying around... it is mind blowing!
I led my first group there in the fall of 2012, and in the summer of 2013,
I was pulled in a deep meditation, and heard Mother Mary telling me that she wanted
me to bring people here regularly…. I asked her who she wanted me to bring
and I heard "Remember that quote from
the Statue of Liberty in New York?, that's who." Well, I couldn’t exactly remember
so I googled the quote and here is what it said: "Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."-Emma Lazarus
So, though that was obviously meant for the people seeking outer freedom from pain
and suffering, I experienced myself that being fully immersed in the powerful light in
Lourdes helps you to be free from the inner shackles of pain and suffering, that all
human beings carry around to different degrees… so it is open to every one!
The unexamined life is not worth living"
- Plato
Q: What do you mean by inner shackles?
The greatest journey through life is one where you are discovering, awakening
and strengthening your true, authentic self! ...within every human being is extraordinary
potential and gifts, however, for most of us, it is buried deep under the rubble of our inner
wounds, pain and suffering, traumas, unresolved issues and limiting belief systems......most
people start to stuff down this pain in childhood, for a darn good reason and now we can't
seem to access it...or we don't believe we have anything of value inside of ourselves...
or we've simply forgotten about it...
So, when you are in a place of great light, this sacred power starts to free you from
these inner shackles that have diminished your capacity to live your life to your
fullest potential...and to awaken your inner treasures, restore you to your authentic self,
connect you more strongly with your innate inner wisdom and a higher power...
and to align you with your highest destiny and highest potential...
I will assist everyone on our upcoming journey to reach these places of inner pain
and suffering, with a guided healing meditation in one of the chapels /churches
of Lourdes one evening...
The conversation between Rafiki and Simba from the Lion King explains it best!
Adult Simba: I know what I have to do. But going back means I'll have to face my past.
I've been running from it for so long.
Rafiki: It doesn't matter. It's in the past.
Adult Simba: Yeah, but it still hurts.
Rafiki: Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it,
you can either run from it, or... learn from it...
So what are you going to do?
Adult Simba: I'm going back!
Q: What spiritual/religious background do you have?
Karin: Well, I was raised Catholic, and went to Catholic Schools from kindergarden through an all girls high school, which is how I know the story of Bernadette,
but I was fascinated with studying other religions and spiritual paths throughout my life.
It was while I was studying with a wise Indian sage for many years, where I seriously
empowered my connection and trust with my wise voice within and a higher power.
She energetically transmitted something called “Shaktipat”, which over the years of meditating, deepened my connection with my wise voice within til I could hear it
like a voice.
I came to trust it over the years and have helped others to empower
and trust their own connections with their wise inner voice over the last 20 years
through my counseling and healing work. So, when I got the inner shout out in
meditation to go to Lourdes in the spring of 2012, and lead a journey there,
I was a bit perplexed. As I felt I had no connection with Mother Mary.
But I trusted this inner voice with my life, so I went!
So, I consider myself spiritual, but not religious.
I always resonated with what the great Indian sage Yogananda said:
“ The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience.
Intuition is the soul’s power of knowing God.”
Q: What exactly do you mean by Shaktipat?
Karin: Shaktipat, I learned many years ago, is an energy transmission which awakens
the spiritual energy called Kundalini Shakti, that exists within everyone. It ignites a process
within you that awakens you to your highest potential and any dormant gifts/potential that
you have. It also begins an inner purification process, where any old traumas from the past or
unresolved issues buried deep inside begin to come to the surface to heal. This way, you no
longer are carrying around all the backpacked pain from your life anymore. This is how I came
to hear my wise voice within so clearly. Little by little it became stronger and stronger
I received shaktipat over 25 years ago!
The healing/insights, etc happens a little at a time, over the course of your life, til you are completely
free from it all. Now, the grace will start this process, but it’s up to you to do your part as well – like
not stuffing it back down! It starts to clear out everything in your outer life as well, that is
preventing you from becoming all you can be – like old relationships that are dragging you down,
or belief systems that have kept you shackled, etc… In time, you begin to feel more of your
truest authentic self – the fullest expression of who you can be. Filled with bliss!
As you receive these sacred energy empowerments or transmissions
(I've heard them being called both!), it continues to empower your connection with
a higher power and your wise voice within. In the eastern, spiritual traditions, this would be called
enlightenment or self-realization. In many western traditions they talk about entering the kingdom
of heaven within. I speak of it in terms of the ultimate in personal empowerment! Where the goal
of these energy empowerments is to help you to become your highest, most authentic truest
expression of yourself, totally aligned and connected with your wise inner voice! If you ever studied
psychology in school, it reminds me of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, where at the top of his
pyramid he talks about experiencing the “mystical.” This is a way to get there!
After Shaktipat, I discovered that I had a huge propensity for healing others.
I developed what I call a “heightened perception” which helped me to see what was blocking
others from moving forward in their lives and helping them to get in touch with their own wise
inner voice and a higher power. Once you get that connection and continue to deepen it – you’ve got
everything you need in this life! It just guides you to making all the right decisions, etc…
The secret is knowing how to awaken and empower that connection!
Q: But I’ve never heard of Shaktipat and I was raised Christian.
Karin: Yeah, I never did either, so after having the great good fortune
of spending so much time with that indian sage and experiencing such a huge and
profound transformation, my burning question for the last 20 years has been
"where is this in Christianity????" Why don’t we know about it? Is this just something
out of the caves of India???? I came to understand that it was known as
“the Holy Spirit” in Christianity.
It is also known as "awakening the kundalini" in
other cultures and traditions. But I never felt anything like that and I was sent to catholic
schools for 13 years! I went from kindergarden all the way through to an all girls
catholic high school. Then a little later a book came out called The “Sacred Power”
by a former American Professor which explained this more thoroughly.
You might want to get yourself a copy - here's a link...
Here’s a quote from her book:
“Almost all religious or spiritual traditions speak
of Kundalini, the inner Spiritual power, in one form or another. The Japanese call it
“ki”, the Chinese “chi”,and in Christianity it is known as the “Holy Spirit”. In Mexico,
Kundalini was once worshipped as the serpent-god “Quetzalcoatl”; the Kung
people of theKalahari desert call this same power “n/um”. Though the names used
to describe it may be different, and though the symbols used to evoke it vary
somewhat fromculture to culture, Kundalini has been experienced in all places and
at all times. It is clearly a universal phenomenon.
Traditionally, the knowledge of Kundalini has been a closely guarded secret,
revealed by a Master to only a few close and select initiates. It tends to be spoken
of only in veiled and symbolic language; if it is spoken of at all."
-Swami Kripananda,
Then she goes on to say:
"In the West, the knowledge of kundalini has been
transmitted by the esoteric or mystery branches of all of its
great religious traditions.
The knowledge of Kundalini is clearly present in the mystery religions
of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome...in the Kabbalistic tradition of Judaism
and in the testaments of the great Christian mystics."
So, I am very happy to do my part in moving this
knowledge out from being a well kept secret of a select priviledged few!!
For those of you who would appreciate a more philosophical, scholarly or theological
perspective, keep reading, for everyone else, you can just scroll
down to the next question! lol!
I was recently searching the net to find out why this is still being hidden in
the Christian traditions...One reverent shared that in the New testament , the
story goes that something like the tongues of fire rested on the heads of the disciples
7 weeks after the resurrection of Jesus “and they were filled with the Holy Spirit...”
I’m paraphrasing, but he then goes on to say that in the era of the Old Testament ,
the Spirit was poured out almost exclusively on prophets, kings and priests…but in
the age of the New Testament, the spirit would be given to “all people” and that all
would be empowered with this holy spark regardless of their gender, age or position
inn society…
He continues to challenge those people who hold positions of power in the
church to examine their attitudes and actions…. "are we gatekeepers of the church
who would even keep the Holy Spirit out of our carefully tended and controlled
communities? …Sometimes, however, we pastors are so concerned about our own
position and power that we fall short of this central pastoral calling”
Interestingly enough,
I recently discovered that shaktipat has become known well enough now,
that it has a definition in wikepedia...
"Shaktipat refers in Hinduism to the confering of the
spiritual "energy" upon one person by another. Shaktipat can be transmitted with a sacred word or
mantra, or by a look, thought or touch...
Shaktipat is considered an act of grace on the part of the guru or the divine.
It's reception cannot be forced, though the recipient must be open to such a influx
since it also cannot be imposed by force.
The very consciousness of the god or guru is held to enter into the Self of the
disciple (student) constituting an initiation into the school or the spiritual family of
the guru..."
Here's another quote about Shaktipat:
"Electricity is present everywhere,
but there can be light only when the switch is turned on.
Similarly, the true guru manifests the consciousness in
the disciple through Shaktipat."
- Dhyanyogi
So, to translate that into what I experienced in Lourdes,
you are sparked (by the holy energy transmissions/empowerments) by Mother Mary
with the "Holy Spirit", which turns the light switch on....
Q: But how do you know you received “The Holy Spirit” in Lourdes?
Did someone tell you that?
Karin: Well, the second I went to the water taps and drank the spring water from
the grotto, I felt my heart and crown chakra explode! Then as my group came a few days later,
I saw the exact same thing happen to each one of them! At first, I thought it was just
a nice healing energy, however, throughout the week, we all felt spellbinding shifts within
our beings! Everyone’s connection to their wise voice within, heart and a higher power skyrocketed!
We could all feel the sacred light as we went to the baths, took part in the evening
processions and continued to drink the water!
Now, keep in mind, that the group I brought were all people who were practicing different
modalities of energy medicine, had received shaktipat before, had been meditating for quite
some time, were on a path of self realization and had done years of spiritual practices, so
they could feel the sacred power there and were very receptive because of all the past
purification work they had done, so they could really feel the impact within.
New people will receive the same thing, they may just not feel it as strongly – yet! Now,
back to your shaktipat question at Lourdes! What had me absolutely convinced that everyone
had received Shaktipat or the Holy Spirit, was at our farewell dinner! As everyone was
sharing their experiences, all of a sudden I felt embraced by this sacred light, and everyone’s
energy field became illuminated. I then saw a flame above each person’s head and was absolutely
awestruck! So, what that meant to me, was that I remembered back in religion class
in elementary school, when the nuns showed us a picture of Pentacost.
They explained that the flame above all the disciples heads was the Holy Spirit blessing them.
But that it was, of course only for special people. But it appeared to me, that Mother
Mary considers everyone equally special, because everyone got sparked by that flame, or as
the wise indian sage I studied with would say, it was shaktipat. Swami Kripananda even
meantioned something like that in her book as well: “In the New Testament, the descent of
the Holy Spirit occurs at Pentecost, where the Spirit is said to have rested on the heads of
the disciples in the form of tongues of fire…” So, it ended up being an answer to that
deep burning question that I was trying to sort out for decades!
Q: And you also do fun things in Lourdes as well..
Karin: Yes!...as a way to assimilate everything that was unfolding within us,
we take in the spectacular natural beauty of Lourdes! We ride the train up to the top
of the Pic du Jer, visit the medieval castle that had beautiful panoramic views of the town,
walk along the River Gave and Basilicas, take in a scenic drive to the world renown heritage sight of Gavernie, hike back from Bartres, eat delicious French cuisine, etc…
Q: When will you be leading this annual journey to Lourdes?
Karin: Right now, it looks like every spring! It is not as crowded then and there are hardly
any lines! Whereas if you go in the summer the lines for the baths can be between 4-7
hours long! I can’t wait to go back and bring others with me!! Knowing what is there,
I look forward to returning as often as I can for the rest of my life and assist others in
experiencing this life transforming place! To not go would be to really miss out on
receiving these energy empowerments!!
Before I left Lourdes after leading my first group there in 2012 , as I was sitting along the
River Gave, just basking in the holy energy there, I looked up at the statue of Mother Mary in
the grotto, thanked her for a beautiful trip and told her I wanted to come back!
Then on the inside I heard,“Bring me a fresh group as well as anyone who wants to return!”
Then after leading a second journey there in 2013 I heard "Bring me a bunch more!"
So, she clearly wanted new people to come. If you’d like to join us, just let us know!
You are more than welcome!
I’ll leave you with this quote!:
“The real voyage of discovery consists
not in seeking new landscapes, but seeing with new eyes.”
-Marcel Proust
We could all definitely see with fresh eyes after our last journey to Lourdes!
Looking forward to seeing you there soon!
~Karin
