THE ANCIENT PILGRIM PATH known as the Way of St. James meanders up through the incomparable beauty of the landscape temple of northern Portugal. It follows 'the road less traveled' part, which is along the original Roman roads Via XVI from Lisbon to Porto and the Via XIX from Porto to Valença. For over a thousand years pilgrims have taken 'time out' to walk its solid surface to reflect on life and its deeper purpose. It is beginning to awaken from centuries of slumber to offer us, again, a time to pause and to re-orientate ourselves in this time of unprecedented change. It provides an antidote to burnout and a vision of a brighter, more sustainable future.

Every one of us is affected by the current global turmoil that threatens our social, economic, climatic and ecological systems. However, the current chaos offers a wonderful opportunity to reappraise our lives. It is futile to try and maintain a bubble that has become so inflated that its very fabric is stretched so thin that it can no longer survive in its present form. We can bury our heads in the sand and deny that exponential growth can continue forever - but if left unchecked it must inevitably collapse under its own weight. We have reached that point and the problem of our collective, unsustainable way of life can no longer be left for the next generation to solve. We are living beyond the capacity of the earth to sustain us and we need to act now in a concerted global re-envisioning.

In a sense, Portugal was the birthplace of Globalism. The Portuguese 'discoveries' of the 15th and 16th centuries extended the known world to encompass the entire planet for the first time. The Portuguese explorers like Vasco de Gama and Magellan gave rise to international trade and the unbridled expansion that has now, finally, come to an end. But this is also a time of unprecedented opportunity. The solutions to all our problems are available to us, now. The global energy 'crisis' is one of the many illusory tricks that are being played out by the big energy companies who control so much of the global economy. Enough solar energy hits the earth each day sufficient to fuel the entire global energy needs for one year! All we need do is to wake up and change the way we think so that we can start to breakdown the monopolies of the energy giants and harness this unlimited sustainable source of power.

With our noses pressed ever more firmly to a grindstone that is spinning ever faster how can we make the necessary changes. Einstein famously remarked, "We cannot solve a problem with the same mindset that gave rise to it." When all is said and done we need a more evolved consciousness. Barack Obama's democratic platform was built on the slogan "we need change." This is where the Camino Portugués comes in so beautifully. Most of us are familiar with the busy-ness of life that seems to trap us in its complexities so that we never have 'time' to reflect on our lives and its direction. To bring about the required change in mindset we need to take time out from all the activity, away from the familiar and allow some spaciousness into our lives. What better place to achieve this than to walk the Way of St. James otherwise known as the Camino Portugués. All you need is a 'pilgrim passport' (or credential), a light backpack and pair of walking shoes. But don't delay - the future of the world may depend on it!

The pilgrim infrastructure has improved greatly during the past few years and hostels are now available all along the route from Porto. If you don't fancy sleeping in a pilgrim dormitory you can always stay in one of the magnificent quintas that line the route. These quintas, along with other alternative accommodation are all listed in A Pilgrims Guide to the Camino Portugués, which also has maps detailing the distances between hostels, quintas, bars and cafés. The Camino has become the second most popular route to Santiago but it is still relatively uncluttered despite the fact that pilgrims from a staggering 156 different nationalities walked the route last year.

The most popular starting point is Porto but the route is now well marked all the way from Lisbon. The first 3 days of which are shared with the route to Fatima along the Camino do Tejo but the historic route then branches off at Santarém to the delightful town of Tomar, which has been associated with the pilgrim route to Santiago since the 10th century. The knights Templar occupied the town as their Portuguese headquarters to look after the welfare and safety of wayfarers. Prince Henry 'the Navigator' was a Grand Master and the great explorers such as Columbus were almost certainly entertained in its illustrious court, which is now protected as a World Heritage site. From here the route winds its way through the best preserved Roman ruins in Portugal at Conimbriga before entering the ancient capital of Coimbra. Porto is the next stop, which we reach 2 weeks from setting out from Lisbon. Another week will bring us to Valença on the river Minho before we enter Spain for the final few days to Santiago.

The route is very eclectic and is open and waiting for every one of every religion (or none) to walk its pathways as a way of reawakening to a future quite unlike the past. You can choose to go on this route today - now. Who, me? - Yes! And it may prove to be the pivotal turning point in your life when you experience the long last art of spacious living - uncluttered from all the paraphernalia of our chaotic way of life. What are you waiting for?

© John Brierley, 2009
Author of A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino Portugués published by Findhorn Press.

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A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino Portugués.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Brierley spent his early life in Dublin where he qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and set up practice as Brierley & Co in 1971 later merging with Jackson-Stops. An existential crisis took him and his family to Findhorn in Scotland in 1987 as part of a mid-career break. This was to prove a pivotal time in his life with a reordering of priorities towards a spiritual perspective.

In 1996 he convened the international conference ‘Business for Life’ where the core issue was identified as the crisis of the human spirit and the search for meaning in life. The idea of Business sabbaticals as an antidote to burn out and pilgrimage as a way to reappraise life's purpose became his abiding passion. In 2000 he walked up through Western Nepal into Tibet to complete the renowned Mount Kailash pilgrimage sacred to Buddhism, Hinduism and esotoric Christianity.