Very close to it lies Manasarovar, one of the most sacred lakes in the Himalayas. The contrast between the two is difficult to ignore. Manasarovar holds fresh water, life and movement. For generations it has been a source of water for communities and pilgrims, and it occupies a central place in the spiritual traditions connected with Mount Kailash. Rakshastal and Manasarovar appear as two opposite forces standing side by side: the moon and the sun, night and day, the hidden and the conscious.

This duality is part of the sacred geography of the place itself. Rakshastal represents what remains in darkness, what has not yet been integrated, the raw forces that exist outside the space of our awareness. Fear, anger, desire, insecurity, pain, and all those experiences that at some point were too intense to be fully understood or digested. We may try to avoid them for years, but they continue to act from deep inside us, influencing our decisions, our emotions, our relationships and our reactions.

Manasarovar represents the opposite movement: consciousness observing, recognizing and making space for what was previously hidden. There is also a natural connection between the two lakes. When the waters of Manasarovar rise enough, they can flow towards Rakshastal through the channel that joins them. Within the spiritual understanding of this landscape, the image is incredibly powerful: the waters of the sacred lake entering the Poison Lake, consciousness entering what was hidden in darkness.

And behind both of them rises Mount Kailash.

The Gateway to Mount Kailash

The two lakes form the great gateway towards one of the most sacred mountains in Asia. For the different traditions that have travelled here for centuries, Kailash is not simply a mountain. It is a spiritual axis, a place of transformation, and a territory you approach only after passing symbolically through these two dimensions of human experience. Before reaching the mountain you first encounter light and darkness, the conscious and the unconscious, life and what seems to contain no life at all.

Two weeks ago we performed the Kora around Mount Kailash, the great pilgrimage that circles the mountain. The route takes you for many kilometres through an extreme high altitude landscape, eventually crossing Dolma La Pass at more than 5,600 metres. On paper it can look like a difficult trek. Once you are inside it, it stops feeling like a trek. It becomes something else.

The mountain starts removing your layers.

When the Storm Comes

We walked for hours carrying our backpacks while the weather kept changing around us. The sky closed in, the wind came, then the rain, then the cold. At some point we were completely soaked and every step started becoming heavier. Wet clothes stuck to the body, the hands became colder and breathing became shorter and harder because of the altitude. The landscape was enormous and incredibly beautiful, but there was nothing comfortable about it. The mountain was not there to protect us or adapt to us. We had to adapt to it.

Then the storm came.

Wind, rain, cold, exhaustion. The feeling of vulnerability became stronger, and together with it came the first real doubts. Will we be able to continue tomorrow? Will we have enough strength to cross the pass? What happens if the weather gets worse? What if the body does not respond?

We spent a night where those questions stopped being abstract thoughts.

They were in the body.

And that is when our demons started coming out.

Not mystical demons. Not external beings.

Ours.

The weakness we normally hide. The fear of not being capable. The anger that appears when things stop obeying us. The insecurity. The frustration. The desire to quit. The part of us that wants to return to a safe place. The part that needs to control what is going to happen in order to feel calm.

When life is comfortable we can keep many of these things below the surface. We can even convince ourselves that we have already worked through them, that they are no longer there. But when the body is exhausted, you are cold, you are wet, there is less oxygen and you know that the next morning you still have to climb above 5,600 metres, some of those layers break.

And what was inside starts coming out.

Entering the Poison Lake

This is what it means to enter the Poison Lake.

Not looking at it from the shore. Not talking about it. Entering it.

Allowing what is hidden to surface.

Because the dark lake does not contain only beautiful things waiting to be discovered. It also contains everything we have learned to avoid. Our helplessness. Our vulnerability. Our anger. Our fear. The stories we tell ourselves when we believe we cannot continue. The exact place where our confidence begins to break.

That night was part of the pilgrimage as much as the climb the following morning.

Maybe even more.

We slept with the storm outside and another storm inside. And by morning there was no spectacular revelation. The fear had not disappeared. We had not magically recovered all our strength.

We simply got up.

We got dressed.

We put the backpacks on again.

And we continued.

That was all.

But sometimes transformation begins exactly there.

Not when fear disappears, but when you take the next step while still feeling it.

The Next Step at 5,600 Metres

We started climbing towards Dolma La, breathing slowly, managing every movement. At that altitude the body forces you to stop thinking in kilometres. There is only the next step. You breathe, you walk a little, you stop. You breathe again. Someone passes you. Someone falls behind. Sometimes someone helps you and other times you somehow find enough strength to support the person beside you.

Around us, hundreds of Tibetan pilgrims were doing the same journey. Some walked slowly, some prayed, some moved forward performing full prostrations on the ground. Watching them completely changes your relationship with your own suffering. Every person is carrying something. A story, a loss, a prayer, an intention, an entire life.

We kept climbing.

And every metre seemed to bring something else to the surface.

The anger came out.

The fear came out.

The weakness came out.

The resistance came out.

The need to control came out.

And little by little we began to understand that maybe the process was not about preventing these things from appearing. Maybe the process was exactly the opposite. Let them appear, and keep moving through them.

Bring out what lies at the bottom of the lake.

Bring it to the surface.

Breathe with it.

Look at it.

Walk with it.

Crossing Dolma La

Because as long as a part of us remains buried in that dark lake, it continues to hold power from underneath. It continues shaping our decisions without needing to reveal itself. But once something rises to the surface, once it can be consciously felt, our relationship with it begins to change.

Eventually we reached the pass.

Dolma La.

More than 5,600 metres above sea level.

After the rain, the wind, the cold, the exhaustion, the doubts and everything that had appeared inside us, we were there.

And the feeling was not simply that we had reached the top.

It was the feeling that we had crossed something.

We had entered our night and we had not stayed there.

We had looked at weakness and kept walking.

We had felt fear and kept walking.

We had felt anger and kept walking.

We had not defeated those parts of ourselves. We had carried them with us all the way to the top.

And that changes the whole experience.

What We Carry Back

After crossing the pass we began the descent. Close to the top, beside the sacred lake that appears immediately after Dolma La, we left our prayer flag and a Tibetan khata carrying our intentions for life: more truth, more power, more confidence, more authenticity.

At that moment those words were no longer just wishes.

They had been tested.

Because asking for confidence after walking through fear means something different. Asking for power after seeing your own weakness means something different. Asking for authenticity after facing the parts of yourself you normally hide means something different.

We had brought something out of the Poison Lake.

And now we could carry it back with us.

This is the deeper meaning of the journey. Entering the Poison Lake, entering the night, touching what is hidden and moving through it until it can return to consciousness. It is not about destroying darkness or trying to turn every difficult experience into something positive. It is about recovering what became separated from us.

Because those unconscious places do not contain only pain. They also contain strength, instinct, desire, creativity, the capacity to choose, and an enormous amount of energy that became trapped together with experiences we were once unable to integrate. As long as that energy remains hidden, it also remains unavailable to us.

The Spiritual Adventure of Descent and Return

Very often we learn to do exactly the opposite. We try to live only in the Lake of the Sun. We search for wellbeing, peace, safety, pleasant experiences and elevated states of consciousness while keeping anything uncomfortable at a distance. But the great spiritual traditions have never spoken only about remaining in the light. They also speak about descent, darkness, confrontation with the unknown, and return.

The spiritual adventure begins when we stop trying to escape these parts of ourselves and enter them consciously. Because whatever we refuse to look at continues to have power over us. When we are able to see it, feel it and move through it, something starts changing. We recover freedom, the ability to choose, and a much deeper relationship with our own life.

That is what makes this place so extraordinary. Rakshastal, Manasarovar and Kailash seem to form a natural architecture of the spiritual process. First come the two lakes, the two polarities. Then, behind them, the mountain. It is difficult to move through this landscape without understanding why people have travelled here for centuries to pray, meditate, walk and search for transformation.

A pilgrimage is not about abandoning your life. It is about temporarily stepping outside the structures that keep your life always the same, so you can discover what exists underneath them. And then you return. You return to your relationships, your work, your projects and your decisions, but you bring something back with you that was hidden before.

This same principle will be at the heart of our next pilgrimage in February, in La Gomera. The landscape will be completely different. Instead of the extreme altitude of Tibet, we will have ancient forests, volcanic mountains, ocean, beaches and the presence of a much more fertile and intimate nature. But the inner movement will be the same.

We will spend six days walking, working with nature, practicing and consciously entering those spaces that normally remain underneath our everyday life. The purpose is to reveal, observe and embrace what lives in our own night, dissolve some of the obstacles that separate us from our strength, and return to life with more clarity, more confidence and a much deeper sense of our own path.

This is the sacred movement of pilgrimage.

To enter, to cross, and to return.

Maybe our soul does not want a completely predictable life. Maybe it also needs mystery, challenge, discovery and moments where we have to enter territories within ourselves that we still do not know.

Because every time we consciously enter one of those places, a part of our power comes back with us.

A pilgrimage is far more than just a physical journey. Throughout history, it has been a powerful tool for personal transformation, offering seekers a sacred path towards healing, spiritual clarity, and self-mastery. But why is a pilgrimage so transformative, and why do we need it in our modern lives?

At its core, a pilgrimage represents the journey from where you are now to where you aspire to be, both spiritually and emotionally. It is a bridge between your current state (place A) and a sacred destination (place B)—not just a physical place, but a state of being, where you uncover your life’s deeper meaning and purpose.

The journey itself is symbolic of the path we must all take in life. It involves leaving behind the familiar and embracing uncertainty, with the ultimate goal of arriving at a place of deep internal transformation. This process naturally brings about healing by allowing us to confront our fears, release emotional baggage, and gain new perspectives on ourselves and the world.

In a world where distractions abound and personal fulfillment feels elusive, a pilgrimage offers the clarity we often seek. It’s about stripping away the noise and reconnecting with your higher self, aligning your life’s actions with a deeper purpose. This alignment allows for healing on multiple levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual.

How a Pilgrimage Builds Resilience and Unlocks Inner Power

Embarking on a pilgrimage isn’t just about reaching a sacred destination—it’s about who you become along the way. One of the greatest gifts a pilgrimage offers is the development of resilience. When you face the inevitable challenges on the path—be it physical exhaustion, emotional doubt, or unexpected obstacles—you are forced to tap into your inner strength.

Each step of the journey becomes an opportunity to build willpower and trust in yourself. You learn to navigate life’s hardships with grace, to keep going even when the road ahead feels uncertain. This is the essence of resilience: the ability to keep moving forward despite adversity.

Resilience is like the fuel that keeps you moving towards your goal, while self-mastery is the process of becoming the version of yourself that can handle the challenges of the pilgrimage and beyond. The beauty of this journey is that, with each challenge overcome, you unlock more of your inner power. This power not only helps you complete the pilgrimage but also equips you with the confidence to tackle other aspects of your life with a renewed sense of purpose.

As you progress along the pilgrimage, you awaken forgotten parts of yourself—your energy, joy, and personal power—that have been buried under layers of everyday stress and routine. This awakening is what allows you to experience true spiritual clarity and healing.

The Spiritual Significance of the Destination in a Pilgrimage

The sacred destination in a pilgrimage is not just a physical place, but a symbol of the most valuable thing you seek in your life. Whether it’s inner peace, spiritual clarity, or healing, this place B represents your deepest desires. In many ancient traditions, the physical act of reaching a sacred site mirrors the internal journey of discovery and transformation.

For example, famous pilgrimage routes like the Camino de Santiago lead to destinations steeped in spiritual significance. In the case of Santiago de Compostela, the journey traditionally ends at the cathedral where the bones of Saint James are believed to rest. However, for each pilgrim, the sacred destination means something different. It may be a place of healing, the fulfillment of a vow, or the culmination of a spiritual quest.

But remember, the pilgrimage is not just about the destination—it’s about the process of self-discovery and self-mastery that occurs along the way. The sacred place symbolizes something greater than ourselves, and reaching it means we have transformed internally. The journey is as important, if not more, than the actual arrival.

In life, many of us have our own “place B”—that vision of where we would like to be in terms of fulfillment, success, or spiritual awakening. However, we often feel stuck in place A, not knowing how to get there. A pilgrimage is a powerful metaphor for this process, offering us the roadmap to move from where we are to where we truly want to be.

Life as a Pilgrimage: Every Step Leads to Transformation

One of the most profound insights you can gain from a pilgrimage is the realization that your entire life is, in fact, a pilgrimage. Every experience, every challenge, every triumph is part of a much larger journey. When you begin to view life this way, you see that you are constantly moving towards a higher version of yourself.

This mindset shift allows you to embrace the difficulties as necessary steps in your evolution. Just as in a physical pilgrimage, there are moments of discomfort, pain, and even doubt. But these are the moments that shape you, strengthening your resilience and guiding you towards the clarity and healing you seek.

The process of life as a pilgrimage is about learning to align with your purpose, awakening your inner power, and staying connected to your spiritual path no matter what obstacles arise. It’s about recognizing that the journey itself is the destination. Each challenge faced along the way is a gift, a lesson that brings you closer to the ultimate goal: becoming the person you are meant to be.

By embracing life as a pilgrimage, you transform even the mundane aspects of daily life into opportunities for growth. Each decision you make, each action you take, becomes part of your spiritual journey, moving you closer to your sacred place B. And as you walk this path with intention, you’ll find that healing and spiritual clarity naturally unfold along the way.

The Four Stages of a Pilgrimage: A Roadmap to Spiritual Growth

Every pilgrimage follows a path, and that path can be broken down into four distinct stages that reflect both the outer and inner journey. Understanding these stages can help you not only during the physical act of a pilgrimage but also in the larger journey of life.

1. Intention and Preparation: This is the beginning of the pilgrimage. It’s the moment when you decide to embark on this journey and set your intention. Why are you doing it? What do you hope to gain? This stage is crucial because your intention will guide you when challenges arise. In life, this is where you set your goals, dreams, and the reasons behind your actions.

2. Action and Effort: Once the pilgrimage begins, the second stage is marked by physical movement—taking the first steps towards your destination. On a pilgrimage, this is where you leave behind your comfort zone and start walking, overcoming the physical and emotional barriers that stand in your way. In life, this is where you take action toward your goals. It requires effort, determination, and commitment.

3. Challenges and Transformation: Every pilgrimage brings moments of doubt, exhaustion, and obstacles. These challenges are not setbacks, but opportunities for growth and transformation. The way you respond to difficulties defines your progress. In life, challenges are inevitable, but they are the catalyst for personal evolution, helping you become more resilient and connected to your purpose.

4. Arrival and Integration: Reaching your sacred destination is a moment of deep fulfillment. However, the pilgrimage doesn’t end here. The fourth stage is about integrating the lessons and experiences of the journey into your everyday life. In life, this means taking the wisdom you’ve gained through your experiences and applying it to your day-to-day, allowing it to shape you into the person you are becoming.

These four stages are not just relevant to physical pilgrimages—they apply to any journey you take in life, whether it’s a spiritual quest, a personal goal, or a relationship. By understanding and embracing each stage, you are better equipped to handle the inevitable ups and downs, and to find healing and clarity through the process.

Join a Pilgrimage and Begin Your Journey of Healing

There’s a reason pilgrimages have been practiced for thousands of years across different cultures—they work. A pilgrimage is a time-honored method of aligning with your purpose, finding spiritual clarity, and experiencing profound healing. Whether you’re drawn to the mountains of Peru or the sacred Camino de Santiago, the physical journey mirrors the spiritual one in powerful ways.

If you feel stuck in life, disconnected from your purpose, or in need of healing, a pilgrimage might be exactly what you need. It’s not just about reaching a destination, but about who you become along the way. It offers you the chance to transform, awaken your inner power, and gain the clarity to move forward in your life.

Our upcoming journey to Peru offers the perfect opportunity to experience this firsthand. For 21 days, you will immerse yourself in the sacred landscapes of the Andes and the Amazon, where you will engage in rituals, receive teachings, and experience personal transformation through both the physical and spiritual aspects of the pilgrimage.

Don’t miss the chance to take your life in a new direction, connect with your purpose, and find the healing you’ve been seeking. The journey begins with the decision to step forward. Are you ready to embark on your pilgrimage?