What a Buddhist Pilgrimage in Taiwan Taught Me About Gratitude, Healing & Transformation

Many years ago, I found myself in the mountains of Taiwan at a month-long Buddhist retreat preparing for a Buddhist pilgrimage during week three.

The practice was simple yet physically demanding.

We would walk three steps, then make one full prostration. Then three steps, one prostration. Again and again, continuing up the mountain for an hour.

Three steps… One prostration… Three steps… One prostration.

It was nighttime, but it was still very hot in July. Before we began, the master asked if anyone felt they could not do it.

I was about to raise my hand.

My right knee was hurting, and I was already thinking, I can’t do this.

But no one else said anything. I didn’t want to be the only one. So, I decided to begin.

The mountain felt very long.

In the beginning, it was hard. I was hurting, sweating, and feeling awful. My mind became flooded with negative thoughts and emotions. I wanted it to be over.

But we still had a long way to go.

I continued reciting the name of the Buddha, hoping it would shift something inside me.

It wasn’t working.

So, somewhere in the middle of that climb, I decided to try something different.

I decided to find something to be grateful for.

The first thing that came to mind was ice cream.

Yes.

Ice cream.

So I kept going.

I became grateful for the fruit in Taiwan. My new friends. The delicious food I ate every day. My family supporting me, my teachers, my parents, my friends. One thing after another. And I just kept going.

And going.

And going.

Something began to happen

What started as an intentional search for something to be grateful for became a rampage of gratitude as I continued climbing the mountain. And somewhere in the middle of that gratitude, I began to feel something I hadn’t felt when I started.

Joy.

Real joy.

It began rising from somewhere deep within me.

My forehead was dirty from prostrating on the ground, and I didn’t care. I could feel sweat dripping down my face and body, and I didn’t care.

The pain in my knee disappeared from my awareness. My entire attitude had changed.

I was crying with joy! Finally experiencing a breakthrough in the middle of the pilgrimage.

I made it all the way to the top of the mountain, then we sat in lotus position for another twenty minutes of meditation.

I remember the feeling in my body.

The feeling in my heart.

The profound gratitude.

The joy.

Words still don’t fully capture it.

What happened to my knee?

After that night, I didn’t experience the pain in my knee.

I eventually asked one of the masters how she understood what had happened. She spoke about emotions becoming trapped in the body and contributing to physical pain.

I can’t tell you exactly what happened physiologically that night. What I can tell you what I experienced.

I began the climb convinced I couldn’t do it. What was true for me at that time was that I was hurting, very overwhelmed and I wanted it to end!

Then I deliberately shifted where I placed my attention.

I began looking for gratitude. And somewhere along the way, my entire experience changed.

That experience has stayed with me ever since.

The Lesson I Carried Home

I learned that gratitude can become a practice.

A living practice.

Something we can reach for in the middle of an experience, while we are still walking through it.

Sometimes we are still climbing the mountain when the shift happens. Sometimes the breakthrough comes while we are tired, uncomfortable, uncertain, and wondering how much farther we have to go.

And sometimes the first doorway into that shift can be surprisingly simple.

For me, that night, it was ice cream.

But the deeper lesson went beyond gratitude.

That pilgrimage was a devotional practice. With every three steps and every prostration, I was offering something. I was surrendering, releasing, and continuing forward. I was quieting the mind, opening the heart, and reconnecting with something greater than myself.

Somewhere along that mountain, gratitude opened another doorway.

I felt connected to my Heart, Soul and Spirit… To the Divine presence within and around me.

I experienced what can happen when we create sacred space to release what we have been carrying and turn our attention toward the deeper truth of who we are.

That experience has stayed with me for years.

It is one of the reasons I believe so deeply in creating intentional spaces for healing and spiritual reconnection.

We all carry things: Emotional pain, old stories, fear, exhaustion, the weight of caring for others.

Sometimes we simply need a sacred place where we can set some of that weight down, breathe, listen inward, and remember our connection to Spirit.

Creating Space to Realign

That experience is part of what inspired my Soul Alignment Circle.

Each month, we gather in sacred community to release, realign, and reconnect with the Self your Soul is calling forth.

Through heart-centered practices, energy healing, meditation, reflection, and intuitive connection, we create space to soften, release emotional burdens, reconnect with our inner wisdom, and deepen our connection with Spirit.

You may be carrying a mountain of your own right now.

You may be moving through something difficult, uncertain, or exhausting.

Or perhaps your Soul is simply calling you to pause and reconnect.

You don’t have to know the entire path before taking the next step.

Your next step can begin with something as simple as finding one thing to be grateful for, then another, then another, and continuing forward.

Join the Soul Alignment Circle every month in Raleigh, NC.

Reserve your spot and create sacred space to return to yourself, reconnect with Spirit, and discover what becomes possible when you allow yourself to be supported on the journey.

Sending lots of Love and Healing your way!

This article is the property of Mariela Siwarqinti. No one may alter and/or reproduce it in any way without the express written permission of Mariela Siwarqinti.