New study reveals six stages of spiritual growth experienced during a pilgrimage

A study that interviewed individuals who completed pilgrimages in Taiwan, Japan, and Spain found that the journey enables participants to step back and rebuild their inner balance. The process is driven by physical and sensory experiences that lead to psychological reflection. The study identified six key interconnected factors that shape pilgrims’ spiritual growth. The paper was published in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

A pilgrimage is a journey to a place that has special religious or spiritual meaning. People undertake pilgrimages to seek spiritual growth, forgiveness, or a deeper connection with their faith. A pilgrim is a person who goes on such a journey, traveling to sacred sites, temples, shrines, or cities important to their religion.

These journeys can be long and physically demanding, sometimes involving walking great distances. Pilgrimages exist in many religions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. For example, Muslims perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they are able. Pilgrims may travel alone or in groups, and they tend to follow traditional routes or rituals. The experience is usually seen as both a physical and a spiritual challenge.

Study author Wen Huei Chou and her colleagues wanted to investigate the drivers of spiritual pilgrimage experiences. They focused on the practices and mechanisms that facilitate spiritual transformation in pilgrimage participants. The authors stated that their goal was to obtain a more detailed understanding of the theoretical and behavioral models that underpin pilgrimage experiences. They focused on three prominent pilgrimage routes: the Mazu pilgrimage in Taiwan, the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan, and the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

The Mazu pilgrimage in Taiwan is a Taoist and Chinese folk religious journey honoring the sea goddess Mazu. It involves large-scale communal rituals, processions, and prayers for protection, health, and prosperity. Chinese folk religion is a collective term for the traditional spiritual practices of the Han Chinese, encompassing ancestor veneration, local deity worship, and ritual traditions rooted in ancient cosmology. It is a belief system that blends elements of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.

The Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan is a Buddhist (Shingon) pilgrimage in which participants visit 88 temples associated with Kūkai, performing rituals and following a long spiritual route across Shikoku Island. Kūkai was a Japanese Buddhist monk, scholar, and religious leader who founded the Shingon school of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. The Camino de Santiago in Spain is a Catholic Christian pilgrimage consisting of routes leading to Santiago de Compostela, where pilgrims venerate the tomb of St. James, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ.

The study participants consisted of 15 individuals who completed one of these pilgrimages in the past five years. Eight of them were men, and participants ranged between 23 and 77 years of age. To be eligible for participation, they needed to have spent at least nine days on a pilgrimage, which is the duration of the shortest of the three routes (the Mazu pilgrimage).

Five of the participants shared their experiences regarding the Shikoku Pilgrimage, five regarding the Camino de Santiago, and the remaining five regarding the Mazu pilgrimage. Notably, all participants had completed two or more pilgrimages, whether it was the same route multiple times or entirely different ones. Thirteen of the participants had a university education.

Study participants completed one-on-one semi-structured interviews with the authors via Google Meet, joining from their own homes. The interview questions focused on participants’ backgrounds, motivations, internal and external experiences during the journey, and reflections after completing the pilgrimage. After the interviews, the study authors created transcripts and conducted a grounded theory analysis—a qualitative method used to discover patterns and develop theories from data.

Results indicated that there are six key interconnected factors that shape a pilgrim’s spiritual growth. The study authors categorized them as: yearning for change; the power of vulnerability; self-connection and flow state; upward and beyond; external connection and perception; and stability, belonging, and spiritual experience.

Participants yearned for change either for religious reasons, because they had hit a roadblock in life, or because they desired adventure and a challenge. The power of vulnerability refers to the fact that pilgrimages require long, arduous journeys that pose significant mental and physical challenges, forcing participants to endure physical pain, psychological breakdowns, or both.

The self-connection and flow state factor describes pilgrims becoming fully immersed in the physical task of walking, with actions occurring smoothly and automatically. Participants described “surrender” states where they relinquished control and learned to go with the flow when facing hardship. The upward and beyond factor included experiences of deep reflection and inner self-dialogue, ultimately leading to a sense of inner peace and transcendence.

The external connection and perception factor reflects the fact that pilgrims learn to deeply value visible and invisible help, fostering a profound sense of gratitude. This gratitude helps them better understand and accept themselves and appreciate every experience in life.

Finally, the stability, belonging, and spiritual experience factor reflects the rules and cohesion established by the journey. Importantly, this sense of stability is anchored not only by ritual practices, but also by sacred objects (such as amulets, walking sticks, or stamped passports) and a sense of place (such as shrines, churches, or natural landscapes) that solidify the spiritual experience.

“The findings indicate that the pilgrimage enables individuals to step back and rebuild inner balance after directly experiencing new physical and mental stimuli, ultimately leading to spiritual awakening and transformation. This process is driven by physical and sensory experiences that lead to psychological reflection and spiritual development. Furthermore, most pilgrims reported that the pilgrimage experience broadened their perspectives, teaching them surrender, gratitude, and compassion. These changes foster personal spiritual growth and promote harmonious coexistence with society,” the study authors concluded.

The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the psychological experiences of pilgrims. However, there are limitations. The study was based on the experiences of just 15 pilgrims, almost all of whom were Taiwanese and highly educated. Therefore, the spiritual transformation processes of pilgrims from other demographic groups and cultural backgrounds might differ.

The paper, “Spiritual Transformation Through Pilgrimage: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Experiences in Taiwan, Japan, and Spain,” was authored by Wen Huei Chou, Pei-Ching Tsai, and Yi-Ying Wu.