112 113 Dr Przemysław Gąsiorek A. Mickiewicz University in Poznań Member of the Management Board of PILGRIM in Poland PILGRIM - In Search of Meaning From Viktor Frankl's Logotherapy to PILGRIM It is said that in life there are no random things, each has its cause or a certain causeand-effect sequence, even in the form of the so-called 'butterfly effect'. Everything is created and develops because of someone, within someone and for someone. PILGRIM probably did not come into being and develop in Austria and Vienna without reason, where for several centuries there has been a special interest in what moves, fills, and inspires human beings internally. This is evidenced by numerous Austrian works of culture, art, architecture, and science, in which we can see and admire the depth and strength of the human spirit. These works, bearing the spiritual traces of individuals and communities, inspire the development of new generations. In Vienna, Sigmund Freud discovered that psychic experiences can be the cause of biological suffering and physiological illnesses. It is here, too, that Viktor Frankl lived from 1905 to 1997, who perceived an even deeper connection between spiritual and material realms. He discovered that what connects spirit and matter, what permeates and develops both dimensions, is Logos. In his logotherapy, existential analysis, and especially in his biography, he shows a very significant fact that everything contains some meaning. Often it is hidden, but even if we do not find it, we can assign our own meaning to everything. While a prisoner in the concentration camp, he noticed that often “what matters is not what we expect from life, but what life expects from us.” As a therapist, he emphasised that his goal "is to broaden the patient’s field of vision so that they perceive and become aware of existence of the entire spectrum of potential meaning". Viktor Frankl thus revealed the great value of the spiritual realm. Spirituality and the existential need for meaning According to Viktor Frankl, what most destroys a person, their dignity, and life, is nihilism. Its main cause, in his opinion, is reductionism, which reduces a person’s life to a narrow scope of their actions. Reductionism objectifies the individual, depriving their life of meaning, posing a threat not only to humans but also to everything around them. Human activity is deeply intertwined with their spiritual condition. Indeed, humans always model everything after themselves. A person stripped of spiritual meaning and reduced solely to biological, psychological, or social dimensions will sooner or later be regarded as a machine, and consequently, will treat themselves, others and nature as such. Reductionism thus leads humans and society to disasters, to nihilism, to a loss of the sense of life’s meaning. Matter without spirit is dead, and spirit without matter is barren. Reducing humans, society, and nature to mere matter resembles a state close to illness, slowly destroying everything. Viktor Frankl's legacy is clearly discernible in the principles and practices of PILGRIM. PILGRIM - concern for meaning PILGRIM, like Viktor Frankl, organically combines what appears contradictory from a reductionist perspective, by invoking spirituality. Reductionism separates, while spirituality creatively connects individuals with each other, with communities, and with nature. Meaningful humanity discovers and imbues deep meaning into social, economic, and ecological relationships. PILGRIM does not focus solely on what is visible to the eye, on the status quo; it focuses on meaning, on the spiritual dimension, which embodies, materialises, bringing people closer, making them happier, and making the world better. That’s why so many people from different countries and continents, with different worldviews and beliefs, differing in wealth, education, or social status, are part of PILGRIM. Because each of us has something that another does not possess, and each of us can learn something from the other and teach the other something about ourselves. A true spiritual pilgrim does not just pass through the world, observing or passing it by. The pilgrim is not a runaway who alienates themselves from their reality. They are similar to the evangelical salt, which although not great, can change the taste of the people’s lives whom they visit. PILGRIM restores and gives meaning to life.
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