Extreme Pilgrim

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Extreme Pilgrim
Genre Religious television program
Directed byGraham Johnston
Presented by Pete Owen-Jones
ComposerPaul Pritchard
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes3
Production
Executive producerJean-Claude Bragard
ProducerGraham Johnston
EditorSteve Stevenson
Camera setupGraham Johnston
Running time60 minutes
Production company BBC Television
Original release
Network BBC Two
Release4 January (2008-01-04) 
18 January 2008 (2008-01-18)
Related

Extreme Pilgrim is a British television series, first broadcast by the BBC in January 2008. The series is presented by the Anglican vicar, Pete Owen-Jones, who researches and attempts to practice a variety of the world's methods of enlightenment and spirituality, which he opines has been lost by those in the West. [1]

Contents

Episode list

The series was presented in three episodes:

Episode One: "China: the Mountain"

The first episode in the series sees Peter travelling to the Shaolin Monastery of Henan Province, central China. The Shaolin Monastery, the ancestral home of all martial arts, and considered to be the most physically demanding phase of Peter's search as he looks into the teachings of the Indian Buddhist, Bodhidharma.

Once there, he is introduced to meditation and follows a "punishing" regime of physical exercise. After becoming disenchanted with what he sees as a "branding" of life at the monastery and an inability to achieve the levels of meditation required, he travels to a mountain temple located in Sangwan. After a some time, he manages to feel the stillness of mind he requires through breathing and movement and concludes that he has attained a level of Zen. [1]

Episode Two: "India: the River"

The second episode is located in Allahabad, India and follows Peter's time with the wandering Sadhu holy men who see themselves as mediums between the Gods and humanity. Whilst there, Peter looks into the Hindu pilgrimage named the Kumbh Mela, which draws people from all over India to the River Ganges.

Once there, Peter attempts to search out a guru who will show the way of the Sadhus. After the festival, Peter travels to Haridwar to learn more about the Hindu faith and its gods. From there, he travels north and into the foothills of the Himalayas to a village where he is to live on the outskirts of a cave to seek solitude. [1]

Episode Three: "Egypt: the Desert"

The third and final episode is set in Egypt and looks to gain insight into the teachings of St Anthony of the Desert, the Desert Fathers, and the Hermit lifestyle. He visits Coma, the birthplace of Anthony, and the church where he spent 20 years in relative solitude. From there he travels into the desert with a group of Bedouin camel herders to trace Anthony's steps to the site where he established the Monastery of Saint Anthony.

After a stay with the Coptic monks at the monastery, Peter goes into one of the hermit caves where St Anthony spent his final 43 years. Under the stewardship of an Australian Coptic hermit, Father Lazarus El Anthony, he is introduced into one of the caves and goes on to spend 21 days there in solitude. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony the Great</span> Egyptian Christian monk and hermit (died 356)

Anthony the Great was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished from other saints named Anthony, such as Anthony of Padua, by various epithets: Anthony of Egypt, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Anthony the Hermit, and Anthony of Thebes. For his importance among the Desert Fathers and to all later Christian monasticism, he is also known as the Father of All Monks. His feast day is celebrated on 17 January among the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches and on Tobi 22 in the Coptic calendar.

Monasticism, also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially in the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican traditions as well as in other faiths such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. In other religions, monasticism is criticized and not practiced, as in Islam and Zoroastrianism, or plays a marginal role, as in modern Judaism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pachomius the Great</span> Egyptian saint

Pachomius, also known as Saint Pachomius the Great, is generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism. Coptic churches celebrate his feast day on 9 May, and Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches mark his feast on 15 May or 28 May. In the Lutheran Church, he is remembered as a renewer of the church, along with his contemporary, Anthony of Egypt on 17 January.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery</span> Complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplace(s) of monks or nuns

A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church, or temple, and may also serve as an oratory, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary, and outlying granges. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include a hospice, a school, and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as a barn, a forge, or a brewery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermit</span> Person who lives in seclusion from society

A hermit, also known as an eremite or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.

<i>Sadhu</i> Religious ascetic or holy person in Hinduism

Sadhu, also spelled saddhu, is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternatively referred to as yogi, sannyasi or vairagi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macarius of Egypt</span> Egyptian Christian monk and hermit

Macarius of Egypt was a Christian monk and grazer hermit. He is also known as Macarius the Elder or Macarius the Great.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert Fathers</span> Early Christian hermits, ascetics, and monks, third century AD

The Desert Fathers or Desert Monks were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD. The Apophthegmata Patrum is a collection of the wisdom of some of the early desert monks and nuns, in print as Sayings of the Desert Fathers. The first Desert Father was Paul of Thebes, and the most well known was Anthony the Great, who moved to the desert in AD 270–271 and became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in AD 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to living in the desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria, to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers had a major influence on the development of Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul of Thebes</span> Egyptian saint, generally regarded as the first Christian hermit

Paul of Thebes, commonly known as Paul the First Hermit or Paul the Anchorite, was an Egyptian saint regarded as the first Christian hermit and grazer, who was claimed to have lived alone in the desert of Thebes, Roman Egypt from the age of sixteen to the age of one hundred and thirteen years old. He was canonized in 491 by Pope Gelasius I, and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Oriental Orthodox Churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skete</span> Type of monastic settlement

A skete ( ) is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, along with the eremitic, lavritic and coenobitic, that became popular during the early formation of the Christian Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discalced Carmelites</span> Catholic religious order

The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel or the Order of Discalced Carmelites, is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers. The order was established in the 16th century, pursuant to the reform of the Carmelite Order by two Spanish saints, Teresa of Ávila (foundress) and John of the Cross (co-founder). Discalced is derived from Latin, meaning "without shoes".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery of Saint Anthony</span> Monastery in Egypt

The Monastery of Saint Anthony is a Coptic Orthodox monastery standing in an oasis in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, in the southern part of the Suez Governorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodosius the Cenobiarch</span> Byzantine saint

Theodosius the Cenobiarch was a monk, abbot, and saint who was a founder and organizer of the cenobitic way of monastic life in the Judaean desert. His feast day is on January 11.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coptic monasticism</span> Claimed to be the original form of monasticism

Coptic monasticism was a movement in the Coptic Orthodox Church to create a holy, separate class of person from layman Christians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery of Saint Paul the Anchorite</span>

The Monastery of Saint Paul the Anchorite in Egypt is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in the Eastern Desert, near the Red Sea Mountains. It is about 155 km (96 mi) south east of Cairo. The monastery is also known as the Monastery of the Tigers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chariton the Confessor</span> 4th-century Anatolian Christian saint

Chariton the Confessor was an early Christian monk. He is venerated as a saint by both the Western and Eastern Churches. His remembrance day is September 28.

Saint Thomas the Hermit is a Saint of the Coptic Orthodox Church, he is also known as "Saint Thomas the Anchorite", "Saint Thomas of Shenshif" or simply as "Abba Thomas"[(Coptic word meaning Father) (Αw-ba)Sahidic (Αw-va)Bohairic]. Saint Thomas was born in Upper Egypt, in a small village known as "Shenshif". He is revered by the Coptic Orthodox Church, since he is one of the early Anchorites, or Desert Fathers. Little is commonly known about him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor</span> Monastery in Egypt

Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor, Dair al-Anba Ṣamū'īl al-mu'tarif " or Deir el-Qalamun is an Egyptian monastery in the Western Desert.

FatherLazarus El Anthony is an Australian-Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christian monk and hermit. He has appeared in various documentaries, most notably the BBC series Extreme Pilgrim.

Mount Colzim, also known as the Inner Mountain of Saint Anthony, is a mountain in Red Sea Governorate, Egypt. It was the final residency of Anthony the Great from about AD 311, when he was 62 years of age, to his death in 356.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Extreme Pilgrim". BBC. Archived from the original on 3 January 2008.