PILGRIMAGE TO PANDO is a contemplative journey to the home of the largest living thing on Earth – a massive aspen grove in remote south-central Utah and named Pando.

Pando nourishes itself from the waters of Utah’s Fish Lake and ranges for 106 acres up the neighboring mountainside.  It has existed for hundreds if not thousands of years.  Although it shoots up with some 47,000 individual stems and trunks, it is connected by a single root system underground. It is a one-tree forest and a symbol of belonging. I belong to you, you belong to me, we belong to each other.

The people on the Pilgrimage this weekend are seekers of wisdom from across the greatest diversity of faith and non-faith, scientists, artists, writers, ecologists, ranchers, and indigenous leaders. Together, they’re undertaking a journey of reflection and (re)imagination to a site where everything you can see grows from the same rootball.

To learn more:  pandopopulus.com

This piece was featured in the Sept. 9th edition of The Sunday Paper, Maria Shriver’s free weekly newsletter for people with passion and purpose. To get inspiring and informative content like this piece delivered straight to your inbox each Sunday morning, click here to subscribe.