YouTube: The Ultimate Destination: Understanding the Goal of Spiritual Guidance
When we think of the goal of spiritual guidance, we may see it in terms of getting help making our way to some desired outcome. It is this, of course, but it is something more. We’re probably all familiar with Lao Tzu’s saying that, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” As profoundly simple as this statement is, it illustrates a point we so often miss. We can only take one step at a time because we can only be in one place at a time. Where is this place? It is in the here and now. The most profound spiritual guidance is that which brings us to this now moment.
When we decide to travel to a place, we may consider the journey as little more than a series of disposable moments, something we have to do to get where we want to go. The destination is the important part. Yet in every one of those moments it takes to get there, the full power of the universe is active. Omnipresence means there is not more of God in our destination than there is in each moment of our journey.
My grandfather was a fox hunter. He always had a half dozen or so Walker fox hounds. The fox hunting community consisted of men, their wives, and, of course, the hounds. At a big hunt, there might be 200 or more dogs. The point of the hunt was the chase. The dogs were released from the campsite at dawn. The men would sit around a campfire and listen. They could tell by their bark and howling when the dogs picked up a scent. They claimed they could even tell whose dog was in the lead. The interesting thing about the hunt was that they never intended to catch the fox. One of my brothers asked my grandfather why they didn’t shoot the fox. He said, “If you shoot the fox, all you have is a dead fox. If you leave it alone, you can hunt it again.” The goal was not to bag a fox. The goal was to experience the hunt.
If we find ourselves stressing over bagging a fox, it may be time to let go and enjoy the hunt. Again, the most profound spiritual guidance is that which brings us to this now moment.