The Journey of Life... in depth

One of the most commonly used metaphors for life is that it is a journey. We are told by others to 'enjoy the journey'. This goes along with 'stopping to smell the roses' and countless other metaphors which have been cliche'd to near meaninglessness. I've done this to myself and other people numerous times. I set a goal and then remind myself it's not about the goal, it's about enjoying the journey. I've also dished out my fair share of similar advice to others over time. How is it that we can be fairly alert to this principle and yet, seem poor at following it?

From time-to-time we must receive not so subtle reminders we are not in sync with our True Journey (ie pain, suffering, loss). This is because we've lost sight of the Now and our focus has been entirely on some point in the future. A point in which we may or may not achieve some pre-determined goal or desired outcome. Loss of the Now, in hope for the future allows us to live unconsciously while thinking what we are doing has some larger meaning or significance when it does not. In this respect, hope can be a major hindrance in our lives. Think about the last presidential election and compare the hope that was sold to what is happening Now. Not a whole lot has changed in most people's lives who were hoping for someone else to solve their problems.

People who have wasted their own journey striving and hoping for the future and have learned from this warn others not to do the same. But does just telling someone to enjoy the journey really help them? Most of the time it does not. They smile, hear what you are saying and 99% of the time go re-create the same scenario in their life over and over with seemingly fleeting results and suffering. And endless cycle of hope and disappointment, and bam you're 90 years old and dead.

So, what to do then? If you've only got someones attention for a brief conversation then that's the best you can do. Tell them 'enjoy the journey' and smile knowing you've done all you could for them. If you have more direct influence in their life, as say parents do, then you can go much further in counseling them to return to the present moment and enjoy life. And best, if you have their attention for a lifetime, as you do with yourself, you can do even better and have minute by minute reminders of the Journey of Life.

So let's act like we have our own undivided attention for a lifetime. Journey with a capital J is large, and thinking about enjoying the whole thing makes your mind unable to grasp the real concepts and give up on it. It's like trying to understand the concept of infinity, good luck. So, I like to break it down into simple pieces because I'm a simple person and simple is usually right. Simple is not easy though, if it were, everyone would do it. Simple = Hard.

If you're going on a journey, you need some simple items to ensure success:
#1 - The I (traveller/you)
#2 - A destination/goal (Vision)
#3 - A vehicle (Purpose/Mission)
#4 - A map (Signs/Guides/Goals)

If everyone will give me those 4 simple interconnected conditions necessary for a journey then we can continue.

#1 - The I... If I write some of this in first person when you read "I" think of yourself, not me. Now, if you feel like you are on someone else's journey, and you might be, don't fret, their journey has become yours. (If you don't like that feeling, you can choose at anytime to stop that journey and start anew). Another point worth noting is that you are never not on a journey. Even if you sit at home and watch TV for 10 hours a day, that's still your journey, you have to own it. Whatever was, is and will be your journey is your responsibility. Scary you say? Well, that may be, but it also gives you the opportunity to take that responsibility and change at any time and that my friend, is powerful.

#2 - The destination, goal or Vision. This is a large problem for most of us, including myself. What's our destination, goal, or Vision for our life? There are an infinite number of goals in life, some large some small. Some wholesome, some unwholesome. Some valuable, some not so valuable. Some which will take a long time, some which take very little. To make this metaphor of a journey make sense I had to initially use destination and goal, but I do not prefer those terms for our True Journey of Life. For that, I prefer to use the term Vision.

If we can define our Vision for Life, then the rest flows easily after. I have a great friend, John, who illustrated this principle very well for me over coffee a while back. I take no credit for this as original (nor anything else I write), so I hope I can do him justice in my translation. John had me work on a Vision statement for myself, with the theory all the others (mission,purpose, goals, destination) will follow in line. He correctly stated that many of us, myself included, work from the bottom-up. We set goals which then force a purpose and mission and we try to find some higher meaning or vision from the results we see.

Thus, my vision in life at one time was to be a professional athlete. I was an above-average athlete and was relatively successful at achieving short-term athletic goals (they didn't seem short-term at the time of course). When I was not able achieve that goal which had become my vision of myself, my identity (the "little I", ego-self) was crushed into non-existence and left questioning who I really was. That's a heavy load to bear in your early 20's with no proper foundation or mentoring, so I chose drinking and drugs to squash that emptiness and pain.

From having coffee with John one morning I left with invaluable guidance and was able to re-focus my efforts into developing a Vision for myself and explain who the I AM that I AM is to the world. (I would be remiss if I did not give some credit to my mother, who while growing up always stressed the importance of vision and mission. Some of that stuck without a doubt, but having it come from an older male finally cemented it in my brain. Funny the way it is... :)

Thus, I developed this Vision Statement for myself - "Being love, joy and peace in the Present Moment"

Simple, but not easy... In fact, very hard moment by moment in this world. Also, notice the destination is not in fact a destination, it's the Present Moment. That's the only place in time-space where I can be true to my vision. That's a huge insight to grasp.

#3 - So we've got an I and we've got a where (Vision), now we need a way to get there, a Vehicle per se. In modern lingo this would equate to the purpose or mission. In Buddhism there is the metaphor of taking the raft to the other shore. Say you start on one shore, then you get in the raft and paddle, the other shore is the destination and the raft is the vehicle. OK, easy enough you say, but how do you know which raft will get you to the other shore? There are thousands if not millions of rafts in the world today, all claiming to be the Truth.

I took some cues from Jim Rohn. In his CD "Challenge for Success" he states clearly "Truth is Old... beware of someone selling New Truth". Wow, that sounds right. He goes on to illustrate by saying what if someone asked you to come to their shop because they were manufacturing antiques... huh? Yeah, that would not make sense. So, Truth is Old and Truth does NOT change. Now we can throw away anything in the Self-Help section of the bookstore and save ourselves hundreds of dollars a year.

Truth you will also find, is pretty much always FREE. Why is it free? Because apparently not many people in modern times find it very valuable. Quite sad state of affairs we find ourselves in these days. We will kill for "freedom" but no one will pay even one penny for the Freedom of the Truth. So Truth is available, for free, to all of us right Now. We can choose the vehicle of our choice, as long as it is time tested. Many of the great religious faiths are time-tested and have Truth. Be careful not to get lost in the dogma, doctrine, rules, regulations, memberships, church cook-outs, rituals, etc... though.

From the Truth that I experienced through the vehicle of Mahayana Buddhism and the compassion of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara I was able to outline my purpose and mission. Here's what I came up with -

1. To help and serve other sentient beings the most productive way I can with the skills, knowledge and experience I have.
2. To positively influence and help to raise the level of human consciousness in the process.

Which leads us into #4 - The Map. The map includes signs, guides and goals. Once we have a Vision and Mission we are ready to pick out the map which leads us on the correct path. Like false truths, there are also a million and more misleading maps, signs and guides out in the world. It's hard to figure out which is right and mistakes will be made along the way. But assuming we have figured out who the I is, the I has knowledge of it's Vision and has firmly established a Mission, then we are limited in which map is proper for us. So in essence the map is already chosen.

The map comes in many different forms, sometimes as people and speech, sometimes written word, sometimes visions and sights or signs. We follow the ones which are in line with our Vision and Mission and disregard the others. We find people who have travelled similar roads and have the wisdom to point us forward on the path. While we do this we have to make sure not to mistake the maps, guides and signs for the Truth though. Back to the metaphor of taking the raft to the other shore, the raft is the raft, not the shore, don't mistake one for the other.

There are short-term goals but always the larger Goal, the Infinite Goal. Small goals let us know we are progressing and on the correct path, just as the signs that point the way and guides who confirm we are moving in the right direction. If our largest goal is something mankind can understand and achieve then we are bound for suffering and distress. Once we reach it we must replace it with yet another goal and another goal. An endless existence achieving goals, for what?

So we realize there is an Infinite Goal which we never truly "reach", which is really not out there in the first place. It is from within us that we come to know it. It is a place in which we can Be but not attain. It is the Kingdom of God, Nirvana, No-Self, Realization/Actualization, etc... and it is available Now and only Now. It's not available in the future, you can't try harder, pray harder, meditate harder, tithe, repent or do anything else to get it. It's here right Now, if you don't see it you missed it, but it's Now again so you get another chance. :)

In Buddhism the small goal is Nirvana, the Infinite Goal is the Bodhisattva vow of returning to the world to help relieve the suffering of all sentient beings. The Bodhisattva puts off their own Heaven to help others and only when all others are helped can they rest. In Christianity Jesus returned to the earth and took human form to help end suffering, to the extent he died for every one's sins. Those are examples of Infinite Goals, helping and serving others. Taking the maps of the great saints, Buddha, Jesus, Gandhi, Mother Teresa and countless other self-less examples we find ourselves living on The Path, living in Truth and in harmony with the Universe.

The Way I See It... we don't have to "re-invent the wheel" to find joy and peace in this lifetime and we don't have to wait until we die either. We have to Be in the Present Moment and learn from those who have already travelled the path. Simple, but not Easy, yet infinitely rewarding.

With Metta,


doug