Every sports professional that ever lived had a good coach at one time or another. A coach is not always someone who excels at the game but someone who at least knows the strategies and can teach you a lot about your own game before you go out on your own. Spiritual growth is not much different from a sport. They both require a lot of spirit and a good coach to help you learn the ropes.
Inner peace isn’t the easiest thing to find. Some people who are much older and more experienced than you may actually have a few tricks that you never thought of before. Maybe you don’t envision yourself ending up like them but you might gain a lot of valuable insights into your own journey if you hang around and listen to what they have to say. Just learning to sit still when someone else is speaking is a great talent to have. Very few people even know how to actively listen to someone else and to put their own thoughts on hold for a few minutes. If you can learn to listen to a coach, you will acquire valuable insights that will help you to see into your own personality where you might have otherwise been blind.
It’s easy for others to see our own problems but very hard for us to see them ourselves. If you give someone the permission to make suggestions for you about your spiritual growth, you may find that you are able to get a much better angle on your problems than ever before. Choose wisely, however as this is your spiritual future we are talking about!
Listening to a coach has many great benefits. You can take a break from pointing your finger at someone else and take a little time working on yourself. Twelve-Step groups have what is commonly referred to as a “Sponsor” who will listen to your problems and give you some pointed suggestions along the way. A Course in Miracles, is organized around a teacher who has already practiced the lessons many times before and understands the very complicated text that others may feel lost in. You can benefit from just listening to the teacher as they speak. Put your own ego on the back burner for a little while. Just watching how hard this can be will be a great lesson for your spiritual growth!
Most spiritual traditions and practices advocate the importance of finding a teacher who is further along the spiritual path than you. In India, the guru often sits with his or her students during “Satsang” and offers simple answers to their questions about spirituality and meditation. Students are also said to benefit from the aura of the teacher which can even be felt as a physical sensation in some extreme cases. Zen Buddhists and other spiritual masters oftentimes speak of a “transmission” that occurs from the teacher to the student which is both silent and extremely powerful. Advanced monks have been known to have very profound experiences of Enlightenment when they come into the presence of an Enlighteneed master.
Some teachers will even provide a puzzle for many of his or her students in the form of a koan. This koan is a challenge that is given to the students by their spiritual coach. Upon reflecting on the koan for a long period of time, the student may eventually have a breakthrough experience and learn the true meaning of life. None of this would have been possible, however, without the help of the spiritual coach.
Inner peace doesn’t usually come in a day. You may spend years of preparation for the big event and require the help of a coach to guide you along. Then after years of pursuing your dream, the big day may come where you will find yourself at the most important game of your life. Will you have all the information you need at that big game? It may be that the coaches you choose along the way will be the people who will provide you with the information you need and help you to find that inner peace you have always sought after. You will certainly be glad you pursued their wisdom and be grateful when you arrive at your destination.