When I have an injury, I want to find an expert at fixing the injury I am experiencing. For example, if I break a bone in my hand, I see a doctor who is a hand specialist rather than a psychiatrist. If I need help with my income taxes, I talk to an accountant who specializes on income taxes. I don’t ask my accountant about illnesses or my doctor about taxes. In either case, I find an expert who specializes in whatever I need help with.
But, how to get help with things that are not so clear cut and are more individual like professional, personal or spiritual growth?
In my Japanese martial arts training, we call our teachers sensei, which roughly translates as “one who has gone before on the path.” As my teacher likes to remind us, he’s not THE EXPERT but is simply passing on what he’s learned from 30+ years of training and teaching.
I like the idea of sensei because it frees me up to explore something I want to explore (like martial arts) without having to be held accountable to a rigid or dogmatic way of learning. My martial arts teacher doesn’t give answers but instead share ideas and experiences. I liken what he teaches to breadcrumbs that help me explore, discover, and tease out my own answers through direct experience. As such, I become responsible for my own personal growth and learning rather than being told what to do by an expert (which is still useful for injuries and taxes).
Similarly, in writing about finding meaning and purpose in the blog, Peter and I are admittedly not experts on finding meaning and purpose. However, we can still share what we discover on our individual paths if you choose to follow along.
As Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gary Snyder said in Turtle Island, “Taste all, and pass the knowledge down.”
Kindly,
David