When is a journey not a journey? It sounds like a children’s riddle, the kind that would delight an eight year old with an unexpected twist, but today it has a serious thought behind it. Spiritual work, or the effort we make to overcome our shortcomings and realize divine truth is very commonly referred to as ‘a journey.’ There are numerous sayings to this effect, such as in the Gayan, these two from the Boulas: “All that detains man on his journey to the desired goal is temptation.” And, “The whole course of life is a journey from imperfection to perfection.”

From our life in the world, we understand a journey as physical movement from one place to another, and inevitably with that movement comes a change of view: from a broad plain we enter a mountain range, for example, or following a river we emerge from the forest and arrive at the edge of the ever-moving sea. Depending on the purpose of our travel, it may also bring about an inner change, some degree of spiritual purification. Every year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walk mile after weary mile toward a sacred goal while deeply immersed in prayer and contemplation.

Implicit in the concept of a journey is the assumption that we are not yet where we want to be, but someday we shall reach the goal. For many thoughtful people, that would be a reasonable description of their own inner condition – ‘not yet there, but hoping to arrive.’ This is perhaps reflected in the custom of some dervishes to never stay long in one place, shunning comfort, since to remain in one location would imply that they were satisfied with their condition.

It might come as a surprise, therefore, to find Hazrat Inayat Khan turning the journey on its head. In a short passage titled ‘The Journey to the Goal’ in volume V of the Message Series, he says “In reality, the goal is already there where the journey begins. It is a journey in name; it is a goal in the beginning and in the end.” In other words, the goal is there where we began to travel, and although we may travel immeasurably far, when at last we discover the journey’s end, we will find we are exactly where we started. The goal was, is, and always will be present.

And because of this, Hazrat Inayat goes on : It is absurd to say, ‘How wicked I am…’ or ‘How undeveloped I am for reaching the destination!’ or to think, ‘How many lives will it take, before I shall be ready to arrive at the goal?’ The Sufi says, ‘If you have courage and if you have sense, come forward. If now you are on earth, your next step will be heaven.’ The Sufi thinks, ‘From mortality to immortality I will turn as quickly and as easily as I change sides in sleep.’

No one can say they are far from the goal; it is here and now. If you wish to enjoy the destination, merely turn from sleep to waking.

So, to the question, ‘When is a journey not a journey?’ the answer might be ‘When you have arrived before you set off.’