Is it the quest or the goal that is the real goal?


The quest for the Holy Grail has been the main goal of many peoples lives throughout modern history. Did the Knights Templer find it? What did they find?

There are theories that the grail is hidden in a beautiful gothic church in Scotland, there are theories that the grail is not even a grail at all but rather a "secret" so vast it would change the worlds way of thinking....a divine blood line?

Non fiction books such as Holy Blood Holy Grail and fiction books such as The Da Vinci code all point to this quest....the most important and expensive quest of our time.

However, I have to wonder if the quest in itself is more important than finding the grail. The quest is what gives people a sense of purpose, their lives meaning, and a goal to achieve. But what would happen if they found it? What purpose would these "grail seekers" have? Maybe that is why it would never be found.

Buddhist seek Nirvana...but do they ever get it? How much do they have to meditate to get it? While the Buddha achieved it sitting under a tree, Buddhist maintain their presence in the here and now, meditate, and don't worry about the Nirvana. It is the meditation and peacefulness they relish.


In our own lives, we have goals. We want to achieve riches and have families. We have dreams, like mine to write a great novel. I want to have a big family, a great writing career and a sense of peacefulness. I want to achieve that end result. But what is more important, achieving the end result or the road to get there?

I used to think of the end. I am finding myself more and more thinking of now. Because, once we get to the end, there is nowhere else to go. Once we find our own Holy Grail we have no more quest. We have no more adventure. Life is no longer needed.

My Holy Grail may be different than everyone else. But I think our quest for something is one in the same; That our quest should be full of love, laughter, adventure, learning, and comfort. Once we can live with that....the end just does not seem as important.