I have now walked all five labyrinths on Maui. Two of them were painted on blacktop surfaces, one was laid out in a garden with orchids around it and two were at the far west end of the island, laid out in white coral rock and overlooking the sea. Amazing!
Walking these meditation labyrinths has been especially meaningful to me. Being in Hawaii seems to be a juncture. I have now just over half way through what I plan to be a year away. I don’t know what will come next, but I have gotten much better at living in the NOW. The labyrinths help.
When I enter the labyrinth I cannot see how to get to the center. I can only see the clarity of the path for a few yards, I can see that there are twists and turns coming up but I can’t anticipate what they will be exactly. Sounds like life doesn’t it? All but one of the labyrinths here is based on the original one that is in the Chartres Cathedral in France. The first few steps into the labyrinth look like they will take me right to the center but –no- the path turns and follows right next to the center but there is a barrier of rocks which tell me that I will not get there right away. I must keep walking.
It seems that when I start out a project or a plan or a dream, the same thing happens. The energy of the beginning moves me quickly into the experience and I believe it will be created or finished soon. Along the way though I have twists and turns in the process. No real dead ends but rather adjustments that need to be made and often it seems like my goal gets further and further away. It is so with the labyrinth. After walking so close to the center, the path takes me right out to the far edge and then slowly brings me to the center. I try to look far ahead to see how or what will be the path, but it is useless. The only way to see it is to do it, walk it, and find out in the walking. So I stop looking ahead and focus on each step.
That is the journey for this year – to focus on each step and not try to look too far ahead. Fears of financial ruin or lifelong lonely drifting come up but I make myself come back to the present, to what I have, to the support I know, to the gratitude I feel and I trust that I will get to the center of things and then return with peace, abundance, love, and passion.
