Walking the Path: The Lessons of the Labyrinth

On Monday, I walked the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.  Like the sea, this is a centering ritual for me.

In popular argot, "labyrinth" is synonymous with "maze."  It is not, not in the spiritual sense.  A maze is a puzzle, a trap.  The best ones are confounding riddles in which their joy lies in defeating their creator.

A labyrinth is a discipline.  You need not worry about getting lost, for the way is before you, as long as you follow the path set out.  All you need is patience, and a quiet mind,  The latter is, for me, the most difficult part of the exercise.

Like usual when I walk the labyrinth, I have a specific issue that I am wrestling with.  This time it was letting go:  letting go of people (and a reminder not to do so quickly or easily), letting go of things, letting go of time. Most of all, letting go of outcomes. I can only do what I do in the world; the result of that lies beyond my control.

The first time that I walked the labyrinth, I was struggling with fear: fear of the future, most important of all.  Not so different as this time, perhaps.  I wrote a Live Journal post of things I thought during the experience.  Rereading it, while it seems now rather pretentious, I find great parts still ring true.  Allowing for a little tweaking, an addition or two, they are lessons I am still learning.

Walking the Path: Lessons of the Labyrinth

You must walk the path. No one can walk it for you.

You must walk the path. Walking around the path, looking at the path, watching others walk the path gains you nothing.

You must pay attention to the path. If you wander, you will be lost.

If you leave the path for any reason, no matter how good or important that reason seems at the time, you will be lost.

No matter how many times you get lost, you can always go back to the beginning and start again. It will not be the same path, for you are not the same person, but you will no longer be lost.

Retracing your steps does not mean going backward. Though the path may seem the same, it is not, for you are forever changing and will always be who you are now, not the person you were when you first walked along the path.

You must learn to walk without regard to the tumult around you. If you listen to the chaos, you will be overwhelmed and the path will become meaningless.

People will cross the path.  Accept them.  They are a gift, a reminder that you are never truly alone, though you may often feel so.

You must walk your path. If you follow another, or cling so tightly there is no space between you, you are not walking your path, you are walking theirs.

You can never tell how far it is to the end until you get there.