I was not planning anything special for this New Year celebration. Maybe going to see the fireworks, maybe having a beer or two, and then going to sleep. And just before 8pm I found out there is a labyrinth walk-through event in my Vancouver Downtown neighborhood. I always wanted to try that, I am deadly serious. I didn't even waste any time considering it.
When you hear labyrinth, you might be imagining a huge structure built from stone or pehaps a hedge. The reality is not as visually imposing, however, it serves its purpose better: this labyrinth is actually a 1:1 copy of the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral. This one is painted on a wooden floor of neo gothic room filled with light of scented candles and music from harpist with beautiful voice.
The process is simple. You leave your shoes and belongings at the side of the room and find the labyrinth entrance. You follow other travellers into the labyrinth by walking inbetween the painted lines. There is only one way into the centre, and the same way out. I expected to enter a meditative state and to be calm, however, as soon as I stepped into the circle, my thoughts started to flow even faster and very soon, I decided I should later write them down.
Labyrinth has been used as a symbol representing various ideas. Some of you might remember how the creators of the TV series Westworld tried to plant their own message into a labyrinth. Most commonly, it represents the world, the life, or the self. I will try to elaborate on each of those.
The World
This might be an obvious one. We are all travellers, searching for our place in the world. A place, where we wouldn't have to search for anything anymore. Most of the time, we cannot see the centre, because it is alwas at the periphery of our vision. When it seems like we are approaching it, the way suddenly turns and we are further away that we had ever been.
I have to walk through every imaginable corner of the world before I arrive to the destination. The destination does not exist anywhere in the world. It is the moment when I stop and look around. I can see everyone else performing the strange dance of searching for the centre. Everything is finally clear and calm and I know I could have found the centre anytime if I just stopped searching and looked around. Now that I know the truth, I should walk back to tell everyone! But at the same time I realize that this truth cannot be told, it has to be experienced. The only thing I can do is to step out of the way of those still searching.
The Life
We always have some direction, some motivation to make our life different, better, we imagine that if we just had this one thing, everything would be perfect and we would live happily ever after. It does not matter whether the thing is a certain amount of BTC, a happy family, a meaningful job or perhaps just a healthy daily routine. But after climbing up a mountain, we can see even higher one behind the first. But what do we really want to achieve?
As I walk through a labyrinth, through my life, I can notice that my actions and my desires lead me further away from my true goal. The true goal is finding out that all the goals are futile, they only distract me. I tried to cling onto some of them just because I had already invested so much energy into them. But the higher the climb, the higher the fall. Sooner or later, the fall comes. It's preferable if I can see it earlier than on my deathbed.
With this realization, I cannot just exit this world, exit the society. By this conditioning, that I would only be able to see the truth if my lifestyle looked a certain way, I would fall into another ego trap. I have to begin even more difficult journey: I have to live my life, participate in society with the knowledge that everything is futile. That means truly bearing my cross.
The Self
The labyrinth represents me and the various layers of my being. The thorns on the outer part of the labyrinth are so appropriate: they represent the part of me that I show to the outside world. Before getting to the core, I have to get through my thoughts, my emotions, my feelings and my personality. When I arrive to the centre, I can see all the things I am not.
The core is, of course, the true Self. The quiet observer, the soul. It is in everyone, it's just covered with different layers that we mistake for the I.
I am not my emotions, I am not my thoughts, I am not my body. These are just some of the instruments that I have been granted to use for interacting with this world. And I have chosen to use them, not to let them waste away by becoming a hermit. Now I believe that continuing to live this life no matter what the next turn brings, is the true self-realization.
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STOPI really enjoyed your post @monoxid. It's extremely well written and covers a lot of the areas I have thought about myself but glad to find someone who can give a little more meaning to my own vague and confused thoughts. :)
A really great read.
Hope you're enjoying your steemit experience so far, my friend. :)
I really appreciate that : )
You guys reacting to my post are motivating me to write some more, so thank you, really!
Thank you for a great post, its nice to see labyrinth stuff on here!
Thank you for your comment! I'm glad you like it : )
By the way, I've just read your article about the Odinstone Labyrinth, and I must say that I'm now even more honored by your words!
Labyrinths are awesome! We have have one we built in our back yard; my wife is actually on the board of directors of the worldwide Labyrinth Society.
It's a beautiful metaphor for life... the center is the pinnacle, and like life we approach, maybe get close, and then are guided away, and approach again... and go away again, before we finally reach our goal. And whereas it might be nice, we can't stay at the center of the labyrinth forever... but we will always have the experience and the teaching.
That is amazing! It seems like I'm just a labyrinth novice here. Until one experiences it, he cannot truly appreciate the labyrinth walking.
Now that is one thought provoking new years eve! I always love the introspective thoughts that you discuss in The Self section. It can be so hard and difficult to comprehend separating ourselves from our voice, thoughts, emotions, etc. I always feel comfort when I ponder these things though. Btw, I am a curator with @ocd and would love to nominate your post.
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I am really happy that my post was discovered by someone and even considered interesting.
If you find it worth sharing, please, feel free to do so!
I will be looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I hope it might spark up some new thoughts somewhere.