Wayfinding: A Late Summer Koan
This morning I am acutely aware of the space in between things and what happens in that space as we transition from one thing to the next, like from sleeping to waking or from meditation to answering emails. By late morning my mind is buzzing with abundance- news of current events, lists of things needing to be done and questions that have no answers. I take refuge in the woods up the road, creating space to open to a larger perspective. As I start out on the path, I wonder: In what ways can we assimilate all the information that constantly bombards our senses? What helps us orient through change from a place of wholeness? How can we sort through the demands of life to hear and bring out the inner truth contained within our heart and soul? How can we live in reciprocity with the heart and soul of the world? How do we navigate the intensity and chaos of these times with our full presence?
“… the genius of… navigation lies not in the particular but in the whole, the manner in
which all of these points of information come together in the mind of the wayfinder…
You only know where you are by knowing precisely where you have been and how you
got to where you are.” 1
The Myth of Beginnings and Endings
“Excuse me. Can you tell me if this path ends?” I pause and search for an answer. I have been hiking a maze of pathways through the dense vegetation of old growth woodlands for an hour and a half. By now, layers of ordinary reality have dissolved into the humid atmosphere and the boundary of my flesh has opened to include snake, blackberry, rosehip, bumble bee, moth, salal, raindrops, maple tree and more helping my linear mind release its grip and allowing it to become one with my heart, body, senses and environment. Her question registers like a Zen koan.
