When I was a child growing up in Wales my parents would often take me on walks up a local mountain called the Garth. The lower slopes of this mountain were covered in dense forests of oak, ash and hazel. About halfway up the woods gave way to bracken covered moorland. In summer the ferns could be almost four feet high.
I remember a beautiful spring that my father said came from an underground lake. It was way up on the mountain and was a welcome refreshment stop on the exhausting climb. The water was pure and delicious, and gave us strength for the final steep ascent.
The view from the summit was stupendous. The cars, the houses and trains in the valley below looked like the best miniature model layout you’ve ever seen, and beyond the ridges to the south lay my hometown, Cardiff; then the sea and the distant hills of the English west country.
I experienced many happy times on the Garth. It was where I always wanted to take my girlfriends and a place where I felt connected to nature and to God. Years later when I became familiar with the teachings of the great Indian saint Ramana Maharishi I discovered that he was mystically connected to the south Indian mountain called Arunachula. I could understand that connectedness because of my own love for the Garth Mountain in Wales.
How does all this fit into an article about visualization and the labyrinth? The answer lies in our ability to connect, viscerally, emotionally and spiritually with a sense of place; or, even more profoundly, with our place in the order of things.
It is important to realize that we do not have to travel to Sedona, Tibet, or to the Garth Mountain to find a meaningful presence of harmony and joy. Yes, there are centers of power on the planet, but as children of God, we are centers of power too. We have the ability to imbue our environment with meaning, and to attune to the holiness that is all around.
Visualization, for me, is the ability to see and feel the order and rightness present in the ordinary things and places of life. Rather than spending time escaping from our everyday circumstances through visualization on oceans, meadows and beautiful scenes, we can choose to see the journeys we make each day, both literal and figurative, as our sacred pilgrimage toward God.
Having made conscious contact with a spiritual presence on the Garth Mountain I was able to take that awareness into the sometimes grimy streets of my hometown. The mountain top experience was not an escape into a better place but an inspiration to find quality in everything. Start then by calling to mind a place that has particular significance for you, a place where you feel closely connected to God or where you find peace. Ask yourself what it is about that place which brings you that awareness. What does it feel like?
Now try an exercise. See if you can, through conscious intention, bring that same awareness and feeling to the place where you are currently situated. What quality is there? Can you appreciate the play of light and shadow, the colors, the relationship of this place to the wider world?
The Duke in William Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, although temporarily exiled from the court to the Forest of Arden, nevertheless finds meaning in that place too. He says:
“Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which like a toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.
I would not change it.”
In a number of places in the Bible God says, “Take off your shoes because the place on which you stand is holy ground”. In my experience, everywhere becomes sanctified when I remember that Spirit is here, now and always.
A word on the labyrinth…we may not be able to walk an actual labyrinth on a daily basis, although they are quite popular in churches, hospitals and other places. However, we can experience the same sense of connectedness and wholeness that they offer.
When I walked up the Garth Mountain I also walked down. When we leave for work in the morning we also return home. And this is the essence of the labyrinth experience. As we move inward toward the center we spend time in awareness of our journey through time and of our journey to the core values we embrace. In the same way, in any endeavor, we move from the periphery to the heart of the matter, to what is most meaningful.
Then as we move outward again through the labyrinth we intentionally commit to bringing what we have discovered into practical effect in our lives. Likewise, when I find something of value through awareness, through hard work, through prayer, through times of stillness, through this walk of life, I consecrate myself to living what I have learned.
Every place, every event, every day have lessons for us if we are receptive. Every moment is a chance to see, to enter into the holiness of our lives.
Don’t wait for that dream vacation or that fantastic workshop. Find the beauty and power of Spirit active in your corner of the world today.