The Path

My usual morning schedule is to meditate early in the morning. However, as those of you who have read the previous blog know, these days from 4am to 5:15am I am journeying down the path from my hut on the mountain to the main hall where we meet for almsround. This activity, as well as the fact that it requires considerable mindfulness and concentration to negotiate, in the dark and sometimes rain, the twists and turns and continuously changing conditions, means that the experience of the path is very much in my mind.

It also occurred to me that journeying on a physical path has close analogies to journeying on the spiritual path. Thus, for example, on my early trips down the path I made quite a few wrong turns. I then noticed that this usually happened when I was paying too close attention to my immediate steps in order not to hit a rock, step into a dip or misplace my footing. The problem was that I was not taking into account the intermediate shape of the path, its numerous twists and turns.

On my next journeys I took this into account but still made a few wrong turns. Reflecting upon this I realized that I also needed to consider the ultimate direction of the path as it went up over the plateau heading south and down the valley heading west in order to arrive at the hall in the southwest. Thus in order to keep to the right path it required keeping in mind the three aspects of immediate steps, intermediate direction and ultimate end of the path.

It seems to me that it is also necessary to keep these three aspect of the path in mind while traveling the spiritual path as well. Sometimes we may become over-focused on our immediate practice -- the proverbial, 'Live in the present moment' syndrome. This is all very well, however, as we are enjoying the immediate gratification of that strawberry ice cream, what are the intermediate effects of over-eating or the long-term effects of increased cholestrol?

Sometimes we may become over-focused upon the intermediate goal. We plan to go to Burma for a month-long intensive retreat in order to get our meditation practice together. However, what about that immediate thought of greed for mental peace in the mind right now? Or what will be the long-term effect? Will this give a boost to our spiritual practice or is it a 'spiritual holiday' acting as a substitute for everyday practice? What is the ultimate aim of spiritual practice? Where is it ultimately heading?

Thus, if we can keep some perspective on all three of these aspects of the path then they can support each other in helping us arrive at a more balanced and integrated approach to spiritual practice.

I have learned a few further lessons recently while journeying down the mountain. A few mornings ago I had my most difficult journey as it was raining and windy. While I am aware that rain makes the rocks extra slippery I was not prepared for the fact that the rain also made the path especially hard to see as well. The composition of the path is a combination of dark-coloured rock and light-coloured sand and pebbles. The rain, however, had darkened the light-coloured portions so it was more difficult to distinguish the constantly changing contours. Thus straining to see the way, being extra wary of slipping and holding the umbrella which was buffeted by wind on the exposed rocky plateau and caught on branches through the forests, I had to depend more on my memory of how the path weaved through the landscape then attend to the path directly. I then made several wrongs turns. I realized that this was due to following my assumptions of how I thought the path should go. Yes, how often have we gone astray by following our false assumptions? Of course, we often need to rely upon assumptions, but perhaps we forget that they are only assumptions and not the real thing. Then we only know them as false after the mistake.

The other lessen I learned this morning was that when I was following a way which was more easily walkable I often wandered off the marked path. The direct path is often not always the easiest. And while a few easier steps off the main stream can relax the journey, we need to be alert that we are not wandering off too far from the right way.

Tomorrow I will be following a different path as I will be going for alms at the village beside the Mekong River for some weeks. Fortunately the almsround begins much later at 6:30 am, nearly 1 1/2 hours after dawn. This is a relief since, even though it is much shorter, the path down is much steeper and difficult. This also includes having to literally crawl down three very rustic ladders (with round steps and no hand rail). The climb back up again carrying a bowl of food on an empty stomach will be great for the appetite.

Oh look! There is a hand rail.