Twists and Turns

Sunday I went to meditation at the Buddhist center connected to the Tibetan store, Snow Lion Imports on Craig Street; but it was unexpectedly closed. Having skipped yoga to go to the meditation, I was disappointed. So, I looked around for something else to do and instead ate a French crepe in a clattering cafe. There were a lot of European people there, which, ridiculously enough, I hadn't anticipated. I thought that the French Crepe would prove to be the regular Americanized foreign restaurant with the regular Americanized foreign fare, and in some ways it was, but it was still European enough to attract people with accents more regularly accustomed to eating crepes than I was. While I ate my savory vegetable crepe with egg and Bechamel sauce and sipped my bowl-sized cup of French tea laced with a pleasant hint of chocolate, I waded through a ritzy travel magazine. In fact, all of the magazines the French Crepe had casually strewn on the window seat were rather expensive and so anything advertised in them was immediately well beyond my means.

I had to admit that the trips to India looked very enticing, strangely luxurious and spiritual at the same time. I wondered, is this the Western view of enlightenment, a lounging meditation among lush fabrics, intricate patterns, and spicy foods in a refurbished palace dating back to antiquity and sheltering us from the hot sun, being waited on hand and foot by staff clad in turbans and tunics? Don't get me wrong, I'd go in a second if I had the chance and I think I'd get something out of the experience. I know myself well enough to know that I'd seek out more than luxury. I'd immerse myself in the traditions of the land, historical and spiritual, and maybe even discover aspects of myself. But how much could I really grow in a week or two? I mean, how long does enlightenment take anyway?

I put the magazine, and dreams of India, away and drove off in my fossil-fueled car. Funny how fossil fuel is one old thing that does not seem to be adding to our enlightenment, but perhaps that's because we're not very enlightened in our use of it. Maybe it takes wisdom to interface with old things. So, I stopped at the university. After finishing a bit of work for classes, I found myself walking in the labyrinth again. This time, it was the middle of the day. It's always interesting to notice everyone else's reaction to my circling and whirling at the crest of the hill. Yet this day, there seemed to be more response than usual. A bicyclist stopped and stared. Joggers gliding past missed their step. Students gawked as they sauntered the roads in shorts, flip flops, and tank tops.

What's interesting about labyrinths is that they're everywhere and they have been for about 3 - 4,000 years. There are Indian labyrinths. There are French labyrinths. The unicursal maze is a worldwide tradition. A person enters, makes a lot of twists and turns, can't figure out how this thing works, where he is, or where he's going; and then, at the center, a decisive turn brings him out again. If that's not a metaphor, I don't know what is.

This time walking the labyrinth, there were no avenging birds. Squirrels did not chitter and throw bark in defense of their space. There was just the same evening-out feeling of something being extracted and something wiser entering in. And I thought. Whatever you make the center of your world will shift. Reality is inland, not out in society. Not on the zafus and zabutons, not in the wallet or the dishwasher, not even in the lover's bed or the job well done. But we get talked into thinking otherwise every day. It's the peaceful, balanced state many of us rarely access, the zero point. That's enlightenment. Yet it does pop up in little surprises and minor turnings throughout the day. And right then and there I could value the moments that shine, even if they only last about as long as a flitting butterfly.

So, how long does enlightenment take? Several lifetimes - more actually - and if you're like most Westerners you'll literally think that you don't have the time because you don't believe that time is cyclical. You think it's one, long spool from beginning to end and when it's over, it's over. Time for Westerners is never ever just a concept. It's a tyrannical fact of existence, an unavoidable vitality parasite. But if you follow the lesson of the labyrinth, you'll notice that you walk over the same steps you took initially. Yet the second time you step on that spot, you're different than the first. That's enlightenment.