Beyond The Maze Of Your Mind

I often use visual metaphors to provide clarity when I am describing to someone the essence of what I am offering them. The following metaphor has helped a lot of people understand more clearly what awakening is all about.

Imagine a field surrounded by golden, undulating hills. Here and there are ancient, majestic oak trees. There are wildflowers sprinkled everywhere, and the clear, refreshing air is filled with the music of the birds. It is a very peaceful place. When you were born, your life was like this. Experiences flowed into one another and every moment was brand new. In the very center of this field a cornfield was growing. At first, the stalks were not very tall and as a child, you loved to run and skip and dance in and out of this cornfield. As they become taller, you played hide and go seek and it was so much fun. But one day, you no longer could find your way out of the cornfield. It became a maze, cutting you off from all of the peace, joy and beauty of the rolling hills that still surrounded this cornfield.

The corn maze represents your conditioned self. Who you truly are is the entire field which includes the cornfield, but you, like most people, are lost in the corn maze of your mind. How did this happen? As you were growing up, you had painful and confusing experiences that you didn’t know what to do with. Just think back on some of the painful times you had in school and you will know what it was like to get lost in the maze of your mind. It might have been when the teacher called you out about something in front of the other students, or somebody made fun of you because you dressed differently than the other kids, or your best friend told you she liked somebody else more than she liked you, or you went out to the playground and nobody chose you for their team. You knew a lot of heartache when you were growing up and you probably had no one to talk with about it. Your parents did the best they could, but they were often not available because they had struggles of their own. So you retreated into your mind to try to figure out what to do and how to manage the situation. Over time, you became lost in this maze of your mind. And as you lost sight of the open hills and wildflowers, you began to think your entire world was this cornfield. And you have mostly lived there ever since. 

Then one day, you find yourself back in the golden field again. It may have been during a traumatic event that jolted you out of your everyday consciousness, or birthing a child, or a long meditation retreat. You look back at the corn maze, and realize that for most of your life you have been caught in a story about Life rather than being here for Life. Of course, if you are like most people, you get drawn back into the maze and now that you know there is something right outside this maze of your mind, you desperately try to get back to the greater field. But as you struggle, you feel despair because everything you try doesn’t really bring you the joy and peace you reconnected with when you were out of the maze. In your despair, you drop to the ground, crying your heart out. Through your tears, you spot a tiny sign at the base of a corn stalk that says, Be curious about what you are experiencing right now. This is a revelation, a totally new way to be with the maze. But then you forget about it because your mind takes over again. 

A little while later, you see another sign that says, The way out of the maze is to be present for it. Now your mind tries to be present and decides it is not doing it right. After a while you notice another tiny sign that says, You are right where you need to be and right after that, You have never made a mistake. As more of these signs appear, you begin to relax as each one brings more space and trust in your process. Slowly the messages in the signs become natural responses, and rather than trying to get out of the maze, you show up for it. The more you become present for whatever Life is offering, you find yourself, for a moment here and a moment there, walking out of the maze and back into the spaciousness and joy of the entire field with its golden hills and wildflowers. You suddenly realize you never left the field; you were only caught in paying attention to the corn maze of your mind. This moment is your home. Having this message come into your life is an indication that you are on the journey home. Of course you will get caught in the maze again, but more and more quickly you become curious about what you are experiencing right now.

I know I am caught in my corn maze when I notice my body is tight. Tightness is my wake-up call, reminding me there is something that needs to be seen. Discomfort, including emotional, physical or financial discomfort, becomes your prison when you are resistant to it as it keeps you caught in your corn maze of struggle. But paying attention to your discomfort is what sets it free. Whatever you don’t like about your life – your body, your finances, your job, your boss, your headache, your mate –all bring up the parts of yourself that long to be seen, allowed, and permitted to just be. This is how you transform your struggling self into being present for your life, allowing Life to show you the way through whatever challenge you are facing.

So, I invite you to pay attention to the little signs in your own cornfield for they are trying to tell you something about your life. Be curious about what you are experiencing in the moment. The more you get to know your maze (the storyteller in your head that resists the discomforts of Life), the less you will be identified with it and the more you will find your way home to the greater field that is always with you. And that is when you open again into the magical adventure of Life. 

Image of Bright Cornfield by Janet Dyer  www.janetdyerart.com

Reprinted with permission by Sounds True http://www.soundstrue.com