We are all familiar with them and how they function in the material world. A graphic representation of places that exist and their relationship to one another. If we know where we are on the map and where it is we want to be, then it can be a source of useful information to aid us in our journey from here to there. We can know the correct direction in which to proceed, the obstacles we will encounter, and the signposts along the way letting us know know we are on the correct path.
Now imagine a map of places not in the material world, and their relationship to one another. Places not connected to that which is outside of ourselves, but rather to that which is taking place in our own minds. Of course, our experience of material places outside of ourselves also exists in our minds, but the places we are referring to here, while including the awareness of the material world we inhabit at the moment they occur, are connected to our perception of that which is outside of ourselves. These places or experiences transcend the ordinary in that they contain information that is normally filtered out by our mind as not relevant to who we think we are, and what we think this life is about, at any given moment. If a thief sees a saint walking down the street, all he sees are his pockets. The map needed here is one that can show us how to get to those places that will allow the filtered information to pass through, so we can become aware of a more complete picture of this place we inhabit.
And there are many maps to choose from. The Medicine Wheel presented here is a map, Buddha’s eight fold path is a map, the I Ching is a map, Kundalini is a map, the Tarot is a map — to name just a few. And it behooves us to investigate as many as possible to know which ones will attract us. They will be more or less useful to us depending on who we are in our journey when we encounter them. And we need not worry about which ones we are drawn to, because we are protected by our unwavering need for it to actually work in moving us forward on our journey. Here is an example from my own journey of how the maps work.
I graduated from college with a degree in forestry. I was versed in most of the natural sciences and it felt like I had been given a map to the natural world we inhabit. But the key to this map was not the little bit of knowledge about all the parts to this system I had gained, but rather how these parts interacted with one another. I had taken courses in both systems theory and ecosystems and these had fundamentally changed the way I viewed the natural world. These parts were no longer in isolation but rather connected to and dependent on one another. Everything was beginning to merge into one living organism. I had learned to see things as connected and was always curious about how these systems worked. I was following the map I had been given and it would lead me to a place on top of a hill many years later where this single organism would show itself and no longer be just the idea I had learned.
This is how it works. You study and work with the maps until they become a part of who you are and then you live your life that has now become grist for the mill until a moment arrives that offers you the opportunity for the idea to become real and movement around the Wheel to take place.
The Medicine Wheel as a map can also be used this way. Take for example the subject of livelihood. How to make a living is a problem for all of us not born into wealth and making decisions about how this is to be accomplished will be dependent on where we are on the Medicine Wheel. To understand how this works, we put the question in the center of the Wheel and look at it from the perspectives of the four directions beginning with the South.
In the South, our only concern is to attain that which is desirable and avoid that which is undesirable. The undesirable comes into play in our need for food and shelter to maintain the body in a healthy state so that we can attain that which we desire. Survival is primary, but a life about just surviving leaves no room for any movement around the Wheel. Movement in the South requires left over earnings (green energy) that can be devoted to altering our circumstances in ways that we perceive as leading to the attainment of that which we desire, so that we can experience that moment of not wanting it to be different than it is. These earnings can be used to change our location, acquire new objects, alter our physical circumstances, alter ourselves or influence those around us, or simply support family or our community.
The ways in which this energy we call money can be used is endless because desire can take so many different forms. As long as our perspective is defined by our place in the South, all of our time and energy that is devoted to our livelihood will be in service to this endless search for these moments of not wanting things to be different than they are. And the form this livelihood will take will primarily be determined by how large the left over green energy is, since this is our means to alter our circumstances in ways we find desirable. This continues until we are awakened to a new possibility and find ourselves in the West on the Medicine Wheel where a new perspective changes everything.
In the West survival is still primary, so making a living is still necessary and unavoidable. However, we are no longer solely concerned with wanting things to be different than they are but rather with wanting to understand why it is we desire for them to be different than they are. Our need in this place on the Wheel is for new models and techniques to help us understand a world we thought we knew, but discovered did not know at all. Instead of using all of our left-over green energy to alter our circumstances, we will use it in search of these models and techniques. We will buy and read books, attend courses and lectures, travel to exotic places and spend time contemplating the deeper issues. And doing all of this will require using our left over green energy, but it will also require that we have enough free time to accomplish all of this. We quickly find ourselves trying to minimize time spent on our livelihood, so that more time and energy can be spent on this new journey upon which we have embarked.
As this journey progresses, we may even find ourselves confronted with a new dilemma the Buddhists call right livelihood. It is possible to find ourselves involved in work that by its very nature is incompatible with the new direction our lives have taken. For example, if performing the work requires we devote all of our time and energy to it then there is nothing left to support the journey. And there is the real possibility that the nature of the work itself requires us to close our eyes to the real consequences of what we are doing. For the most part, wrong jobs require us to ignore the connection between what we do and the negative effect what we do has on the world around us. Manufacturing weapons meant to kill people or chemicals that ravage ecosystems would be examples of wrong jobs. Jobs that require us to take advantage of vulnerable people would also qualify. These jobs are wrong because because what we are about in the West is the healing of separateness and the coming to realize the ways in which everything is connected to, and determined by, everything else. Doing damage to that which is “not us” requires a belief that there is a “not us” and to believe in this brings the journey to a halt.
As we progress in the West, our livelihood becomes just an unfortunate necessity that, for the most part, is just a distraction from the real journey we are on. There will be times when the work offers us grist for the mill, as in an opportunity to work with desire as the cause of all suffering. But primarily it will be a means to insure the survival of the body, since without this there is no journey. And so we endure what needs to be endured and continue to work with the clues we have gathered along the way, as we are drawn inexorably into the North on the Wheel.
Livelihood in the North is a fairly simple affair. In this place on the Wheel, all the work we will be doing as part of this journey will take place within our own minds and will require us to find places devoid of distractions where these internal journeys can unfold. Time and energy spent at work is time not spent in contemplation, so we are highly motivated to minimize the work so that we can maximize time spent doing what matters most. And how much it matters just increases daily until not being done already defines our existence, bringing us closer to that moment when we will gladly surrender everything to get to the other side, where the true self is realized and we find ourselves in the East on the Wheel.
Livelihood in the East is of no consequence since there is no longer anyone to care whether this life continues or not. Survival will either happen or not, and work will either be there or not. This world no longer has any hold on you, and your participation in it is simply a manifestation of the way of things.
A map is not the thing or place you seek, but it very much increases the likelihood of actually finding that thing or place. A map can orient you in such a way that clues become visible and things can be seen that might otherwise be overlooked. Knowing what to look for and what to beware of can save you a lifetime of misdirected journeys and intense frustration. Finding the right map for the journey you are on may not be easy but it will always be worth the effort.
