Windsor, Vermont: Path of Life Garden

The Path of Life Garden is one of the best spiritual things I have walked and experienced. Thank you Stephanie Goodell for recommending it to me. The pictures and words used here don't do it justice until you experience it for yourself. It costs $6.00 which seems a bit much until you get there and walk around and contemplate and reflect on your life.

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The pilgrim soul enters the garden towards the East through the TUNNEL OF OBLIVION, the darkness representing the beginning of life. 

From here one proceeds to the right and finds a small stone emerging from a shallow swale signifying BIRTH.

Next, the first steps of childhood lead to hemlock maze, reflecting a period of ADVENTURE.

You definitely cannot see over the hedges unless it is on a decline.

After spending 15 minutes running around, I get annoyed at myself for not being able to figure it out, and I use Apple Maps to view it from above and navigate myself through the maze. Love technology.

Upon successfully mastering (with or without assistance) the maze, one turns right and finds the HILL OF LEARNING, where one crosses a series of buried granite stones steps, signifying the milestones reached in school.

At the top of the hill one discovers the TREE OF WISDOM, a white oak whose nuts contain the seeds of knowledge.

Upon descending the hill one finds a circle of Prayer Wheels that can be spun in the spirit of HOPE and well being.

Beyond the prayer wheels one enters an amphitheater of sculpture that symbolizes a time of CREATIVITY.

From here the path travels up river and the pilgrim encounters the experience of UNION, suggested by two granite posts flanking a round millstone. The hotel in the millstone represents the mysterious connection that exists between two beings while the mass of the stone creates a sense of separateness.

Adjacent to union is the garden of FAMILY, depicted by five flat large stones arranges in a circle. Visitors are welcome to sit in the circle with friends and family to reflect on the loved ones in their lives. 

After creating a family, some find themselves part of a larger COMMUNITY, represented by a multitude of stones arranges in a large circle. The individual characteristics of each stone stand of the unique qualities in each of us.

Some people find they are spending too much time in community an enter a period of SOLITUDE, expressed here as a single stone surrounded by lilac trees and a shade structure. 

At other times in midlife, one might find themselves experiencing a period of AMBITION, protrayed by a large earthen mound in the middle of the field. Having climbed to the top of the mound, one can look back and reflect of the first half of their journey.

Continuing upriver, mid-life also brings the first taste of SORROW. In this garden the frame of a Native American teepee embodies our collective snse of loss.

After a time of sorrow, some are lucky enough to find a time for FORGIVENESS, depicted here by a stand of bamboo pols reaching for the sky. The gift of forgiveness is often followed by a period of JOY symbolized here by a garden of blueberries and raspberries for all to share. After leaving the garden of berries, the path turns to the left and climbs a gentle hill.

As on reaches these later stages of life, many people look forward to a period of rest of RESPITE. A hammock and a picnic table located in a cool forest overlooking a series of gentle waterfalls provides our traveler with a well-deserved break. 

Once rested, the garden allows for a period of CONTEMPLATION, and Buddha is discovered overlooking a stone labyrinth. As old age settles in the path to the center of the labyrinth becomes smooth and level. 

After pausing at the center of the labyrinth to wish for enlightenment, our pilgrim comes to stand of large deal maple trees, the garden of DEATH.

Upon being laid to rest, surrounded by weeping trees, our pilgrim's soul passes through the garden of REBIRTH, and life begins anew.

As a final gesture, the pilgrim re-enters the tunnel from which life began in the opposite direction. When traveling towards the West, the tunnel represents the GATEWAY TO ETERNITY, and so our story closes.

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I hope it speaks to you at whatever juncture you are in your life as it spoke to me.

Expenses: 
Ticket to Garden: $6.00