The video and essay that follows is a revision of an inspirational presentation by the author, August 19, 2021, during The Gathering, a weekly online One Spirit community event.
Wisdom traditions all over the world refer to the wheel: Ezekial’s Wheel within a Wheel in Christianity is said to represent the cycle of life, and the path we travel through this world and into the afterlife. In Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, Dharmachakr, or the Wheel of Dharma, signifies the perfection and the essentials of Buddha’s teachings. The Wheel of the Year used by modern Pagans, Celts and Wiccans, represents the cycle of the seasons. The Medicine Wheel, honored among various Native American peoples, conveys health and healing.
And, for my beloved brother, and fellow One Spirit grad, Rev. Dr. Rob Spencer, the wagon wheel embodies all of the worlds’ wisdom traditions. Connected to and housed under the rim, each spoke represents a different faith tradition along which exists a spectrum of adherence to that tradition’s tenets. At the center lies the hub, to which each spoke is also connected and closer, signifying perhaps the similarities between the world’s wisdom traditions.
The wheel–specifically the bicycle wheel–as it’s represented in Taoism, and Zen Buddhism, is what resonates deeply for me, as evidenced by the following quote which I’ve posted prominently on this site, and which I continue to try to understand:
Thirty spokes share the hub of the wheel, yet it is its center that makes it useful.
by Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Verse 11
The wheel as a whole is dynamic; it moves, rotates, revolves; it’s going somewhere, it’s a process in motion. And, it is made up of three components: the rim, spokes and the hub. The rim, in its most proficient and faithful form, is round, rolling on the road, moving us along. Metaphorically, the rim represents our perfection in the universe, as well as our connection to the ground beneath us. With regards to contemplative practices, the rim holds our practice together, representing our balance and attunement in movement.
The spokes keep the rim, and thus the wheel, aligned, able to roll smoothly and efficiently. There are a number of spokes in any given wheel, and they all hold, distribute and balance an equal amount of energy, tension, and weight. In contemplation, the spokes might signify the different elements of our practice, the different things we do to stay balanced, perhaps even the different parts of ourselves.
When one of the spokes is bent or even broken, all of the spokes, and thus the rim is affected, making the whole wheel a bit wobbly, unbalanced. The energy, tension and weight are no longer equally distributed. We speak then, in bicycling, of truing the spokes, adjusting them, tweaking them, realigning them so that they, the rim and ultimately the whole wheel is made perfectly round, balanced, and rolling smoothly again. And, isn’t this what we also do in and with our spiritual practices: we practice, we tweak, we realign, and we seek balance so that we too might move more steadily and soulfully through the world?
Finally, the hub, with which the spokes and the rim are unified. The hub is at the epicenter of the wheel. And, as Tom Bisio writes, it is still (it doesn’t bob around), it is singular (there is only one), and, it is empty. He goes on to suggest, “The perfect circular movement and continuous stability of the wheel is anchored in the stillness of the hub.” The hub, then, in my estimation, is the ultimate source; it is the One true thing that exists at the heart of the wheel that truly makes the wheel a wheel.
Bicycling, or Sacred Cycling, for me is a spiritual practice, wherein the bike is a tool on which I believe we might balance our capacity for mindfully engaging the physical landscape with the contemplative nature of being and breathing. It is as my sweet sister, Rev. Carin Bonifacino offers, “mindful movement,” during which we might distill our attention, deepen our awareness, and develop our ability to merge more intentionally with the sacred and sublime.
Now, when I’m on my bike, there are certainly times when I’m distracted, or disturbed by the behavior of a motorist swerving in front of me, or an animal crossing my path. In those moments, after I’ve felt the effects of and responded to whatever might have just happened, I try to remember to “come back to the hub.” I try to remember to return to the emptiness, the stillness, to my source, to concentrating on being in and with the landscape that lays before me, and lies within me. Once I have reconnected with my center, my heart, I can then move outward again, tweaking my practice and truing myself so that I might return to balance and continue pedaling along steadily and soulfully.
How do you seek and sustain balance in your life? How does your spiritual practice help you tweak things? What tool or tools are helpful to you in deepening your experience of emptiness? And, finally, what wisdom does the wheel in your life have to offer your spiritual self?
Thank you for wandering along this path with me. Pedal on, my friends!
Thank you for this. To answer your question about how I maintain my balance, I do morning spiritual practice with an emphasis on meditation. Done in a group, I have and give support, like the spokes. When off balance during the day, I center myself, get quiet, and listen for Spirit’s message. The hub. Although I am a walker, I can feel your pilgrimage through life on your companion, your bike.
Does she have a name?
Thank you, Kathy, for sharing your practice. “Pilgrimage through life…” I LOVE it! My sweet companion is simply “Seven.” I tried lots of different names, and nothing ever fit. If you’re a fan of Star Trek, the character “Seven of Nine” is one I’ve often thought about when riding along, and experiencing those moments when I have to regroup and realign.