Hiking Maui’s Bamboo Forest.

My husband and I usually visit Maui once a year.  Often times we take a left onto the Hana Highway after leaving the airport and head towards Hana.  We have found that spending our first two days on Maui in Hana really helps us to get into the Maui vibe much quicker than when we head directly to our favorite Kihei spot.

The last time we were in Hana, we stopped at Oheo Gulch and hiked through the Bamboo Forest to the incredible Waimoku Falls.  We hiked with our beautiful friends who live on the island. As we completed our hike, I made a mental note to myself to write a meditation based on this hike to share with my friends.  Even if you do not have a meditation practice, please read and enjoy this narrative as it brings you deep into this bamboo forest. The next time you are on Maui, you will surely put this hike on the top of your Must Do List while you are on the island.

BAMBOO FOREST WALK MEDITATION

Let’s begin this walk by taking three deep, slow breaths………….Then begin stretching our feet, making circles, and wiggling our toes.  Feel the energy rising up through your calves, your knees and thighs.  The energy fills your pelvis, your hips and your glutes—-Then it rises through your abdominal area, nourishing your organs as the energy rises up through your solar plexus to your heart and lungs, and pushing up through your neck and throat.  At the same time you start to wiggle your fingers and make movements with your wrists—–and now you feel the energy slowly moving up your forearms, into and through your elbows, into your upper arms and shoulders.  This energy now merges with the rising energy from your lower body and continues to rise through the neck and throat into your face and head.  Your chin softens, your mouth relaxes and slightly opens, your cheeks relax, your nose senses the peacefulness within.  You can feel your eyes rolling back onto pillows—-Your eyebrows relax, your forehead relaxes, and the crown of your head opens to receive the gifts the universe is offering you now.

You step onto the grassy path that softly rises up the mountain.  You marvel at the trees lightly blowing from the offshore winds, and you smell the sweet scent of guava flowing through the air.  The path is now turning to dirt and twisted roots from the enormous trees overhead.  You continue to climb, being careful to not stumble over the twisted roots that provide steps up the path.

You realize that there are pools and waterfalls throughout the forest to your right.  You meander over to the small trail that takes you down to the water’s edge.  You immediately see three pools and a waterfall descending at the end of the third pool.  The water invites you in.  You slide into the rocky-bottomed pool and feel the coolness of the water……The water that never feels the rays of the hot tropic sun.  You see the dark canopy above you and understand why the water is dark and cold.  You feel the cool water as you swim towards what appears to be a cavern and wonder if you should continue on or turn back.  You swim closer and see that someone is on the rocky bank ahead.  You sense that she wants to be alone, so you turn around and swim back to shore.  As you rise from the water, you feel alive with freshness and joy—-A smile crosses your face as you slip back into your clothes.  You then ascend from the pool up the small, craggy path to re-join the main trail.

Your breath is deeper now—–The forest appears more vibrant.  Black stones are now interspersed on the path along with the twisted roots and soft ground.  You continue your journey along the path…. As the path turns, you come onto a large, wide-open area that is consumed by a grandfather banyan tree.  The limbs are massive and flow out to greet you.  The enormous trunk of the tree beckons you to seek shelter from the rain that is beginning to fall.  You stand in awe, wondering how long that tree has been standing there and realizing the wisdom that is immersed there.

You pull yourself away from the tree and continue on the path.  After a short while, you come to a bridge and cross over it.  You see the waterfall below you and the cascading stream that feeds the waterfall.  As you near the end of the bridge, you see that you are entering a forest of bamboo.  The path becomes dark and you are amazed at the dense and tall bamboo.  Then the path quickly turns again, and you come out onto another bridge which crosses the cascading stream you saw from the first bridge.  After crossing the second bridge, you turn sharply into a vast forest of bamboo.  The bamboo is extremely dense and there is little light.  As you walk, the path turns from black stone to a boardwalk that extends as far as the eye can see.  This boardwalk curves through the forest, and as you walk, the forest grows darker and you feel a thickness in the air.  You feel the energy of the bamboo….The bamboo that rustles in the wind, touching each other.  As you walk further along this path, you notice light up ahead.  And as you approach the light, you see that the bamboo dissipates and the foliage becomes lighter and less dense.

But soon the darkness reappears on the boardwalk in front of you.  As you enter this new patch of bamboo, you notice that the stalks are a little larger than those in the first forest and this forest is much darker.  As you walk along, you also notice the sounds of the bamboo forest.  It is as if the bamboo trees are talking with each other.  There is an energy that is very alive in the forest.  You hear the sounds, feel the energy, and look to see who is walking with you.  You only find yourself, yet you know there are other spirits there with you.  As you look ahead on the boardwalk, you feel as if you are walking to a sacred temple.  You are overcome by this awareness and drawn to continuing on this path….This journey to a very sacred place.

The forest then begins to thin and becomes lighter again.  You walk along, yet you are aware that a force outside of yourself is pulling you forward.  Soon darkness surrounds you again.  This time the darkness is much more acute, and the chatter is much louder than in the last forest.  You also notice that the stalks of the bamboo in this forest are immense.  You realize that you are in a very ancient bamboo forest….An Old Growth Forest.  The energy in the forest is intense and you open your arms to embrace it.  The energy cloaks you and, at the same time, draws you further along the path.  It feels as if the forest noise and the energy are building to a crescendo……Rain starts to fall when suddenly light appears and you walk out of the bamboo forest.

The boardwalk has returned to a black stone path, which descends to a small, shallow creek.  You gingerly begin walking across the rocks in the stream until you realize that it is permitted to get your feet wet! You continue to ford the stream, walking on the wet rocks and dipping into the stream.  When you arrive at the other side, you walk into a light brushy area……….Then you look up……. You see the highest, most beautiful waterfall that you have ever witnessed.  The rocks reach up to the sky and the water cascades gracefully over its edge, down the craggy rock wall to the beginning of the stream.  Its beauty takes your breath away—-You cannot stop watching the falling waters.  You also watch small waterfalls appear out of the high rocks next to the magnificent waterfall.  The fullness of the energy of this place envelops you.  Your breath is deep and slow.  You walk closer to the waterfall to feel its energy, to have its water mist your body……You feel truly blessed.  You thank God for bringing you to this place.  To feel this rapture.

You take one last look at the waterfall before you turn to leave.  You don’t really want to leave this place, but you know that dusk is approaching and you have the dark, dense bamboo forest to return through.

As you re-cross the stream, it doesn’t seem difficult to cross this time.  You then climb up the hill into the deepest and darkest of the bamboo forests.  The energy and the sounds of this forest seem more heightened than your earlier trip through this part of the forest.  As you walk through it, the mana engulfs you.  And as you see the light ahead of you and you know you will be leaving this very sacred space, you open your arms wide to embrace and capture the mana around you…. You raise your mana-laden arms above your head and then pour this rich mana over your head.  It runs down your face, where you softly rub it into your forehead, your eyes, your nose, your cheeks, your mouth, and down into your neck.

You then walk out of the bamboo forest into the light—–A white light framing the bushes and the tall canopy overhead.  You continue on the boardwalk through the next bamboo forest.  You feel quite welcomed here and are filled with joy and a sense of well-being…….And then you are out into the light again, but only for a brief moment as you are engulfed by the last of the bamboo forests…..You slow down because you want to savor every last moment and feel all of the mana in the forest….You are not sad……In fact, you are feeling quite full of life.  Yes, you don’t want this part of the journey to end, but you know you must continue on the path.

You soon come into the lightness again.  There is a light drizzle but it does not last long as you shimmy your way down the path, past the banyan tree, over the two bridges linked by the bamboo grove, past the path you took to swim in the sacred pool, down through the gate, and back to where you began your journey.

You remain silent for a few moments taking in all you experienced on your journey through the bamboo forest.  You thank the ancient spirits for guiding you on this journey and presenting you with this most spectacular and awakening journey into a world never before seen or experienced.  And the ancients remind you that you can come to this place whenever you desire.  You really never leave.