Traversing the Path

Usually we say "traveling the spiritual path," but a few months ago Gen Khedrub called it "traversing the path." He may have been influenced by all the mountains around Seattle, and the hiking and mountaineering they attract. I've often thought of the path like that.
Some associations:
* The cycle of Lamrim meditations feels like circumambulating a mountain again and again, spiraling upward, so that you're making the same circuit but at increasing elevation with each pass, and the view gets better and better.

* I've been bushwhacking a few times, going off trail when it looks like there's a shortcut. The trail seems obvious when you're on it, and you think it will be clearly visible when you're bushwhacking above it, but in my experience it quickly disappears, and it's much harder to get back to than you think. Leaving this spiritual path is like that: It's much safer to stay on the trail. There is no shortcut anyway.
In the Pacific Northwest when I've gone off-trail, I've followed streams to help me navigate, but invariably there is Devil's Club growing nearby and invariably it is slippery by the stream. You can see where this is going: You start to slip and grab for something nearby to keep from falling. You end up with a hand full of thorns from the Devil's Club. Samsara!

* The spiritual path becomes more like mountain climbing than hiking as you progress. I'd assumed that the longer you'd been on the path, the safer you were, but after seeing some long-time practitioners fall away, a Teacher told me it gets more precarious as you get higher on the mountain. Your faith can get tested in ways you never anticipated.

* Also, in mountain climbing you're roped up to your team. If you start to slip, you're taught to yell "falling" so that the others on your rope-team can stop you. Sangha can only help them if you confide in them when you're having trouble. Which is why it's so important to develop trusting relationships with some Sangha friends.