The Downside of Home

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

There is no place like home. We've had that phrase drilled into us since Dorothy made it so appealing in the Wizard of Oz. Then, there is home is where the heart is. That's a good one too. Home is our comfort zone, regardless of context. We feel at home when we are aware of the conditions and rules around us, when there is a little predictability and thus safety in our lives. These are useful to recover, so home can be, and often is, a respite.

Yet, home is also a place when in our comfort, we call lull ourselves into a sense of intellectual, psychological, and spiritual laziness. We can even fall asleep there and essentially sleepwalk through life. So, sometimes we need to leave home, leave what we know, and experience ourselves as directly, and without supports, as necessary. If we aren't very careful, things "home" can become a prison for our spirit. Habit energy, while it enables us to stay on track, never lets us take the road less traveled.

In Zen we say, 'Wake up!" You aren't where you think you are! You are in Tommorowland, Yesterdayville, Anxiety Station; you are anywhere and everywhere, but here.

Zen priests take a vow of Shukke Tokudo. Shukke means home leaving. We used to understand this as literally leaving home and wandering around with a begging bowl and robes. Today, in Zen, we see it far more clearly as a vow to not get caught up in what we think we know. We practice to let the baggage sit on the floor as we take our next step, then another, and another.

It is so important to see with fresh and open eyes. Yet, this is so challenging. Everything conspires against it: TV, radio, institutions, family, our own ego and its needs.

Yet, if we can break free from the bonds of home, we are free to be truly at home.

May you be a blessing in the universe.