Home. What it is?

 

I was pondering on this question recently because...I’ve not been at my physical home address of late because I’ve been pet sitting and house sitting in others’ homes for the past few weeks.

What happens when you’re away from your own home for that long is that you begin to miss the comforts of your own bed and so forth.

I began to think more about the idea of “missing home” and knowing that since my pups are no longer here... the energy around my home has changed dramatically. And well...this has altered the “homeness feeling” I used to find there.

Pondering on this further...my next question was...what is “home” anyway?

Is home a place?

Is home a feeling?

or...can home actually be within me?

Enter the teachings of Ticht Nhat Hanh.

If you don’t know who he his...in brief...he was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet, and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism. Known as the "father of mindfulness", Nhất Hạnh was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism.

I’ve found his teachings very easy to understand, apply and to practice and also quite life-changing.

And I don’t think it is any accident that I came across one of his teachings on Youtube this morning titled “Loneliness and the Illusion of Connection.”

In this 20 minute video Ticht Nhat Hanh speaks of “connecting with yourself and the going home to the island of self as the way to heal ourselves and the way to heal our society.”

This practice involves a very simple mindfulness meditation of focusing on the in-breath and then focusing on the out-breath...and that in doing so we reconnect with our bodies and to the present moment.

Herein lies the answer to my question above.

Yes. Home IS actually within me.

It’s not a place, or a geographical location, or a feeling, or a building, or a zipcode.

Much to ponder here. Much to learn.

Click here to view Loneliness and the Illusion of Connection with Thich Nhat Hanh

Photo Credit: Image by cubicroot from Pixabay dot com