Home is Where WE are

It is one of those days where beliefs fall apart. Where the external not only does not align with the internal, but completely contradicts and/or negates it. When questions about impermanence, conditionality, equanimity and even basic meaning come to new rugged scrutiny. When confusion takes centerfold and brings doubts and fears as companions. When inner light and love are watching silently behind the curtains the post-rehearsal and unfolding of another drama.

Good timing and opportunity for deeper inquiry and confirmation of the illusiory nature of all That, but still the emotional storm is quite intense and even the body feels the gusty words and torrential blows of the mind form/s. The very nature of the hurricane of closest relationship is examined and seen anew. The outer boundaries disappear as the inner walls fall. The bare naked soul vulnerable more than ever, finds new 'out-appearance' in the middle of tears, understanding and forgiveness. The 'near enemies' ready to act leave the stage and wonder at the silent inner ovation. ***

The only one that felt lost amid all this story, suddenly realizes a simple truth that brought back the calm & the sanity. So simple yet experienced as an epiphany: "Home is where WE are". And so it is.


*** The Near enemies refers to this excerpt from the Tricycle Daily Dharma below:

Near Enemies
The near enemies are qualities that arise in the mind and masquerade as genuine spiritual realization, when in fact they are only an imitation, serving to separate us from true feeling rather than connecting us to it . . .

The near enemy of loving-kindness is attachment. At first, attachment may feel like love, but as it grows it becomes more clearly the opposite, characterized by clinging, controlling and fear.

The near enemy of compassion is pity, and this also separates us. Pity feels sorry for that poor person over here, as if he were somehow different from us . . .

The near enemy of sympathetic joy (the joy in the happiness of others) is comparison, which looks to see if we have more of, the same as, or less than another . . .

The near enemy of equanimity is indifference. True equanimity is balance in the midst of experience, whereas indifference is withdrawal and not caring, based on fear.

If we do not recognize and understand the near enemies, they will deaden our spiritual practice. The compartments they make cannot shield us for long from the pain and unpredictability of life, but they will surely stifle the joy and open connectedness of true relationships.

--Jack Kornfield, in A Path with Heart, from Everyday Mind