W/we’ve been traveling so we haven’t been in Chicago much at all for the last 4 months….

Well..  It’s good to be back at the homebase here in Chicago!

I say homebase rather than “home” because from my perspective, my “home” is wherever I exist at this moment. This is important to clarify whenever the opportunity arises because it provides an alternative way of thinking & feeling to people which I feel is a healthier approach to life then what we have been conventionally taught. This approach requires one to become “at home” with themselves.. When this happens, wherever you may be, you will feel “at home” & you will never miss your home because you will always be there, or you will never fear loosing you’re home because there is nothing to loose… you will cling less to your material possessions that fill your “home” & feel more complete & at peace with or without those objects. The less one clings to, the more one is awakened.  With this approach One will find it harder to conceptualize ideas about what home “is & isn’t” therefor entering a freer & more open understanding of “home”, ultimately dropping away all solid ideas of “home” all together.

They say “home is where the heart is.” Well I suppose this makes my home wherever I am & wherever I am not.

In modern Zen it has been said that “We must abandon our homes while living amidst them”.

This does not mean devaluing our homes which we inhabit… rather, it means we let go to discover a deeper home & when we do this we find a deeper value for our homes upon which we inhabit.. a fearless value for it does not contain the fear of loosing anything… a level of appreciation beyond conditions… Furthermore, our value deepens for every place outside of this house because wherever we ARE becomes our home.

When I went on my 5 day walk across Ohio, this is what I was exercising & practicing.. Though every place I walked was new & unknown to me… in each step, I was home.. In each moment I was home… each breath, home… each new camp site, home. No conveniences…  No bathroom.. no electricity… no nice bed… no formilore territory to make me feel safe… none of my regular tureens..  no thing but the life I was experiencing… nothing but the pack on my back & my feet moving forward, nothing but nature, rain, the wind, the sun above my head & the moons glow at night… Just walking the earth & living free. Though this was not hard for me,  it was a liberating & valuable experience to actually do it.

This is not to say I don’t value my home here in Chicago… It is great to be here & love it very much! I love just chilling out & spending time here with mara & sharing this home with her. We have such a wonderful place… By wonderful Im not speaking materialistically.. it is a very humble place…. It has such a warm feeling & is like a temple to U/us. Every time I enter the house after a long trip, it feels so nice to be back in this space. Though I am never actually “back” anywhere… because no moment or object is never the same… nor are we.

So what is an example of the practical  impact of what I am trying to share with you?

I love my house very much & if I came home one day & it had all burned to the ground.. would I be upset?

NOPE! Sure wouldn’t!

Not many people can say that, can they?

I love & appreciate my home with all my heart it but I do not cling to it. This is living enlightenment & much different from the ordinary way of relating to things. It is a way that is in flow with life & does not produce or perpetuate mental suffering… When this happens across the board, all fears & negative states drop away & life becomes nirvana.

On the subject of “home”, Ones perception & attitude about where one physically is at the moment is radically different then the ordinary way of seeing things thus we become grounded, “at home” & at peace in every moment no matter where we may be… we start to treat all of our surroundings (including our own bodies) in a more caring & respectful way as if they are our ever-changing home to cherish. We become deeper connected to this larger home called Earth & we start respecting the planet more, because well…. it’s our home!

Enlightenment doesn’t mean your better then anyone else.. it just means you are truly free…. For this reason, it is said to be the superior state of existence.

The truth is.. nothing physical is permanent in this world & you could very well loose it all at any given time. Surely we will loose it all when we die & quite possibly before. I’m Ok with that. Truly loving & appreciating something means appreciating & accepting it on its own terms. That means completely accepting that what whatever comes, will also some day go & you or I may have no control over when or how that happens & our “homes” are no exception to this. But if you choose to look at this from a positive perspective.. It is this vary impermanence that  makes our homes & our lives sacred.. it is becomes of this impermanence that we are able to touch, taste, smell, hear, anything & we are able to exist at all… in fact this impermanence is the fabric of physical existence its self… it is what makes us in our homes possible.

So I say to you… WELCOME HOME, FRIENDS! LIVE & BE FREE!

Well this is funny… I meant to write about something entirely different about being back at the house but I ended up writing about this! Well that gives me more to write about later!

Be well F/friends,

-Master DVNT