"In this vast limitless world, every step I take is my home."
When I started Facebook, the one and only quote I had on my profile was an extract from the Buddhist monk, Dogen Zenji's poem.
In 2012, I carried that quote in my mind as I made my round-the-world journey.
For many years, I kept that one and only quote as my favorite, until last year. It is no longer my favorite, although it still struck a special cord in me.
The cord it struck in me was a deep sense of liberation. I had always thought it meant to be free, to be mobile, and to be limitless. Then this week, I realized, that's not what the poem meant!
"Home" is not a place, but a feeling. I had tweeted it on May 7. Yet, I didn't link it to Dogen's poem until this week.
The two lines in this poem mean, to always be at peace. Regardless of what goes on in Dogen's outer environment, his inner environment is always calm and he is always at ease. Now this interpretation sounds more Buddhist than the one I had for many years!
In 2012, I carried that quote in my mind as I made my round-the-world journey.
For many years, I kept that one and only quote as my favorite, until last year. It is no longer my favorite, although it still struck a special cord in me.
The cord it struck in me was a deep sense of liberation. I had always thought it meant to be free, to be mobile, and to be limitless. Then this week, I realized, that's not what the poem meant!
"Home" is not a place, but a feeling. I had tweeted it on May 7. Yet, I didn't link it to Dogen's poem until this week.
The two lines in this poem mean, to always be at peace. Regardless of what goes on in Dogen's outer environment, his inner environment is always calm and he is always at ease. Now this interpretation sounds more Buddhist than the one I had for many years!
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