Home is where you hang your hat...reflections continued

With new eyes I walked off the plane at O'hare airport in Chicago, busy busy busy, but in a different way then in India...perhaps with less mindfulness. We made our way through customs with out any challenges and picked up our bags, all of them, and proceeded to say our "see you soons" and final words of reflection on the past weeks.

Walking out of the airport I was met with a blast of icy cold air and with snow swirling around my feet. Fresh clean air rather than heaviness and snow rather than dust...interesting how so many miles can change so much. Into the car, on the right side of the road, lanes enforced, seatbelts...the drive was nothing compared to the bus rides in India, even my 3 hour drive back up to Wausau was nothing.

So we are home safe and sound, and I took a hot bath and washed off the dust of the last 3 days...not to mention tossed my clothes in the washer on the heavy cycle and left my shoes at the door to be dealt with in the morning. In light of having choices about food safety we ate ice cream and cheeseburgers, salads and chocolate. There was toilet paper in all the toilet stalls and the soap and water to wash. It is quiet outside, so quiet that I may have a hard time adjusting back to it...or perhaps not:)

So, that is the "we arrived safe" posting...late as it may be since the blog was not allowing me to sign in earlier today when I arrived home. And speaking of home...just what does home mean to you?

I wanted to share a reflection that I had on our 8 hour bus trip from Patna to Varansai...on whatever day that was...those last few days are kindof a blur. It was dark outside but the bus was dimly lit and as I gazed upward from my cramped seat I noticed that there was a maroon hat hanging from the luggage rack above the seat in front of me. It struck me at that moment that home really is where you hang your hat...and for us in that place and at that time, home was this rickety old bus. Yes, we yearned for the comforts of the guest house we were supposed to be at in Manjukatila...but as our buttons were tested, we took it in stride and just said, "well thats India for ya" and used the time to rest, or share, or meditate. We shared so much on that bus, and not just words...also squares of toilet paper:) and junk food of many kinds...and wetwipes of course.

Anyway, I was thinking as I arrived back in Milwaukee, that I was arriving back to a physical location that I had called home...but really I felt much more at home on that bus with precious Guru and my fellow Dharma practitioners. I realized that I would give all of this up...the luxurious bath, comfortable bed, clean food and water, quiet, space, clean air, etc...to be back in India, in a place where "home" was more than a defined physical space...it was fluid...more of a state of mind. I was at "home" in India on this pilgrimage.

Hmm...and the real home is yet to come...afterall...as we know...the human realm is not our home...even India:)

So to those who remain in India, savor every minute...even the not so desirable ones, and be at home....and keep posting...I loved reading the updates...I have many more thoughts to post, but will do so in the morning...it is midnight here and I have slept only nominally in the last 48 hours.

Much love,
Menma