Thu | Sep 19, 2024

The return journey to our home

Published:Sunday | September 15, 2024 | 12:11 AM

Have you ever felt the need to take a break from your daily routine and go on a vacation? Most of us have. It’s natural to want to get away for a while, explore newness, and refresh ourselves.

But after a few days of adventure, something else starts to happen: an urge to return home. No matter how exciting the trip is, there comes a point when we all want to go back. Why is that? What is it about home that pulls us back, regardless of how grand or simple it is?

HOME WILL ALWAYS BE HOME

Staying in fancy hotels or luxurious accommodations is enjoyable, but it never truly feels like home. There’s a unique sense of comfort and restfulness that only a home can provide. You may have heard the saying, “Home is where the heart is”. It’s a reminder that home is more than just a place. It’s where we feel accepted, where we belong. Interestingly, some people may be in their birthplace, surrounded by family, but still not feel “at home.” This shows that home is not just a physical place. It’s also a state of ease for mind and body.

ARE WE HOMELESS?

When we think of “home” we often picture a house or a place to live. But is that enough? We have become so focused on providing for our physical needs –food, clothes, and shelter – that we may have forgotten what being home really feels like. This happens because we have considered ourselves to be mortal beings. In the real sense, the majority of us are “homeless” even while sitting in our houses. We have lost touch with what makes us feel truly at peace.

TIME TO RETURN HOME

It is time to redefine home. We have been searching for it in all the wrong places — in luxurious lifestyles, in relationships, in future security, etc. One can provide comfort, care, and pleasure, but the unconditional acceptance, belongingness, and ease that each individual seeks can’t be found anywhere other than within self. The true home we are searching for is within us. We have given so much of ourselves to the world but not enough to our inner selves. Returning to this true home is an essential step towards self-realisation.

Until we reconnect with this sense of “home” within ourselves, the restlessness we feel will remain. It is time to come back to ourselves, to stop searching outward for what can only be found inward. Let’s stop racing away from home, return to that place of rest, and regain the energy that has been lost. After all, even with a physical house, we may still be homeless if we don’t feel at peace within. Return now.

Courtesy: Rajyoga Meditation Centre, Kingston (meditation courses and counselling are offered free of charge). Get in touch via email: bkmeditation.jam@gmail.com or WhatsApp: 876-853-7848. Follow them on Instagram: rajyoga_meditation_jamaica.