I'm home!

...and I'm tired. The trip was wonderful. I have lots of photos and stories, but they will have to wait till my mind and body are rested. One thing I did come away with that I will share is a sense that we need to expand our horizons, as humans. I thought the drive to my house from the highway was beautiful, with bowers of trees and a little pond with ducks. Then I saw Trees and Lakes and Rivers and such, and realized how much more there is out there than in my own back yard.

Then I came home, and also realized the beauty of being there as well. Both experiences are important. With that, I will leave you with something from one of my email lists I got among the 400 emails I had waiting for me when I got back. It says what I really mean:

Beauty

The wanderer Bhaggava accused the Buddha of saying that the universe was caused merely by chance. The Buddha replied:

"I have heard others of your sect, Bhaggava, say that when I awoke and found the truth, which was beautiful, I remained in that bliss and then regarded the universe as ugly and meaningless in comparison.

"But I never taught that, Bhaggava. This is what I do say: 'Whenever one awakes and finds the beautiful, then one knows indeed what beauty is.'"

-Majjhima Nikaya
From "Buddha Speaks," edited by Anne Bancroft, 2000. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston, www.shambhala.com.

I indeed found the beautiful on this trip, and I am grateful.