Finding Our Way Home

Jess and I got matching tattoos for the trip and, I suppose, for the rest of our lives.

A star on the forearm with a descending/trailing/reaching line; reminiscent also of the cardinal directions on a map compass.

It’s a reminder often visible, or just peeking out of a shirtsleeve, of our center, our true natures.

The etymology of the word desire is from the Latin ‘de sidere’ or ‘from the stars’. To desire is to long for the stars, to feel a vast distance from our true home, our source. As Buddhists we believe that a source of our suffering is our attachment to the things we use as substitutes in an attempt to attend to this desire and feed this hunger.

What I actually long for is the radiant emptiness and ever-present stillness that is my ground. But, because that is hard to remember, I long instead for ice cream, or Netflix, or myriad other distractions.

The ink on the arm is a reminder to pause and turn toward my Buddha nature. It is a reminder that it is possible to cross that ‘distance’ to our true desire in the space of a breath, instantly.

Mine is on my left forearm, Jess’ is on her right. So if I don’t see the reminder on my own arm - I see it on hers.

It also feels like a second wedding band: together/separate, desired/found.