Home Is Where The Heart Is
By Darshana Ishaya
I didn't know why it was so difficult for people to be kind to one another or why we treated nature with such disregard. I also noticed friends and adults around me were often sad or struggling, and I desperately wanted to stop their suffering.
Even as a little girl, I felt there must be another way to live. I was hopeful it was possible to experience more peace and joy. And I longed to find out how.
The Heart Knows There Is More
And so, my quiet quest began. At 10 years old, I often used to jump out my bedroom window in the middle of the night, and lay on our garden table, gazing at the stars. Staring up at them, I asked many questions and I wished for the answers. In response, there was silence and stillness (and the occasional shooting star!). There was also immense awe and wonder.
In those moments, I could somehow sense a bigger picture, in this mysterious life, and I felt that all was not as bleak as it sometimes looked.
I never stopped secretly searching for that magic key to a more permanent experience of happiness and peace. As I reached my 20s and moved into my own home with a partner, I thought that at least I could create stability in my own little world. And so my home became my anchor.
However, my relationship ended, and I had to leave my home. My peace and happiness seemingly vanished. This pattern continued throughout my life - looking for contentment and placing it in a new home, only to have to leave, time and time again. It felt impossible to put any roots down, and I began to feel a bit of a nomad and rather lost.
Finding Peace
It wasn't until I learnt the Bright Path Ishayas' techniques, that I began to notice certain things. I started to understand how I'd attached my happiness to something external. I saw some of the judgements I had placed on others and the world. And I learnt something truly profound – that home, and my peace and happiness, weren't to be found somewhere on the outside – it wasn't in a physical building or a partner. Home was within.
"I found that my true home was Here"
Through the practice, I found that my true home was Here. It had always been right here, and that internal stillness was familiar. I discovered it was something I could be aware of at any time. I learnt that wherever I lived, or regardless of whether I was with someone or alone, I could simply turn my attention inward and realise I was home. Here, love and peace flourished. Home had never left me; I had simply moved my attention away from it.
To begin with, that inner silence appeared fleeting, but after some time of using the techniques, it became easier and easier to return to. All the searching through my objective experience began to fade, and my passion and curiosity to stay in this immense and eternal silence within me grew.
"It's become a celebration to live life"
It's become a celebration to live life from this space. I now get to explore with fascination an endless universe within and how everything arises from here.
All the magic, wonder, love, peace, joy, wisdom, and intuition flow out from this. To sense the freedom and unlimited nature of this moment. To recognise who I truly am, knowing I'm beyond the mind and the physical world. To come back to my divinity, is stability, an anchor, and my home. Always.
I started to understand that I could be at peace wherever I was, and whomever I was with. I found that any physical home or relationship was simply a beautiful addition, to be enjoyed when they occurred but not a necessity for my happiness.
Now my world is filled with love, gratitude, peace, magic, wonder and joy. I see that everyone is doing the best that they can. I see people being kind and doing good, in many places and in many ways, every single day.
The Ishayas' teaching gave me the greatest gift – to know that home, peace, love and joy is within, and it's available to all of us, at any time, in any and every moment.
I love that we can share that experience with those around us. To give real hope. To inspire others that there is a way to move through life with greater happiness and tranquillity. That home, really is, where the heart is.