10,000-YEAR TRAVELER,
isn’t it time to have a rest,
to put your feet up at the inn,
settle by the fire,
have a welcome pint?
Don’t you know your destination
is reached only
when you realize
there never was a destination,
and your pilgrimage finds its end
only when you understand
the sacred shrine is not
waiting further down the road?
Stand under the walls
of your own citadel,
watch them fall around you.
See where you’ve been
all along.
Then you’ll know
that every step of your way
was already the home
you always longed to reach.
Message from Henry is from our June 27 Newsletter. Henry read this poem at our 2022 Summer Sesshin.