"Home Symbol" formed from four hands             (Photo: netcam-watcher.com)

Home Is The Centre Searching for a photo to represent "Home is the center for families", I found 138,000,000 of them in Google Images by real estate agents. But the photo I chose was quite simple— no happy family posing on the lawn, no Tudor or Victorian house behind them, just four hands forming the shape of a house— sloping fingers tilted to make a rooftop, square-shaped fingers for walls and floor. Behind are clouds in the blue sky above and green grassy field below— how perfect! Here we have heaven & earth in harmony, yang & yin balanced, centered in the Tao. No wonder it's the place everyone returns for it's at home where we sleep and rest. Home is the place of comfort for its shape is made of letters Alpha (A) & Beth ()— Creator of the Soul and its container, bountiful bowl that houses the universe. At a Poetry Workshop in Asilomar, Robert Bly had the class enact out "The Judgment of Paris" with three women playing goddesses Venus, Athena, and Hera. We had to choose one after their speeches— Venus promised love to those joining her circle, Athena granted wisdom to those who came to her, Hera said she'd provide a home of peace and rest. A dozen students chose Venus for love, another ten went to Athena for wisdom, I and two others joined Hera for home, like Odysseus returning home to Ithaca. Home is where the heart is— at its center is OM— the mantra to summons the gods, for OM is Supreme Consciousness or Brahman the Creator God who gave everything their birth.             Peter Y. Chou             Mountain View, 11-25-2014