Although there is no place that is your home, there is also no place that is not your home. If somebody says to you, "Go home, " remember that you are already and always at home. For this reason, whether you live in a place for one hour or an entire lifetime, you should treat the place with respect, and keep it neat and clean. Practitioners who live solitary lives in the mountains treat every place as their home. The world would be a much better place if everyone had this attitude.

The Chinese character for home is a pictograph of a roof with a pig underneath. In other words, home is a place that you do not have to leave in order to get food. But owning a home presents problems. Someone must take care of it. In ancient China, it was the man who earned the family income, so he needed someone to stay at home and help raise the pig. For this reason, the Chinese character for "security" is a pictograph of a roof with a woman underneath. A householder feels safe and secure only when he has a house, a spouse, and food. Where is your home? Are you secure?

Most people feel secure only when they are in their own home, but a true practitioner has innumerable homes. Wherever he rests becomes his home, because he feels safe and secure no matter where he is. Wherever he goes, he is in full control; he never worries about where he will bathe, rest, or eat. In the mountains there is plenty of food ─ berries, leaves, roots and nuts; and since food is everywhere, one need not worry about growing it or guarding it. You are not in your own home, but neither are you alone in the mountains. This meditation center is comfortable. You have a roof over your heads, hot showers, and all the food you want; so, for these seven days, you should treat it as if it were your home.