Noble: Frugal Pursuit

Lamp fell, lampshade tore
Mended well with packing tape
It is unique now!

Nibbana: Everyone

I see suffering;
I see misery
But I also see
that it has an end!

And that
this
end
is...
glorious!

The Buddha reported
His methods supported
Seeing beyond
the imagination.

And this
is so.
But
How?

Because,
as for what
is beyond
the imagination...

It is
what is
of course!
And that I can see.

And that
everyone
can
see,

If they look carefully
with
a clear mind
and a still body.

Nibbana: adukkha

When I had stilled the body with the four Jhānas and the mind was thereby concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady and [imperturbable] (MN36), I directly knew: when the body, the mind and the self are set aside, nothing terrible happens.

Headway: Next

After many busy practice days
I concluded that my goal was just this:
The regular pursuit of
Non-sensual mind-calming bliss;

But then one day, fully overwhelmed by
Ferocious hatred and passion for vengeance,
I asked myself, 'What if
My desire was fulfilled forthwith?'

Imagining such brought forth
Intense non-sensual joy
That I then sought to increase
After dropping the original object of it;

Having thus, through right effort, purified this happiness
And similarly vanquishing all hindrances to it,
Even those that hadn't arisen yet!
I moved on to a yet greater task;

I asked myself, 'What if
with a single finger-snap I could ensure
For all time that
No such hindrances could ever arise?'

And right then there ceased
All discrimination along the lines of
'What I want, don't want or neither,'
which result felt like nothing I could describe here!

But also led to the cessation of
All action and will to action,
which I found not to be
A very helpful consequence;

'Then, perhaps,' thought I, 'tis not
Wanting, nor not wanting, nor neither that's at fault
But imbalance:  one-pointed obsession on any of these three,
And that what is needed is a wider view
That encompasses this trio and all else too!

Gauging: Practice Adjustments

I have learned
Through direct experience,
The pitfalls
Of certain practices

When practicing mental seclusion
From greed and distress
Towards the world,
One must be on guard

For even from within the ensuing steadiness,
Equanimity and apparent clearheadedness,
Into the mind that is new to this
Enters most profound deludedness

What at first appears to be happiness,
Enthusiasm and openhandedness
May turn out to be thirst
Towards worldly passions or worse!

And to this one needs bring mindfulness,
Investigation and analysis:
Determining what is really happening
And dispelling delusion with wisdom

Recalling to mind the consequences
Of following the wrong way:
That which leads to bad outcomes,
One well travelled, now to be abandoned

This constant rememberance appears essential,
To not forget that which is fundamental:
That succumbing to unhealthy desires
Is how this samsara wheel got started

It is crucial to not be fooled,
Not be taken in once again
The remedy being constant practice
With insight into delusion
As well as concentration resulting in seclusion

Gallant: Cultivating Seclusion

Cultivating seclusion
From
Greed and distress
Towards the world

This is the recurring theme,
The current scheme
Around which
I organized today's activities

How does one
Seclude the mind
From craving such delights
As a bowl of gourmet stew?

When filthy pesky pigeons
Rudely intrude, getting in the way,
How does one seclude the mind
From greed and distress?

(And these occurrences
Are mere perturbances,
Minor day-to-day irritations,
Not even major catastrophic cataclysms!)

It's impossible of course
But having accepted that as well,
One is free to carry on,
Benefiting now and in the long term

These actions requiring much effort,
Nevertheless provide much temporary relief
From the daily grief
Of plodding through this flawed world

And this work may herald
Further gains:
Freedom from imperfection;
The end of samsaric bane

Gains: Losing to Win

'Hmm, I thought,
These recent poems
Are not as good
As the previous lot'

'And yet
Everything is okay
Because nothing is okay;'
I laughed at this thought

And when I saw
The imperfection of this laughter,
I laughed even harder
And so on, and on

Perhaps my writing
Poetry days
Are numbered
But what of it?

This new "happiness"
(I shall call it that for now
For lack of a better word)
Might be worth it

A belly laugh every minute
Might well be
A good replacement
For the usual emotional basement

Who cares about scaling
Linguistic sky scrapers
When one is already
Breathing freedom's vapours

What use is scribbling all day
As compared to laughing at dismay,
Smiling at disarray,
Shrugging off distress
Knowing all is okay because nothing is!

Furthermore: Nonperfection and Beyond

When perfection
Is pursued
Your mind
You undelude

For you
Come to see
It's attainment
Is an impossibility

Therefore
You are not
Fooled
By mutton dressed up as lamb

You do not
Conclude
That too good to be true
Can be had

You don't
Fall for ads
That promise
Perfect abs

You do not envy
Those
Who win lotteries
Or own big homes

You know that
That way
Does not perfect
The wayward world

You cannot fix
This wonky wheel
The way to deal with Samsara
Is to abandon it!

Fundamentals: Imperfection to Nonperfection

Practicing perfection
I remain
Concentrated upon
Imperfection

And today
I am
Truly blessed
With myriad imperfections

Nausea
Fatigue
A migraine headache
Of considerable intensity

Gloomy weather
Damp and rainy
Slate grey sky
Clouds churning by

Pain in the shoulders
Pain in the head
So much to do
And I'd rather be in bed

This imperfection
So easy to find
It's a wonder
I did not see it before

It fills up
My awareness
Til I see
Nothing more

And then finally,
I smile
As I rest in nonperfection
For a while

Frontier: Pain Free

Last night
I had
An elaborate
Dream

From which
I awoke
Having
Pain

But realized at once
That in the dream
No pain was present
Not even a thought or idea of such

I realized
From this dream
That such was possible
At least in a dream

Yet cannot remember
When last (if ever)
I've had
Such an experience

But in this possibility
There was
A very positive feeling
That I do not want to forget

I was frankly amazed
that this was possible
Considering how much pain
I've been getting lately

This wonderful experience
Impressed my greatly
Although I have no idea
How this could be

Finding: September Afternoon

I had a heck of a day!
First off, some commotion at 1:24 a.m.
By some hallway buffoons, got me riled
So that, I had trouble settling down to sleep
then woke up exhausted, feeling bushed

What got me into this funk
Was my high speed Internet access
Having gone plunk (along with my laptop)
And although this happened quite a while ago
The consequences keep piling up

When I turn on the radio, wanting the weather
Just as often as not, I have to wade through
An enormous amount of blather
Or a stream of bad news about events
In which I have no part and cannot fix

And so, while I was lying around in bed
Thinking of this instead
What came to me twas
That once I'd had the phone number of the weather office
In my old datebooks

'But where did I stow these?' I wondered
And immediately, I arose to search
Having found one, I tried the number
And was amazed to discover
That it still worked!

To heck with
The Weather Network!
And forget the radio
All I have to do
Is phone this number

And now, having gotten up
After some more reflection
I determined to go out and get some more milk
As the previous day I'd noticed
It was on sale

And so, although
I still felt much exhausted
I set off
I even made it to another store
But the pharmacy was closed there

But on the cobblestones outside
I spied
Those pesky pigeons
Wandering about
From side-to-side

I singled one out
And followed it around
Making it so nervous
It kept spinning its head around
Eying its pursuer

Perhaps figuring out
Whether this
Signified a threat
Or
A Pending hand out

Then, all  in a muddle
It came across a puddle
And stopped to take a drink
Maybe in an attempt
To calm down

Eventually someone else
Came too close
And the pigeon took flight
And landed on a safer roost
Ruining my game

Nevertheless I watched it a while
As it began to clean up its feathers
Probably having forgotten
All about me
And considering other matters

Then I turned towards home
But wound up sitting on
A metal bench
Next to an artificial
(Built of concrete) waterfall

It was pleasant and peaceful there
And in the trees I saw many Monarch butterflies
Flapping about in the breeze
Reminding me of their annual migration southward
Flying home to a place they've never been before!

Then after
A time
A grey squirrel came trotting along
Likely a descendent
Of the original proprietor, or so I thought

Then looking down
I spied a tiny ant carrying an enormous burden
I watched it struggle until it successfully maneuvered
This great white something-or-other
Down its ant hole

Presently, a custodian came along
And told me
I had to leave
So that he
Could close the gate

Hence the end of my wandering
When I would be able to
Tear myself away from this lovely scene
And get on home to make supper, do my work out
Stow my purchases (not necessarily in that order)

 And so, the end of a perfect day
And, I think,
'Yes, I could do with,
Some more of this!
My first September off in decades!'

And as for tomorrow's mission folks
I think I need to get some stamps
And post a letter
And maybe shop more
Since I never did make it into the pharmacy door!

Fantastic: Recovery Mode

My mind is slowly clearing
After years of cluttering,
Of stress-filled days
And busy nights

This is the first September
That I remember
When I wasn't
Toiling away

I've long imagined
Such a time,
Looked for and wondered
When and what that would be like

And now here I am
Soaking up the scenery,
Observing and absorbing
With astonishment and pride

Experiencing that which
I worked as long for,
Resting in it
And Just plain resting!

Noticing my thoughts
That based on the slowed pace
Are so much more ordered
And obvious

Thinking unclogging,
Creative pores opening
Experimenting on improving
All my efforts

With all attention and energy available
To bring to this endeavour
and any others
That I may undertake

Fall To: Keep Moving

The Fibro-attack returns
And, oh, how my chest burns!
My shoulders ache,
Restlessness, despair and fear overtake

The changing winds
Catch me in their wake
And I am knocked over
By the pounding of the waves

I tried meditation, yoga, walking and resting,
Devotional practice and chanting
But finally, at wits end, switched to
Tylenol 3, obtaining some relief

Still, when I tried to read
The tears surfaced,
From somewhere, unbidden,
As if the story touched a nerve

Not entirely sure
What that's all about
But then found help
In direct pointing to neither here nor not

In this place I found temporary respite
But had to get up and do some work,
which broke the spell somewhat
Nevertheless leading to some new insights

Impermanence makes
All good things precious;
In the flow
We watch and slip away,

Enjoying
The fleeting contact
All the more
And waving goodbye

Fairyland: First Day Off

What a change! So strange!
But twas a beautiful day, sunny and hot
And towards late afternoon,
I had a peak out

On the balcony,
All was quiet
And so, I decided
To drink my tea out there

But first I had to
Cover the plastic chair
With clean cloth,
As it was dirty on top from lack of use

And then,
I pulled out
The tiny round table,
Painted an ugly shade of pink,

No wonder it was thrown out
By somebody or other,
Because aside from that
It was badly stained,

But to me it mattered not,
As after washing it off
It was perfect for the spot
Right next to my similarly found chair;

And so, after steeping the tea
In a big green mug,
I placed it on the table,
Sat happily sipping it up and appreciating the view.

It then occurred to me I could even read;
I grabbed an old novel, The Mists of Avalon, would you believe?
And read and read, already well absorbed on the tranquil eve
Of my first real day off, in many a long year!

Eyewitness: Involvement

Out of touch,
As, so busy, busy,
Flitting about
And getting lost
In so much

But still
Getting by,
Getting jobs done
And having fun,

Tripping over
Technological glitches
But finding temporary fixes,
Even though it’s so annoying,

Injecting humour
At every turnover,
Sharing mirth
And establishing worth,

Running around
From store to bank,
From bank to store,
From store to phone and out again,

Losing the plot
But accomplishing a lot
Of related tasks
In spite of delays and obstacles,

Learning fast
From mistakes
And missteps
And making progress,

Then impatiently waiting
But turning towards the impatience
And enjoying the process
Of observation.

Eyeful: Fully Energized

Fully energized.
Could it be
Because it was
My last day on, for a while?

Or is it spring?
Or is it
Just some unexplained
Accidental exuberance?

But either way,
It’s purely physical
And so, not much
Is happening here.

All is quite mundane,
No cause for alarm,
No grievous harm
But only charm;

The charisma lava
Flows on,
From some unknown
Or hidden source;

Here for a time
And evaporating again,
Falling as rain
And laughing down the drain;

And it seems as if
There’s less pain
But no loss, no gain
In any other frame;

I’ll just keep going then,
As long as I can
Until it’s time
To move on.

Eye: Turn Towards

Here I am again,
Pounding away
At this crummy keyboard,
I’d like a better one, one day,

All day long,
I listened to the radio,
More on the world
But little good news;

I searched my brain,
For something positive
In what I heard
But little occurred to me;

Turning attention
To my reaction,
Noticing the feelings
And the attraction;

Pulled by the energy,
Which feels good by itself,
Never ceases to amaze me,
What a difference that makes.

It’s such an uncomplicated practice
To which I keep returning,
Whenever I get lost,
It comes to my rescue.

If only the world’s problems
Could all be solved
By such a straightforward technique,
In which we all got involved.

What would that be like?
I’d sure like to see,
If we all practiced together
In this simple way.

Extricated: On the Way Home

Busy day:
Shooing pigeons
Off the balcony,
With the old, red-handled string mop,

Now, making breakfast
And out to the market
And back again,
To put the groceries away;

On and off
The phone
And then,
Made a list for the pharmacy,

Off I go again,
Enjoying the mild weather,
A pleasant spring day;
Don’t get many as comfortable as this!

Walking about with ease,
Watching the grass green
And new shoots
Of vegetation gleam;

Everybody’s energetic,
The sky shouts, “come and get it!”
This beautiful blue
And the sun shining too!

But instead I get stuck
In the store,
As I cannot locate two items
And only find one after a long while

And then the store
Has some peculiar accounting,
Which takes time to figure out before,
I’m finally out the door and heading home.

Extracting: Drinking the Moment

Returning to the present:
Restlessness,
Sloth and torpor,
Concentration,

Feeling the energy,
Hearing, seeing,
Observing the happenings,
Being with the breathing,

Thoughts come and go,
Passing like clouds
Through an endless sky
And disappearing over the horizon,

Sensations of heat and cold,
Grow and change
And merge
Into one another,

Close examination of pain
Reveals vibration
And a rainbow of colours
In the mind’s eye,

Fascinated by the show,
And so,
Forgetting about
The discomfort,

Sitting, as on a throne,
At the top
Of the world,
Looking outwards,

Spaciousness,
Melting into
The clear blue
Of the afternoon sky.

Extend: Backing Up

Little fish, little fish
Pretending to swim
Like this,
Underneath
My paternal Grandmother’s chair,

Little fish, little fish,
Sometimes I wish
I could go back to
That imaginary aquarium,

For those were happy times:
She looking out for me
And me loving her for it.

She watching me at play
And enjoying it too,
Playing along with my games
And loving it and little me.

But ‘tis so long ago,
I barely recognize
That little one,
Where did that all go?

Is that little one still there,
Underneath that chair,
Peering out from underneath
At Grandma’s loving smile?

Is Grandma still there,
Looking down from the chair
At the little child
Looking up lovingly,

Playing eternally,
Joyfully participating
In infinity’s unfolding,
Marveling at everything,
Never minding anything?