Doorway: Unexpected Turn

Tonight’s misery
Born of ongoing difficulties with sciatica
Led to agitation and walking meditation
In the hallways,

Starting from
The top of the building
And working my way down
To the first floor,

First, climbing to the penthouse
Crossing the thick dark carpeting,
Focusing on the feet
As they trod over it,

Then down the stairs
To the floor below,
And so on,
Until I got to one;

From there,
I checked my mailbox
And noticed the irritation
At the junk mail I had to sort,

At one point wanted to abort
But decided to follow through
And finish it off
Before taking the elevator back.

And then, having gotten going
Decided to dispose
Of the garbage overflowing
And found this too over-stimulating,

Resulting in a restless sitting
But reflecting on, Alan Watts, Buddhism: Religion of No Religion, Concluding that, everything we do is indispensable
But as nobody’s in charge, no one is responsible for any of it.
And with that, complete relaxation and relief ensued.

Door: Just Sitting

Pain atop my left foot
And incessant yawning,
Every meditation is different
And this one certainly unique;

Half way through
The songs began
To play in my head,
And a whistle arose:

Further evidence that
Nobody’s in charge around here;
These events just happen
And to no one,

There being no indication
Of there being someone
For whom or to whom
These occurrences took place,

No sense of separation
Or even a concept of it,
Until the thought came,
‘What’s wrong with not trying to meditate?

‘Why not just sit
And be for a while?’
The answer,
‘Nothing is wrong;’

And so,
The session continued,
Until the time elapsed
And then, ‘I’ arose and stretched,

Pausing to write
Of this experience,
Before moving on
To some other activities.

Done: End of Day Meditation

Burning and tingling pain
Aback the legs again,
Making meditation
A bit of a challenge at first,

Especially the stabs
On the left hand side
But not exclusively,
As behind the shoulders ached too,

Not to mention
The top of the feet
Where floor and foot meet,
When sitting Burmese style

But at the same time,
Straightening the spine
And easing down into position
Gradually reduced the discomfort.

Then just sitting,
In a relaxed state,
No hurry,
Leaving all worries behind,

Minutes ticking gaily by,
A break at the end of a long day,
A welcome change
And a chance to fully rest,

At ease,
With no one to please
Or be criticized by,
Being my own boss

And not cross,
Nor at a loss
About anything;
Ending with stretching.