“It Don’t Pay to Eat Too Much on an Empty Stomach”

“It Don’t Pay to Eat Too Much on an Empty Stomach”

It don’t pay to eat too much 

On an empty stomach.

No, nor to slumber too long 

When you’ve been without sleep.

And how about the one that advises

Not drinking too much 

When you’ve been without water for a while

And you’re really thirsty?

Old wives’ tales?

Or good advice?

Hmmm.

With zen,

Where with most things 

Moderation is the gentle goal,

Less is more.

So it’s probably good advice.

By the way.

If it don’t pay to eat too much 

On an empty stomach,

Does it pay to think too much

With an empty mind?

“Evil Zen?”

See no evil,

Hear no evil,

Speak no evil.

Wonderful idea!

But wait a minute…

If that’s how you are,

With no evil to speak, see, or hear,

(And let us not forget our other senses,

For the touching and smelling and tasting of evil),

Then you must be dead.

Because evil, 

Which in this imperfect world

We call suffering,

Is all around us all the time,

And cannot be avoided

At any cost.

From the tiniest ant to the mighty elephant,

And every other living thing as well,

(Including and especially humans),

We all must suffer.

Thank goodness for zen!

A way to find a way

To begin to understand 

The true state of things,

And with this understanding

Make adjustments

To your thinking

In order to live 

A happier life.

Another wonderful idea!

After all,

Doesn’t Happiness

Destroy Evil?

Or at least make it wish

That it hadn’t gotten

Out of bed that morning?

So don’t worry about evil.

Who cares what it smells like?

Or anything else about it!

Get over it.

You’ve got bigger fish to fry.

Learn to unattach yourself 

From the things around you,

And then when you’ve learned that,

Unattach yourself 

From yourself.

Remember there is an unlimited 

Amount of zen in the universe!

Enough for the Happiness

Of everybody!

Take all you need.

“The Zen of Elvis”

“The Zen of Elvis”

You have to draw the line somewhere.

That’s a common saying where I come from.

Maybe you too.

I wonder if it’s true?

Many things 

Accepted as fact in this world,

Are not.

And believing does not always make it so.

(Although it certainly helps.)

Elvis Presley believed it.

You can do anything you want, he sang,

But baby,

Don’t step on my blue suede shoes.

Elvis drew the line

At stepping upon his shoes.

Or maybe at stepping upon

A particular pair of shoes.

I’m not sure.

Who cares?

My zen doesn’t give a crap about such things!

Sorry Elvis.

Yet my zen wouldn’t tread upon your shoes,

Or harm you in any way,

Or hinder you or otherwise impede your life,

(Or, in your case, your death)

Unless it was ultimately, cosmically, good for you.

Of that I am certain.

You or me or Elvis or anybody.

Our essences will travel through time

Unharmed by the vicissitudes that may befall,

Because they are immortal.

That’s a reassuring thought.

So go ahead!

Draw a few lines if you must.

If it makes you feel any better.

But please remember that ultimately

You are wasting your time.

Because sooner or later,

Things will change,

Giving the line you drew 

No meaning whatsoever.

Oh.

And Elvis,

If you’re reading this,

Say hi to everybody for me.

See you,

In the cosmic scheme of things, 

Very soon.

“My Zen Loves a Laugh, Part 2”

My zen’s got a great sense of humor.

It loves a laugh!

I’m glad of that,

Because after all, who enjoys 

Being around a sourpuss?

Yes, my zen loves a laugh.

Especially at my expense.

But I don’t mind,

I can afford it

Because, apart from a little humility,

It doesn’t cost me a thing.

My zen is laughing at me all the time.

Laughing at me to remind me

How senseless it is

In this crazy world

To take things too seriously!

Ha! Ha! Ha!

So go ahead!

Why don’t you 

And your zen

Join me and my zen

In a good belly-laugh?

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ha! Ha!

Yes! Let’s all laugh together!

To remind ourselves that 

Life is ridiculous! 

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ha! Ha!

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Have you ever noticed 

How contagious 

Laughter is?

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ha! Ha!

And how difficult 

It is to stop laughing,

Once you’ve begun?

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ha! Ha!

Oh boy! Woo! 

Ha Ha Ha!

Ha! Ha! Ha! 

Uh-oh.

I think I just peed myself.

“What is zen?”

What is zen?

Zen is the way to find a way.

It is the journey and the destination.

It is the empty cup’s emptiness.

It is the form of formlessness.

It is me.

And it is you.

But if you ask me again,

And I had to attempt an answer

That we could understand,

Then I would say

The essence of zen,

As I comprehend it, 

Is to firstly understand that

You and I are as perfect 

As the gods could make us,

But in spite of that perfection 

There will always be pain

And suffering in this world.

That is the way things are.

Thankfully, there is a way 

To reduce our worldly suffering,

And it is called zen.

With zen, we recognize

The interconnectedness of everything,

Past present future,

And realize that our actions 

Have karmic consequences.

What goes around comes around,

As they say,

So it pays therefore 

Not to be an asshole.

Then we remember

That everything 

Is changing all the time,

And nothing, good or bad, lasts forever.

Because if we accept the impermanence of everything, 

We can learn to unattach ourselves 

From the (merely temporary) things and ideas 

In the world around us,

Making them far less important, 

And with this un-attachment to unimportant things

Live a freer, happier life.

After all, 

Whoever said we didn’t

Deserve to be happy?

Not me.

Nor my zen.

For we must create our happiness,

Bringing it out from within.

It doesn’t just fall from the sky.

Remember,

Loving people live in a loving world.

Hostile people live in a hostile world. 

Same world.

There’s other stuff too,

In this essence of zen.

The cultivation of a loving heart.

Compassion for all creatures.

Respect for the planet.

Respect for yourself.

Devotion to others.

Oh, and maybe vegetarianism too.

(Although this last is not strictly obligatory

In my personal essence of zen.)

But there’s no point

In listing anything else.

That’s probably enough for now.

Let me know when you’ve mastered these.

And I’ll think of some more.