Zesty Zen Monday

More offerings from 

Rusty's Zen Moments.

Wren Zen (pg. 44)

The gentle morning sunlight,

(For it gets pretty hot around here in the afternoons,

And is anything but gentle)

The gentle morning sunlight

Fell upon a female wren

As she perched upon a statue of Buddha

That resides in my garden.

How beautiful she is!

In her feathery mantle of rich camouflage.

From atop Buddha’s head she eyed the situation.

She has a sharp eye

To match her beak.

Spotting something of interest,

She flew away.

She had only paused a moment,

But there remained behind a wonderful residue of good zen.

I ask the same of you.

Not that you fly away.

Any fool knows that humans cannot fly unaided.

No, I ask that you pause for a moment,

And have a good look around

With a sharp eye

To see what’s what.

Because with zen,

One seeks enlightenment,

An understanding about things

That will make life bearable.

And you’ll never find enlightenment

Or anything else, 

With your eyes closed.

During the years they have lived in my garden,

This wren and her husband have reared many children together.

They work as a team and share the duties.

Building a home, finding sustenance, raising children.

Here in Florida with our light winters

They hatch a brood of up to three chicks,

Two or three times a year.

That’s a lot of wrens!

More than the red-tailed hawks, 

Who also like our Florida climate,

Can usually consume.

For they must feed their young ones too, yes?

Procreation!

Life and death!

Nature’s balance!

Zen at work.

With the passing of the years

I have watched this miracle

Many times.

Always with amazement.

It’s a Good Thing I’ve Got My Zen Along (pg.41)

What is the aim of life?

That’s a big question.

I don’t know exactly.

So it’s a good thing

I’ve got my zen along

To help me figure it out.

My Zen Loves a Laugh, Part 2 (pg. 60)

My zen’s got a great sense of humor.

It loves a laugh!

I’m glad of that,

Because 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 it doesn’t cost 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!

Have you ever noticed how contagious laughter is?

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Oh boy! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Uh oh.

I think I just peed myself.

Words (pg.59)

The following is a list of words 

My zen and I wish we could do without.

1. No

Zen and the ISS (pg. 57)

My zen and I got up early this morning

To see the International Space Station fly past.

It being in low Earth orbit,

(That’s 249 miles above the equator,

Which doesn’t sound like low anything to me) 

You can see it with the naked eye

While standing in the street 

In front of my home in Florida.

As I understand it,

Sunlight strikes its giant array of solar panels,

(Which is bigger than a football field),

And the reflected light from these panels, 

Light composed of both particles and waves,

Is shot out into space

And caught by our upturned eyes

As we stand upon the earth.

Then by a further miraculous procedure,

Which I haven’t the time to explain,

From our eyes to our brain.

Thus, we witness the ISS.

Aha!

But only If you know when,

And where, 

To look.

That’s the zen of it!

Knowing how to look for the miracles 

That are happening around us

All the time!

You ask me how 

I happen to know when and where to look

For this particular miracle that is passing overhead?

You wanna know what makes me so clever?

Easy.

I have a smartphone app.

At the touch of a screen on my handheld device 

I am shown where the ISS is at any time.

This app also predicts within the minute 

When the ISS will pass over my current location.

(My current location supplied by another miracle, satellite GPS.)

It even has an alarm, this app, 

So that I might remember 

To go outside and look into the sky 

(At the right time and place)

To witness this scientific miracle.

So my zen and I got up early this morning

To see the International Space Station fly past.

After consulting my smartphone app,

I stood in the street in front of my house 

And looked up.

And, while waiting for the ISS to appear,

I experienced a zen moment.

Into my mind 

Sprang this thought…

Uncounted eons of karma, 

Trillions of years of human DNA,

The entire flow of the endless universe,

Everyone and everything that had ever gone before

Had lead to this exact moment!

(As it does,

Let us not forget,

To every moment!)

I was aware and in the moment.

Big stuff! 

Pure zen.

Oneness with all.

Enlightenment.

Buzz went the alarm on my smartphone.

So I emptied my mind of these marvelous thoughts,

And looked up into the heavens

Where the app told me to.

The ISS appeared out of the Earth’s shadow at 5:37AM

And passed directly over my house.

Or seemed to.

It only took a couple of minutes 

To cross the central Florida firmament from horizon to horizon.

It looked exactly like a bright, steadily moving star.

A beautiful star traversing the long sky with abiding purpose

And, miracle of miracles,

Carrying human beings!

It’s been circling the earth since 1998.

Traveling at a maximum speed of about 17,000 MPH.

Completing approximately 15 1/2 orbits per day.

That’s 16 sunrises and sunsets every day!

How marvelous to think that humans 

Have continually inhabited the ISS  

For almost 17 years.

What magnificent intelligence this feat represents!

Almost unimaginable zen!

What more evidence do we require 

That human beings are descended from the gods?

The gods who fell to Earth

From the skies above.

So why worry?

We’re as perfect 

As the gods 

Could make us.

Don’t let being human 

Hold you back!

Accept yourself completely 

For the miracle that you are!

And then become…

Unattached to that.

Five Zen Monday

Fresh Zen

My zen is fresh today.

There’s nothing wrong with yesterday’s zen.

It’s still good.

But that was yesterday.

This is today.

Zen is like food.

You need it everyday.

Even if today you are sated,

And everything’s just ducky,

There is still tomorrow.

That’s the beauty of it!

One needs fresh zen everyday

To nourish you for life’s journey.

See you tomorrow.

The Zen of Crows

A murder of crows landed in the large oak tree 

That overhangs my home.

That’s what you call a gathering of these large black birds.

A murder.

Who thought up that name, I wonder?

It is very zen!

Anyway, from beneath the tree 

I watched and listened,

While I drank some tea.

The crows were very noisy and active.

I might even call it confused or chaotic.

They seemed to be without zen.

I put down my tea,

And I clapped my hands 

As I arose from my seat shouting.

“Where’s your zen?” I shouted.

The crows took flight

And circled overhead. 

Then as if by mutual consent

As one they flew away to the north

Making a beautiful pattern against the clear blue sky.

“Aha,” I said to myself.

“There’s the zen.”

Underwater Zen

I went swimming in the rain today.

Not something one usually does in Florida.

Usually when it rains in Florida,

It pours!

With plenty of lightning too.

Hence no swimming in the rain.

But today was different.

Maybe it’s global warming,

But today it rained with no lightning.

The pool looked inviting,

So in I went!

But before that I stripped down

And I stood in the rain

Getting wet.

Enjoying the experience.

Naked in the rain.

“You could stand to lose a few pounds,” said my zen.

“Really?” I answered.

Screw you 

I thought.

Then I jumped in.

Underwater in the pool

I could hear the rain pattering

Above me at the water’s surface.

As I held my breath

I could hear my blood in my ears,

Pounding through my veins.

But in my distraction with these noises

I couldn’t hear my zen.

When I came up for air,

As one must inevitably do,

I saw flashes in the sky.

Uh-oh.

“C’mon,” said my zen.

“You’d better get out of the pool.

There’s a storm coming.”

Then I heard the thunder.

“Thank you,” I said, taking the towel

My zen offered as I stepped from the pool.

The next lightning flash was brighter,

The thunder louder, closer.

“Sorry,” I added while drying off,

“About the screw you.”

Smart Zen

My zen doesn’t think.

It knows.

Creative Director Zen

“Hey!” I said to Trooper

During a recent video-shoot.

(Trooper is the Rusty Pliers Brand Creative Director.

He is responsible for every aspect of Rusty’s look

From book covers to business cards to posters

To web design to google pages to Rusty’s clothes and hairdo

And even what brand of gin 

Rusty passes out holding…)

He’s the real genius behind the patch.

“Hell!” as Rusty would say,

“Trooper thought up the blasted patch!”

Which is such perfect Rusty because 

It should be the truth but it’s a lie.

(I do need the patch.)

Only Rusty would’ve used more curse words.

It’s true about everything else. 

All I do is write the stuff, 

And show up to be

Videoed or photographed.

“In these videos you’re making lately

I’m always looking like an angry old drunk,”

I said to Trooper.

“I’m supposed to look

Like a wise zen master,

Ain’t I?” I asked.

“What are you doing wrong?” I wondered.

I glared at Trooper

While I sipped my third G&T of the morning

And guess what?

I experienced a zen moment.

Hmmm. 

I really was

The Angry,

Old, 

Drunk.

Trooper’s video 

Had shown me 

To myself.

Oh! How terrible  

Is Enlightenment

When it comes!

“Sorry man,” said Trooper.

“Let’s try a few more takes.”

Trooper is very patient with the talent, as he calls me.

I like that about him.

“Maybe we can catch the feeling you’re looking for,”

He suggested. “Before we lose the light.

If not I’ll try to fake it later in the studio.”

I like that about Trooper too.

“Okay! Let’s try another take!

“You ready, Rusty?

“Maybe you could put the drink down 

“And we’ll try one without it.”

“Anything you say, Trooper,” I answered.

At that moment 

I was very thankful

For Trooper and his strong zen.

His strong loving patient zen.

Just who the heck 

Is the zen master around here, anyway?

Me?

Or

Trooper?

“Remember Rusty,” he said bending down behind the video camera,

“Try not to curse too much.

Don’t look into the camera.

Keep it fresh!”

“And be …

In the moment.”

Aha, I thought!

That’s the zen of it!

Trooper, you magnificent bastard!

Thank you 

For showing me

Where my zen was.