My Kind Of Fasting

Ordinarily, when we think of fasting,
we think of going without eating
for a length of time,
but my kind of fasting
is a little different,
as it is the practice
of sitting in a chair,
consuming nothing,
for a length of time,
and that includes
television, radio, internet,
food, drink, smoking, or anything else
which one might consume,
so I do it
for a little while,
sometimes only about five minutes,
or a half of an hour,
or an hour or so,
and I get
a bit drowsy
when I do it,
but after awhile,
I wake up and feel better,
so it's a good cure
for the detrimental effects
of alcohol, food, or any other
sort of problem
that you might have,
so I heartily recommend it.

My Beliefs

I'm a Zen Buddhist,
but I don't necessarily believe
in the Zen Buddhist teaching,
so I believe
in a no death,
but only life
kind of permanence,
that changes
by metamorphosis,
and I believe
that there is a time
for everything,
not just the moral,
good and right,
and I believe
in an authentic self
along with other authentic selves
all living in the one
Great Universe,
and I believe
in sleep,
not just awakeness,
and I believe
in me, my and mine,
just because
society sees it that way,
and I even believe
that bad habits
are not necessarily bad.

Nobody Can Accept How It Is

Nobody can accept
how things are.
That's the problem.
Nobody can accept
how they, themselves are.
That's the problem.
Nobody can accept
the state of the world.
That's the problem.
Nobody can accept
life as it is.
That's the problem.
It's because
of the pain.
The pain is because
we can't be satisfied.
The pain is hunger.
We are all leaning out
and reaching out
for some kind of change.
If the change happens,
we will be leaning out
for some other change.
We constantly want change,
but when it happens,
we don't like it.
We can't accept
things as they are.
I'm trying,
but can't always do it.
I recommend
love and acceptance,
but what do I know?

The Playboy Story

Before puberty,
when I was a little kid,
my father
brought home
a Playboy magazine,
and set it down
on the counter
in the kitchen,
so I saw it,
and my eyes lit up,
so I snuck it out
and took it into the bathroom,
where I locked
the door,
then I began
to look at the pictures
of topless ladies
who got me
as turned on
as could be expected,
when all of a sudden
there was a loud knock
on the door,
and my father shouted,
"I know what you're doing in there...
come out of there, immediately!"
so I opened the door,
and sheepishly handed him
his Playboy,
and, crushed,
joined the family
for dinner.

Zen And The Art Of Thinking

So, Zen has this emphasis
on not thinking,
but Buddha himself said
that nothing will help you more
than thinking,
once mastered,
so, I believe in thinking,
and even about the past
and the future,
because you can work out
your problems with them
and delight in the good stuff,
so, thinking gives you
the most entertaining ideas
and the most inspiring thoughts
that can lead you
to wonderful things,
and these thoughts
are not necessarily true,
they are just
usually good,
for someone
who knows how
to think,
so, I have taken up
thinking practice,
contemplation,
as a Zen practice,
and I think
it's a good idea.

My Muse

My muse tells me
to do something in art
that is simple,
authentic,
quick,
spontaneous,
and easy,
but that is not
the trend in art
currently,
as I see it,
the trend seems to be
to do something in art
that is difficult,
complex,
perfect,
and that takes
a lot of work,
so you see,
I am sort of
out of luck
when it comes
to success
in the art world,
because my way
is not looked upon
as the way to go
for the artist,
but,
as all of us artists know,
we can't go against
our muses.

Back to Zen Again

So, I quit Zen,
for about fifteen hours,
because I got
so mad at it,
but it's an addictive thing,
like religion can be,
so I had
to make some changes
to my practice,
because meditation
stuffs up
my already too stuffed up
head,
and causes it
to get angry,
so now
I am chanting
my mantra,
out loud,
for practice,
and I'm not sitting on my mat and cushion,
I'm standing
or sitting in a chair,
so it seems
to work better,
and even though
I get pissed off
about Zen,
I just can't quit!

By Turning, Turning It Comes Out Wrong

So, tonight
I did a complete turn
on my usual
Zen ideas
of loving all life
and mind is Buddha
and instead
I got honest
and realized
that I don't particularly
like life
and I don't particularly
like the mind,
so I also realized
that I can't stand religion
and this phony teaching
that they tell you,
and so I feel better,
but I'm not supposed to,
because love is supposed to be
the answer,
but maybe it's not,
maybe a little healthy dislike
and a little bah humbug
is what I need,
so I don't know
if I'll keep up
my religion,
because right now
I feel like flushing it
down the toilet.

Daily Practice

When I was young
and learning to play
the piano,
my teacher
suggested
that I practice
every day
for an hour,
but I found
that I couldn't
really do that,
but now
that I am older,
I have found
the wisdom
in daily practice,
and that is to do
just a little bit
every day,
so I do
my Zen practices
every day
for a little while,
and I do
my Art practices
and my Exercise practices
a little bit
every day,
and that
is what turns
a beginner
into a artist
or even a master.