The New Mental Illness

I've got a case
of the new mental illness
which is cyber paranoia
and hacker phobia
and these diseases
are caused by this mystery
of the computer technology
that keeps shit covered up
in some kind of secrecy
and it is the problem
for the twenty first century
schizoid men and women
who find that they can't do without
this virtual world
and we don't know
who it is
who is watching
whether it is
the government
making a case against us
or the police
who are suspicious of us
or criminals
who are trying to rip us off
or terrorists
who are trying to kill everybody
or some kid

or even the poetry police.

To Love Or Hate Life

Lately,
I have been practicing
an interesting psychological exercise
wherein I say to myself,
"Even though life
sometimes seems
unlovable,
love it!",
so in the old days
of my life,
I thought
that life was boring
and then it would get worse
and then the shit
would really come down
and it would become
unlivable,
so I sort of
hated life,
and it wasn't until
I got to the Zen temple
and worked on myself
that life got better
and I began to love
all life,
and I found
that if you love all life,

it loves you.

Click Here, Then Click Below For Music - Riz Light

Riz Light

Zen And Healing

Buddha reminds us
that we will experience
sickness in this life
and that we will
die in this life,
so my thoughts
about Zen and healing
are that Zen won't heal
anything
and won't prevent us
from dying,
so since I have mental illness,
it won't be cured
by any amount of Zen,
what I will get
is the life
of a mentally ill Zen Buddhist,
but as I also know
or seem to know
is that Zen will help,

it just doesn't really save.

Click Here, Then Click Below For Music - Built Not

Built Not

Not Doing

Zen has been teaching
to just do it
for awhile now,
but it used to teach
not doing,
so today
I was nearly forced
by the mind
to do nothing
for quite awhile,
and not doing
is just what it is,
like just sitting around
doing nothing,
and so meanwhile
the mind
has in it,
somewhere,
this unheard, but loud voice
which says,
"Get up off your lazy ass
and get to work!",
so a kind of restlessness
sets in,
where I am resting

but I'm not.

Zen Takes A Long Time

After I had gotten
a little ways into
my Zen training,
a woman
in the Sangha
told me
that Zen takes
a long time
to get,
but I had read
before that
about how
you get Zen
immediately,
and that you
are a perfect Zen practitioner
right away,
so I found out
after many years
that both are right,
the beginner gets Zen immediately

but it takes a million years.