iceZen
neZ Zen
Lying in hot bath eyes closed
sweat running down face
silently chanting
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
in my heart head
the chant bought in San Francisco
in 1966 for six dollars
that being 48 years ago
makes it twelve and a half cents per year
so far
which is a reasonable return on spiritual investment
especially since it was a set-up
me thinking the two attractive Asian girls
inviting me to the suburbs
were into romance
but arrived at a Buddhist temple instead.
It wasn’t Zen but like John Lennon said
I don’t believe in Buddha or Christ
or Marx unless it’s Groucho
so I chant half to myself
half to the Conscious Cosmos
and half to whatever’s in-between.
They say chant sez
Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra or
Glory to the Sutra of the Lotus of the Supreme Law
I didn’t know that then
and don’t know much now
but agree with go and flow.
In Sanskrit
Nam ~ devotion to
Myo ~ to open, strange, mystery, miracle, revive, life
Ho ~ law, principle, doctrine, death
Myoho ~ supreme law of Buddha
Ren ~ lotus
Ge ~ flower
Kyo ~ sutra, teaching.
For me it’s more a multi-levular way
of saying thanks to the Cosmos for the fun of my life
or soothing reminder to calm down let anger go
and buffer the boredom down here in the food chain.
Chant’s 761 years old
I’ve had it 48 so far
six percent of its life
seventy percent of mine
as I truck along
in spite what those along the way
thought of my chances
in this left foot right foot eyes down mouth closed world.
All harmony to the Dharma.
– Smith, 3.5.2014
tireZen
StephenKingZen