In A Very Nice Way

The world is vast and free,

Open blue skies without end,

Girls with tans,

Girls who love Buddhism,

And green tea in the afternoon.

Hung hung phe! La

Rock formations like meat of the earth,

Twisting, chunky, solid, OM.

The movement of trees in the breeze

In the garden at the stupa, and

Birds singing in the fresh, cool morning air. AH

Prostrations and prayers, sore knees and hips

And late nights drinking sake with young girls

So eager, so vicious, but in a very nice way,

And Linda on the phone. HUNG

This is it!

That was that!

Distant hilltops are in the heart,

And waves lapping on the shore are of the mind.

Streets full of grime and dust, beggars and filth

And steam rising out of grates,

OM MANI PADME HUNG.

I saw a woman on a bench today,

In deep anguish, and she smiled and greeted me,

But some lady with sickeningly-fake dyed red haired

Shunned me, and offered not a glance or a word.

Chenrezig, Tara, and Manjushri flew out my window

In Cochiti Pueblo, to help sentient beings la.

Dan, great bodhisattva that he is, tried to grab them,

But the wind was stronger, and I snapped “LET THEM GO!”

In a very nice way.

Don Juan had great siddhis, but Castaneda was a flop,

Turned out like Raschel,

 OM MANI PADME HUNG, or better yet,

OM BENZA MAHAKALA CHING CHETRA BIGANEN BINAYAKA HUNG HUNG PHE!

Stan is the master of Mahakala,

And another Stan knows the restaurant business,

But for God knows what reason, “I’m movin’ to Ukiah, Sean.”

Thanks to the glorious SHANGPA!

Basketball on the court in the backyard,

Unvisited for years, the orange, coarse ball

Not filled with air since 3^rd grade still bouncing,

Dan and I dunking, laughing, shooting, playing

Like stars or water bugs.

I cherish the weathered bookmark Aaron gave me,

With Lama Gendun’s vajra song. I cherish

My loving Jewish Mother, “she’s practically

A caricature,” and the brilliance of SFI.

Free will and quark-discoverers in tweed coats,

Encyclopedia of Prehistory and practicing my

“Hi Laura” in the car.

WATTS! Part three la!

I dreamt of Mexican ballerina-princesses,

Is it ok?
I’m a little “out there”, but so are you

With your obsession with the future
as something to be feared.

What is normal? I haven’t met Him.

It’s said that an enlightened being

will come to see that one thing is

As good as another.

A long thing

Is the long body of Buddha

And a short thing

Is the short body of Buddha.

The Italian and them were fun,

 And we even had a short practice,

And chanted OM LOKAH SAVATSAH SUKHINO BHAVANTU;

Dharma’s to be found in the funniest of places,

In the most unlikely of forms.

Amma is a great bodhisattva.

Remember that woman at the stupa,

And Fred singing la?

Where to next?

Chicago?

Brown?

Beloit?

One thing is as good as another.

Just different.

^ that’s how Dan put it.

Wise One.

Air is bliss.

Fire is bliss.

Dried pineapple is bliss.

Push-ups are bliss.

La la

Hung hung

Phe!

You’ll find me at the Home of the Blues,

But in a very nice way.