photo by James Maher Photography
It was Central Park in fall
A Buddhist reunion
Forty years ago these former Hungry Hippie Stoners
Enticed by the promise of food
A little Japanese woman taught them to chant
“NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO”
Chant for money, for food, for weed, for a hot bath, for getting laid
I was there with their sensei, my man
My thief – My lying S O B
But I did not know it then, I was still in love
As I stepped into the park
Palms suddenly warm
Heat – Electrical impulses
I could feel the zzzzzap
I told the Buddhists about it
Let them feel it
“Weird,” they all said and that was all they said
A portent
Happening to me - not to these holy Buddhist chanters
Was I to spend my life as a Central Park denizen
Living in the Boathouse restroom or under one of those little tunnels you always see
When someone is about to be killed in a scary movie?
Would I become a Buddhist Monk?
Beg for coins in Central Park?
Teach New Age Hippie Stoners how to chant
In some freakish karmic game of Monopoly?
The zapping is still with me but
The Buddhist liar took my money and chanted away his karma
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Kat Hudson
Eljekar
Darla Carmichael
Poor Woman
Elizabeth Priddy
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Salon.com
Comments
Love it..Love
D
HUGGGGGGGGGGGGG
The format worked well
(nice line breaks and spacing -
reading had a hypnotic effect);
a story then about being taken in
by a priest; a sensei ( why not?);
but more, the zzzzzap!
Good one.
What is portending now?
My goal for this year is to chant every day-even if it's my head.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as a means to enable all people
to put their lives in harmony or rhythm with the law of life, or Dharma.
Nam…to devote oneself…
Myoho: the mystic law…myo…the essence of life!
Renge…lotus flower….The lotus flower grows and blooms
in a muddy pond, and yet remains pristine
and free from any defilement, symbolizing the emergence of Buddhahood
Kyo…sutra…
…………………………………………………….
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzap! Way cool.
Sorry it had to occur with a buncha dimwitted listless Buddhists
& a lying liar
thieving m-f-er of a sensei…
hard to believe even such maya-miasma-afflicted damn fools
(or …maybe just green raw innocents?)
didn’t recognize your spiritual beauty and proficiency…
Buddhism is a mixed bag for me. I prefer the Tao.
Maybe just cuz I like the legend of him leaving the kingdom after
a long career as librarian , to travel gosh knows where, teaching & reaching
goodness knows whom…
Cheaters should go to the place they came from and leave you alone.
Rated
R♥
Enjoyed, for the visuals and the zing.
~R~
You may have schlepped through the same neighborhood, as I remember these times as being forever woven with glowing expectation, then some 'zap' of energy -- or, its husk fallen -- before discovering this cavernous emptiness, one that would take one to dark places. I was real good at wending in and out of such places, only to be sucked into the inestimable vortex of anticipation's evil twin, wide eyed, hopeful belief.
You have captured here what some could not do as well in a novel -- believe me, I know. Would love to see this expanded upon. Those days were so much out of what my Improv exercises demanded: exploration, discovery and this most wry heightening , that allowed for one's creative self to take the moment somewhere true, passing this torch to another, who could keep the chain alive.
Sound, enticing -- groovy, baby ...
I love this new style!
Ong Namo. Guru Dev Namo.