Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Satori



"Satori is a Japanese Buddhist term for "enlightenment." The word literally means "understanding." "Satori" translates as a flash of sudden awareness, or individual enlightenment, and while satori is from the Zen Buddhist tradition, enlightenment can be simultaneously considered "the first step" or embarkation toward nirvana."

My lovely resident manager was visiting my box last night after I returned from the Creative Writing Class at the Abby Hotel. She wanted me to look up the addresses of some friends of hers at whitepages.com. I was happy to do this for her and it didn't take long to find the information she wanted, however she did notice the state of the linoleum tiles on my floor, and told me they needed to be cleaned.
That's what happens when you let resident managers into your box.
So I was working away like a little devil this morning when I heard what sounded like the maintenance people working away nearby in Joe's old room. I didn't know what they were doing in there and didn't care. But very soon someone was knocking at my door. I opened up to find a small Hispanic maintenance person there who told me he had a work order to strip and wax my floor.
Now stripping and waxing a floor requires a certain amount of preparation... like removing everything that happens to be sitting on said floor. It even requires more prep work than I endured during my recent painting hell I had to go through. I was clearly not ready.
I went downstairs and made arrangements to have this procedure done, that Tianna insists upon, next Monday, and now I get to look forward to moving all of the mountains of books and other crap I own out into the hall again and waste a full day moving it back in.
I ventured into my lovely case manager's office to report this outrageous state of affairs to my lovely case manager, Erin, but she totally ignored me, continuing in conversation with Paul as if I wasn't there.
I need attention damn it!
She did want to hear my poems though. The haiku poems that I came up with at the Creative Writing Class yesterday. I just happened to have them with me, and Paul closed the office door so I could recite them to Erin.
After Yoga Class yesterday I was the only one to show up for the Drama Free Support Group, and Paul and Erin shanghaied me to our local Starbucks and treated me and themselves to chai tea lattes, and asked questions from their little book of questions, such as: If you knew your were going to die in a few days would you have any regrets; and if you were given five more years of life would you be able to resolve those regrets?
Paul said that he would continue to go to school to get his masters degree. What a trooper. Erin said she would regret not having a family and being a parental unit. I said I would regret not having written the third book in the "Diary," trilogy.
Those issues resolved Paul dropped off Erin back at the office and drove us to the Abby for our writing class.
We used the conference room in the case manager's suite of offices (very fancy over at the Abby) for the class. There was an intern in there waiting, I've forgotten her name, and soon two other interns showed up as well whose names I can't remember either. I do recall that one was a young man, and the other was a young woman, all students. Then Rachel showed up, the same Rachel from the Carver affair, and soon Demitri arrived as well.
I was the only resident, in a class designed for residents! And I didn't even live in that hotel.
I told them that I attend these classes to support my case managers, which is true. If I don't show up then my case managers will have nothing to do except paperwork and become despondent, and there's nothing worse than a despondent case manager. For example, if I hadn't showed up for the Drama Free Support Group, Paul and Erin would have had no excuse to go to Starbucks, which would have desponded them.
Anyway, we did the same thing we did at the last writing class, and Paul emptied out an envelope with millions of little pieces of paper with different words printed on them, and we all were directed to use these pieces of paper to create poems.
Rachel, I think came up with the most popular, which I will write here in its entirety:

A thousand children stood with an answer to war... love

Teach a fish to dance

Give the green griddle to the group of governors with garnished glasses

I cried because of him

That you can become a part of me

Serene photographs ease the need to be feisty

Unique morning of truth

Between peace and power you find your story

We believe in the Gerbil!

That last line is my favorite. Erin said she would have changed that to "We believe in the pika!" We admonished Paul for not having the foresight to include "Pika" on his little pieces of paper.
I once again wrote haiku poems. Now the traditional haiku poem consists of three lines of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 again, when written in English. I chose to use a more strict form of 3, 5, 3, syllables which I believe upon reciting can cause satori, or instant enlightenment. Paul states that that happened to him yesterday as I recited my poems to the writing class, and now he has been enlightened and is now invested in true peace, wisdom beyond measure, and eternal happiness.
This did not occur when I recited them to Erin (this is no doubt due to her cluterred mind). As a matter of fact she seemed rather confused, and is thereby destined to require years of intense meditation to reach the blissful state that Paul now enjoys. But as a service to you dear readers, I will now list my haiku poems for you in the hopes that they will ease your daily burdens and provide an instant door to everlasting peace.

Island bird
Harry Potter much?
Follow through

Great lantern
Time against mountain
Used round wind

Turn with a
Connecticut fit
Even then

Enormous
Anonymous head
Icy moon

Cuddle king
Hundred balloon fish
Minute place

Island mud
Next dance alphabet
Sad princes

and

Though simple
First full dull autumn
Yesterday

Nirvana anyone?

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