Hindu Mysticism: Rahil
Eye of Delusion
Good sir—you claim there is no “I”.
Your Buddha says it’s just a sham;
that all is one, and that is why
we ought to merge,
repress the urge
and give a damn.
You say desire upholds the ego
(selfish bully, source of sin)
but void of self-hood where can we go?
Scale the mountains,
flow in fountains,
gaze within?
OK; let’s cultivate the glow.
We’ll sit and let Samsara roll.
(Be careful lest your aura show!)
Then still the spin
and glimpse within
the Oversoul . . .
I find a catch in this your theory.
True, it sounds quite mystical . . .
in practice, though, it makes me leery.
Cynical jeers
give way to fears
logistical:
without an “I”, who pays my rent?
Why learn, why sing, why plant or reap?
Why should the criminal repent
if there’s no he
who wronged the me
with no harm meant?
image: Tales of the Buddha Before He Got Enlightened
Writer: Alan Grant
Artist: Jon Haward
Colorist and Letterer: Jamie Grant
Beatnik Disembarks from Bardo Plane

Once I hoped to write like Ginsberg—
but Allen Ginsberg went to hell.
His bolder Buddhist poetry glitters,
then opens like an empty shell.
In vain one searches for the pearl
within the lyric art he showed us.
Open wide his rotten oyster –
seek the center of the lotus.
Perverted lost Semitic soul,
lyrical ranter, mind unhinged…
He celebrated sin and shame
while crew-cut culture cringed.
His beatnik aircraft took off fast,
flew into bardos of the damned
promising enlightenment—
but the cockpit was unmanned.
