“HUMANIST HITCHES ETCETERA”

i. On The Greater Discourse on Simile of the Heartwood Sutta

The dharma is:

1. visible to us

right here & now

2. immediate

3. onward leaning

4. inviting to come

take a look at just

the way things are

5. experienced by

the wise (promotion

piece – or peace?)

The tree of life from

outside to inside is:

1. leaves & twigs

-- even squirrels

know, Don’t go too

far out on a limb.

2. outer bark

3. inner bark

4. sapwood – 1mm

of flowing xylem +

phloem we studied

in grade school

5. heartwood essence

Monastic steps for

journey to the core:

1. go forth ordained

2. be accomplished

in virtue

3. be accomplished

in concentration

4. attain vision &

knowledge –insight

5. ongoing freedom

Robed & shorn,

sadhu gets forth

with biksa bowl

among temptations:

1. addicted to

honor/fame/gain,

this is enough so

you stop practice

then still suffer?

2. infatuated

giving up killing,

stealing, sexual

misconduct,

lying, etc. –

too content --

more suffering.

3. complacent

with tranquility

of concentration,

continue to suffer.

4. glimpse reality

of impermanence,

settle for this state,

praise self while

disparaging others,

neglect Buddha

5. unshakeable

liberation of the

heart is attained:

the heartwood is

a part of us sings

like birds chirping

in our Bodhi tree.

ii. On The Vasettha Sutta

Two Brahmins brought the Blessed One a dispute.

One argued, We were born pure into this caste.

The second claimed, Class is by virtue of actions.

Buddha, who often stayed silent, untouchable,

above such fray, discoursed in no uncertain terms:

Grasses or trees are distinct from birth, not man.

Still twenty-five hundred years later, past European

colonial rape and pillage of people with different

skin color, humans continue to subjugate each another.

And in our New World, into the 1990s -- believe

or not -- the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulated

tobacco to favor white growers over black brothers.

Those who hurt tend to hurt others, the healed heal.

Whoever serve others are servants, thusly be proud.

Instead of fight and flight, choose approach and soothe.

Non-clinging sadhu tendencies to withdraw from a fragile

planet beckon a Silicon Valley straightforward mortalist, but

I reckon for me it’s not enough to rage in enlightened retirement.

iii. Reincarnation

Last Chicago exit, 

subway to 

Kerala pristine backwater,

houseboat hammock 

sway nausea, 

leaving my body’s bloated envelope 

for the moon’s panopticon,

I look down 

on what was another life.

iv. Cosmopolitan Sponge

I am a quirky scrounger osmosing the universe,

who bi-valvular, effortlessly exudes

plus soaks up while diffusing down

a concentration gradient through

semi-permeable calcium-channel membranes.

When life is sucked out of me,

homeostasis causes moi to turn flaccid

and shrivel but being hyper-toned --

turgid, hard, swollen-- is no ideal solution

either since perhaps I’ll just explode chaotically.

Though easier said than done, non-self’s

the simplest multi-cellular organism: a spongy

bottom-dwelling hermaphrodite not needing

to attach to something solid yet still hoping

to receive enough radiated energy to grow.

nobody

[Ok’ll settle for this

level imperfection--no

laps, backpacking even

glamping

fantasies] b4 Noble

Truths dharma talk,

lately don’t catch

jokes

just preceding

our sangha’s

laughs which I

miss

finally intent

figuring if it’s

hearing or

sense

of humor that’s

been lost –walk

over to attempt

maybe

misplaced assist

device happens

to make a big

difference.

Photo provided by Gerard Sarnat

Gerard Sarnat MD’s won San Francisco Poetry’s Contest, Poetry in Arts First Place Award/Dorfman Prizes. Nominated for Pushcarts/Best of Net Awards, Gerry’s published in Hong Kong Review, Tokyo Journal, Buddhist Review, Gargoyle, Main Street Rag, New Delta Review, Arkansas Review, Hamilton-Stone Review, New Haven Institute, Texas Review, Vonnegut Journal, Brooklyn Review, SF Magazine, LA Review, NY Times plus by Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Penn, Chicago, Columbia presses. He’s authored collections Homeless Chronicles, Disputes, 17s, and Melting Ice King. As a Stanford professor and healthcare CEO, Gerard has built and staffed clinics for the marginalized while devoting energy and resources toward climate justice on Climate Action-Now’s board. He has been married since 1969 and has nine grandkids.

Keep up with Gerard Sarnat here:

gerardsarnat.com