Past Perfect Senses

"Too many things held precious,
too many things held dear;
that's what I hate,
that's what I fear."

- Lisa Loeb, It's Over

Buddhism teaches us that one way to nirvana is by passing through the Strip (-youself-of-emotion), as is enjoined by this verse:

Don't ever -- regardless --
be conjoined with what's dear
or undear.
It's painful
not to see what's dear
or to see what's not.

So don't make anything dear,
for it's dreadful to be far
from what's dear.
No bonds are found
for those for whom
there's neither dear
nor undear.

Yet maybe, maybe, as an alternative, you can simply feel equal amounts of love and hate for something, someone, and have one cancel the other out. Offsetting of your emotions = you in a state of Zen. Thus:

1) Of work --- Love: the finding of ways, the experiencing of people, the writing. Hate: the seeming inherent impossibility of it all.

2) Of rainy days --- Love: the chance to wear a raincoat. Hate: the muddy shoes (for this reason I shan't mind the paving of paradise to better the parking lot).

3) Of sidings --- Love: the corn. Hate: the carrots.

And so forth. Actually, my hates may not really be hates at all but are more like dislikes or merely annoyances. I don't think I do hate much, actually (except for the givens, like crime and cruelty and albums full of remakes). This one was lost from the first.

And so. I need to finish the Dhammapada if I am ever to be Zen. But for now, I shall let myself indulge, because life, as it is,