no padding

usually, you 
go back and forth 
between being 
all wrapped up in 
what you need to
deal with,
and then trying to 
stand back and 
not be 
wrapped up in it.

should you go by
your head?
or by your gut?

so-called worldly 
people get wrapped
up in fighting for
their things and chasing
dreams. 

so-called spiritual 
people get wrapped
up in not getting 
wrapped up in any 
of those things.

sometimes you
think you can
dismiss everything
you don’t agree with
and that makes you
enlightenment.

all it amounts to
is you can’t relate
to anything you
disagree with.

sometimes you try
to calm somebody
down with intelligent
talk,
all it does is
you end up getting
yelled at!

the practice of
acting
with no philosophical
padding
is extremely stark:

no wisdom quote
to back you up.

you experience 
fully how upsetting
it all is. 

you don’t get to
make it no big deal
and quote some teacher
who said that.

once you do that,
your no big deal
just becomes a
big deal because
you made it
such a no big deal!

nothing to soften
the harsh edges of your
pain.

you’re not acting
to convert anybody
to think some way
or other.

you act on things
because those things
need you to do
that.

you do that,
and somehow,
when you go to read 
the teachings,
they’re not just a 
bunch of words 
you keep trying to
go by
but they keep 
telling you different
things. 

there’s a feeling
that you’re
beginning to
read your own 
mind.