Haiku 2023–331

I see you, Mara

all dressed up in a class A

case of the Mondays

— —

The key to understanding this haiku for most Westerners is that Mara is roughly the Buddhist equivalent of the devil. Mara visits the Buddha often in Buddhist scriptures. How does the Buddha deal with Mara? By doing the kindest thing he could do — acknowledging Mara’s existence which renders Mara powerless over him.

I’ve been on vacation for the last week and the time off has been glorious except for one little thing — the looming specter of the first day back to work. Today has been living rent-free in my head now for six days. I’ve yet to learn the lesson that Monday should be dealt with when Monday comes and that I should be fully-present with whatever a vacation day has to offer.

I’m sure Monday won’t completely fade away no matter what I do, but like all things, it too will fade away and bring something exciting and new with just a small amount of attention to the moment while it’s here.