A Crash Course In Enlightenment Poem by Matt Flumerfelt

Buddha stood up on the rostrum,
a man who overdosed on pork,
to give the lesser monks a sermon
and try to spark enlightenment.

Instead of lecturing on metaphysics,
he simply lifted up a flower,
which some there took to stand for truth,
but really, it was just a flower,
and that’s the truth.

I guess truth is when things
only stand for themselves.
Otherwise, everything becomes a symbol
for something else and pretty soon
nothing means anything.

I wonder if the Buddha,
the Awakened One, had held up
a crushed beer can or a piece
of the Berlin wall, would it have had
the same effect?

The mind likes symbols
and it’s all one anyway.
Maybe enlightenment is where
everything stands for everything,
and flowers are bullets,
and victory means peace.


The Greeks had wise men too.
Legend tells about Sciron,
a man who lived by the sea
and used to force passing travelers
to wash his feet. When they
bent over to comply,
he kicked them over the cliff,
where they were devoured by a huge turtle,
teaching enlightenment
by hurling people to their deaths.
The Chinese method wasn’t quite as strict.

One time, a seeker of the Way
came to a famous Zen master and asked,
“Venerable master, how can I become
a Buddha? ” The master shrugged and answered,
“You tell me.”