Mosquito Zen

A mosquito bite.

A harmless nuisance, from a guiltless, insignificant creature.

It demands your attention, yet the more you fixate on it, the more it bothers you.

What could be a better analog of the many small every-day problems we face in life?

Your reaction reflects your spiritual state:

• Blood rage: The mosquito bites you. You go crazy, hell-bent on revenge. When you find the bastard, you hit it so hard you hurt yourself and damage property. You leave the blood stain as a sign to other mosquitoes. You scratch the bite furiously until it bleeds.

• Helplessness: The mosquito bites you. You feel the divine injustice in the fact that mosquitoes exist at all, and that they bite you more than everyone else.

• Focused hatred: The mosquito bites you. You fill with hate, and channel it into a single focus - killing the mosquito. Whether you fail or succeed in this, your life in this moment belongs to her.

• Distraction: The mosquite bites you. You notice it, but keep watching your tiktoks or whatever. You forget the bite, and everything else.

• Test of fate: The mosquito bites you. You swat at it. If it escapes you, you let it live. If it doesn’t, you go wash your hands.

• Dog: The mosquito bites you. You bite the mosquito back.

• Change the world: The mosquito bites you. You buy mosquito nets, window screens, and enough repellant to choke an elephant, with same-day-delivery on Amazon.

• Change yourself: The mosquito bites you. You apply ointment, spray yourself with repellent, and eat a clove of garlic.

• Mind over matter: The mosquito bites you. You’re annoyed, but you try to be the bigger organism and not let it get to you.

• Gratitude: The mosquito bites you. You quickly remind yourself to be grateful to the mosquito for giving you a chance to practice your zen. You resist the urge to scratch and wait for it to pass.

• Zen: The mosquito bites you. You smile. You feel love for the mosquito, as it carries out its divine purpose in the river of life. You may scratch the itch, or not, it doesn’t matter.

• Ultra-Zen: The mosquito bites you. It attains consciousness. You chat over a cup of tea, and become friends.