It’s Pounded into Our Heads since Kindergarten

It’s pounded into our heads since kindergarten
It gradually inflates the metallic balloon of the self

It feeds delusion 24/7
It renders invisible the needs of others

It's A.P. everything
It's resumé padding

It’s the guerrilla infiltration that brings ruin to families
It’s the acceleration lane to hell

It's a mantra chanted constantly
It's the journey and the the destination

It’s the rock in the wingtips that you forget is there
It's the 140 item To-Do List on the Smart Phone in the Coach purse

It's what makes apologies unimaginable
It’s the backbone of imperialism

It’s vice masquerading as virtue and honored hourly
It’s confirmation of the First Noble Truth

It should be included in the next edition of the DSM-5
It warrants a sustained, serious, systematic, and sophisticated de-tox program

It’s Ambition


In the notes to his translation and commentary on The Sutra of the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh lists ambition as one of the five worldly desires.