As soon as men began to form hierarchical groups, nonsense became ritualized. Organizations, societies, civilizations, cultures, tribes or other groups of human beings require that members either consent to specific nonsense, or remain ignorant of the nonsense.

Nonsense comes in all forms. Politics brings nonsense. Religion brings nonsense. Economics brings nonsense. Science brings nonsense. Medicine is almost wholly nonsense.

There are several ways to live in a nonsensical world. As I said, one can accept the nonsense as necessary or remain ignorant of it. But one can also profit from it or spend one’s life pointing it out. It is virtually impossible, however, to avoid it.

Our minds are full of nonsense. Most of our knowledge is nonsense. Our ideas of ourselves, what we stand for, where we come from or where we are going, are all nonsense. And mystery. We try to assure ourselves with nonsense. We try to affirm and confirm the nonsense of our beliefs by forcing others to believe in our nonsense or to pay tribute to it. But it is all nonsense.

We have no real knowledge. No satisfactory individual destiny. No permanence. No continuity and no understanding.

Those who are least conditioned or harmed by nonsense, are those who greet others–all others–with good cheer, open hands and hearts and joyful compassion.

Only the person who realizes that he is a spark from an anvil, momentarily lighting up the darkness, but following an unknown, unplanned and unnecessary trajectory, can begin to see the nonsense that has encrusted his life.

– Raphael O’Suna,   Haiku