Church of Mysterioso.

HERE IT IS!!!!

Sex is the goofy smile of the Spirit
Art is the sweet spasm of the Soul
Difference is the cool gift of the gods
Magick is the unwilling victim of Science
Death is the Great Reminder
Fear is only the Boo! of Change
Guilt is a prison for the Innocent
Greed is the small Suicide
Religion is doing what you are doing right now
Enlightenment is the old switcheroo
God is your secret name
Paying attention is your only bill
Belief is Mind Death
Enough is enough
No is always the wrong answer
Yes, you already have permission
There is no right way
Happiness is already yours
Anything not on this list is a lie

- Rev. Mel Ash
Church of the Mysterioso

 

Last week I went to an event at the Beat Museum entitled, "Dharma Bums: An Evening of Beat Zen with Mel Ash." I just finished reading "Dharma Bums," by Jack Kerouac, so naturally the event captured my spiritual curiosity. Rev. Mel Ash, from the Church of Mysterioso, led the meditation class and taught us how to live in the now. The three-hour class focused on the problems of thinking, sitting/walking meditation and the Beats. Everyone in the class was very friendly and best of all it was a free event. The owner of the Beat Museum, Jerry Cimino, read an expert from the once-controversial poem "Howl," by Allen Ginsberg.

These lines stuck to me, "Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!
Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!
The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy!
The nose is holy! The tongue and cock and hand
and asshole holy!
Everything is holy! everybody's holy! everywhere is
holy! everyday is in eternity! Everyman's an
angel!" (Footnote to "Howl," by Allen Ginsberg)

After a 10-minute meditation, hearing the words 'Holy', with such passion and intensity really opened me up. I felt not only spiritually aware, but connected to everyone and everything. It was a beautiful thing. I also made more contacts and found potential feature story ideas. North Beach is filled with amazing souls and everyone has a story.