Mundane Mandala: A Zen Koan in Household Objects

Socks and keys on porcelain plate,
Teabags form a figure eight.
Ordinary things arrayed,
A sacred geometry displayed.

The Zen master sits and stares,
At this altar of quotidian wares.
What riddle do these items pose?
What truth in trivia does it disclose?

Circular patterns, spirals neat,
Of shoelaces and receipts.
Each object placed with reverent care,
A koan of the commonplace laid bare.

He contemplates the paradox:
Enlightenment in mundane socks?
Can truth be found in simple things?
What wisdom does banality bring?

In this altar of the everyday,
Where domestic detritus holds sway,
He seeks the cosmic in the small,
The extraordinary in the banal.

For in this ritualistic dance,
Of objects placed as if by chance,
Lies hidden meaning, deep and true:
The sacred in the residue.

So let us pause and contemplate,
The profundity of the commonplace.
For in life’s most ordinary things,
The universe’s heartbeat sings.