To scratch or not to scratch?"...

i am convinced there is only 1 mosquito, that appears in many places in multitudinous forms. every time you kill one it is reborn again within 30 seconds.
especially the one who buzzes in your ears at night time when you are trying to sleep.

my feet are on fire from the network of red bites...i try not to scratch the itch.

before i left for india, i was listening to a cd of a a buddhist teacher, pema chodron. she said meditation is like learning not to scratch the itch. we all have thought patterns that are incredibly uncomfortable, fear, anxiety, anger, sadness. we get agitated and want to scratch them, to react. instead, in meditation, we learn to sit still and witness the thought forms, to patiently observe the discomfort.

ah, there it is.
the burning itch of my feet.
hello burning itch.
i see you are there.
i feel you.
i choose not to scratch you because it will only agitate me more.
ah hello again.
more burning itching of my feet.
i see you again.
i feel you again.
i choose not to scratch you again.
and so on...

if meditation has taught me anything, it's that nothing lasts forver.
not the pleasurable nor the painful
they come in waves
these mosquito bites will disappear in a few days.
and even now i forget about them when i eat something delicious or become absorbed in conversation.

the zen of mosquito bites?
the buddha nature of mosquito bites?
to itch or not to itch, that is the question?