Vacation Relaxation?

BTW, this wavey-line is a good illustration of what is called the "Wheel of Rebirth". At each trough in the line we may say the person has "died". Their psychological state, which peaks with the line, is in a state of disintegration (death) during the down-shoot, and the under-shoot reflects a momentary period of calm before rebirth. Rebirth happens when one psychological state is disintegrated and a new state is integrated. Metaphorically speaking; one state of mind dies, and another is born. Generally people go through a life-time of being reborn in the different psychological states. We experience suffering and elation in different forms, and cycle through them like a wheel turns. Satori is like a perfect calm that goes neither up or down.

My line would be relatively flat; I don't worry before going on vacation (which means I frequently forget things), but I don't worry about what I left behind when I'm on vacation either, and I almost never think about when I have to return. I just got back from a two-day camping trip and this was true of me then. Things like this never crossed my mind: Television, Computers, Internet, Cell Phone, other forms of electronics, video games, work or even my two cats I left at home.

I do something like Zazen to achieve this, but unlike meditation techniques that are obscured by Koans and Mantras, I utilize a keener depth psychology of which the Koans approximate. Koans and Mantras are really there for people who don't know, and don't want to know either. The Koan "See the face you had before you were born, indeed the face you had before your parents were born." points to "MU" but many things point to "MU" and the Koan is unnecessary to the one who knows "MU" already. So while many monks may spend years meditating on the Koan, I'm content to meditate on MU.

Kateigaho.com relates: When discussing Zen Buddhism, one often encounters the character for emptiness, mu, in expressions such as "no self," "no ego," "no holiness," and "no permanence." It is through the actual experience of mu — which means transcending affirmation and negation, being and nonbeing — that satori or spiritual awakening occurs and one can finally come to realize the essential spirit of Zen. Gaining some intellectual understanding is merely a first step in knowing about Zen; to enter into and deepen that understanding, one must experience mu for oneself.

My curve is a bit different. The spike for considering never going back is much larger. Actually, once, I did not go back and only took a new job 6 months later. When I do return from vacation most of the mail in my inbox is not spam, takes me 2 or 3 days to wade through, calm the fires, and collapse at my desk, desparately in need of another vacation.

Well, I am not American and it applies to me...

I get the joke but I don't know anyone that stresses while on a vacation.