virtual silence

virtual silence nobody comments on my haiku

Prof. John Stackhouse

E-mail Silence:
I’m Not Writing Back Because I Hate You

I’ve come to see e-mail silence–when someone takes longer to reply than I think she should–as a Rorschach test. How I interpret that void, how I fill it in, tells me what’s in my mind to use as filler.

Earlier this year, a friend of mine in another city did not reply to several e-mails I sent him over three months. I passed through a succession of emotions: denial (”It’s no big deal”) to anxiety (”I wonder what’s wrong”) to anger (”That conceited jerk!”) to sadness (”He doesn’t like me anymore”).

Finally, he did reply, and told me that he and his professional website had encountered a terrible series of problems with their ISP that lasted, yes, three months, and he was only now back online and catching up.

Have you ever had to take one of those psychological tests consisting of sentence stem completions? They look like this: “When I walk into a room, I feel ____” or “When people look at me, they think ___.” Well, e-mail silence is like that: “My boss isn’t writing me back right away because ____” or “My father isn’t writing me back right away because ____” or “My girlfriend isn’t writing me back right away because ______.”

What I fill in tells me something of what I have in mind to fill it in with. And when I consider my customary reactions to e-mail silence, I sometimes don’t like what I see.

Cognitive therapist Dr. David Burns warns us against “mind reading” and “catastrophism,” the habits of mind by which (1) we assume we know what someone else is thinking and (2) we assume the worst. Indeed, a therapist friend of mine says that most people who engage in mind reading also engage in catastrophism, rather than assuming positive motives: “He’s not writing me back right away because he’s mulling over just which superlatives to use!”

Read it all HERE

　© John Stackhouse

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



More abuot EMAIL SILENCE !


..........................................

some comments

Love your senryu, Gabi!
And a good question...
it's funny how I can sense what I like or don't like about someone else's work, yet
can't tell about my own!
But as you say, when the comments are contradictory... that doesn't help much!

I remember your "silence of stones"... an awesome haiku!

.....

bright autumn day -
listening to the silence
of stones growing older

This one's lovely, Gabi. And if we listen carefully, what will we hear, I wonder? Thanks for sharing this.

.....

I say, think positive thoughts.
A autumn leaf desires nothing else than to be a leaf. Silence is only uncomfortable for those that need it filled. My thought for the day..

.....

Hi Gabi,

I'm not sure we've met but it's a pleasure to read you!

your 'silence of stones' haiku is inspired, I truly enjoyed it!

this is a very interesting thread... I believe we sometimes assume the worst
because an ego is a fragile thing that needs careful handling and we all have a little...
after all, doesn't society teach us to "look out for #1"..,

.....

Ahh yes... I ALWAYS assume, when there no comments, that my haiku so stunned the reader with its grace, trueness to form, and sense of wonder that they COULD NOT recover composure enough to respond...

THEN, I hasten back for a 're-write-...

.....

gabi, my silence, virtual or actual, on this only means I've been to busy to check in for the last few days.

..........................................

More of my Haiku about SILENCE !


Read my Haiku Archives 2007


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

spring silence

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


the silence
of a spring day -
and all these sounds


all these sounds
in the silence
of a spring day


in the silence
of a spring day
all these sounds


the silence
of a spring day . . .
these sounds




illustration from ode magazine 2008

Silence can be a source of healing,
a refuge from the stress of modern life,
a pathway to enlightenment.
Or it can have a more sinister meaning.
source and more : www.odemagazine.com


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


MORE
My SILENCE haiku



Comment from a friend
Puzzling, Gabi
I guess it's one of those zenny ones.
No, I think I know what you mean... that when it's silent enough, one can hear small sounds that were undetectable before? Silence is relative?
Love that illustration you found!
HH



. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2009


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

shadows and silence

a long silence between your words - autumn deepens

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



green color code #767c6b "color of mountain doves"
山鳩色 (やまばといろ)




The trees, the flowers, the plants grow in silence.
The stars, the sun, the moon move in silence.
Silence gives us a new perspective.

Mother Teresa



autumn sunshine -
the sound of this shadow
on the wall


the sound of these
leaves on the temple wall -
autumn solitude






Thanks to Mother Teresa!


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


A friend asked:
why not drop 'these' from L1 and move 'leaves" into it's place?

Well, here is my answer:

the sound of leaves
on the temple wall -
autumn solitude


the sound of these
leaves on the temple wall -
autumn solitude


Maybe you feel the difference yourself?

The sound of leaves, the sound of water ... quite a well used phrase in haiku ...
:o) ... maybe overused ...

Since it was not the sound of leaves (or rather maybe branches with leaves, for that matter) hitting the wall, but as is shown in the photo,
it was the sound of shadows, I want the reader to pause
these ... what ? simply leaves? only shadows? anything else ?

these leaves ... I can hear these leaves rustle in the wind, as the tree stands if front of the wall

leaves on the temple wall ... now they are only shadows, not the sound ...


So I choose the version I did.
HH


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2009


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

empty mind

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



empty mind ...
I wonder who is chatting
inside




My Japanese sensei used to say

Empty your heart and mind completely, and receive the haiku as a present into this emptiness.
You can not MAKE a good haiku happen, it has to make itself through your empty mind.
Do not try to be witty or poetic or "deep" or anything ... just let nature do the talking through you.


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Selflessness
Bruce Ross

If affective perception determines much of haiku feeling, selfless perception often determines how haiku consciousness exists. For this reason Robert Spiess, the long-time editor of Modern Haiku, preferred the term "feeling" (senses centred on nature, aware) to "emotion" (very strong subjective feeling centred on non-rational mind) when discussing haiku poetics.

At the most basic level the personal "I" is usually left out of haiku. Basically, the personal "I", the Freudian ego and its mental constructs, let us say its emotion, gets in the way of the haiku experience. Empirical procedures and rational thinking that determine the Western mind also get in the way.

The Zen Buddhist idea of an empty mind, the openness to phenomenological presence, is suggestive of an appropriate mental climate.

A Zen saying explains the situation: "One thought follows another without interruption. But if you allow these thoughts to link up to a chain, you put yourself in bondage".

How does one not get bogged down in thought and experience haiku consciousness? A haiku by Kai Falkman offers a response:

the skier stops
to leave room
for the snow's silence

The first two lines of this poem describe the cessation of what Zen Buddhists call the "monkey mind", a continuous flow of thought. Enlightenment or clear mind, the present-tense clarity of perception, cannot occur when the monkey mind is present.
In effect one must clear one's mind to allow things to speak for themselves.
The phenomenological reduction, the skier stopping, accomplished, the snow, its silence, can speak for itself. Here the personal "I" is not used. The poet, his will, is not stopping the skis. The snow's silence is. The "I" is not what is important. What is important is the snow's silence. The stopping is a mere notation leading to the snow's silence. In many ways this poem becomes an evocation of a kind of enlightenment experience.

A monk asked Li-shan: "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West?"
"There is no ‘what' here," said Li-shan.
"What is the reason??"
"Just because things are such as they are," replied Li-shan.

- Zen mondo

source : The Essence of Haiku
By Bruce Ross. autumn 2007


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


googeling at random


The Empty Mind is not just for martial artists, but for anyone who wishes to improve themselves both spiritually and physically

Amazon.com: The Empty Mind: Ueshiba Moriteru

The beginner’s mind is an open mind, an empty mind, a ready mind,

An Open Mind is not an Empty Mind.

Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.


Empty Mind. Musings, observations, rantings and commentary by a libertarian Christian Zen Master.

Taoist Art. Learning to be free in the empty mind.


... an empty mind goes a long way toward ensuring a full pocketbook.

one of the basic things that individuals can do to improve the quality of their "thinking" is to have an empty mind.

MySpace profile for empty mind with pictures, videos, personal blog, interests, information about me and more.


Empty Mind gifts from the CartoonStock directory


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

ZEN KOAN METHOD
Empty your Mind and enter in tune with the Cosmic Mind
Lao Tzu Chapter 11

11.Usefulness of Emptiness
Empty your Mind

Thirty spokes are united in one hub (to make a wheel);
But the usefulness(the function) of the wheel depends on the empty space- the center hole of the hub.
Clay is molded into a vessel or a bowl
But it is the empty space within that makes it useful.

Doors and windows are cut out of the walls of a house,
But it is the empty (open) space inside that makes it useful (livable) .

Therefore take advantage of what exists (what the mind receives),
But use the emptiness (to open a way to enter in tune with the Cosmic Mind).



円相 ENSOO





:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


frieden und freude
zerplatzen . . .
zen zen zen




. . . comments on facebook, 10/2010


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2009


[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

White Flower

Candle Night キャンドルナイト candle night - is the spider looking for enlightenment ? . . . . . candle night - the beetles are having some fun in the dark

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Candle Night, KIGO


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



candle night -
is the spider looking for
enlightenment ?


Dear Gabi,
I like this very much, and have a question.
We get drilled into us so much not to use personification and I know you're very experienced in haiku. When do you decide to make an exception (you personally)?


Dear Friend,
I try to avoid personifications and anthropomorphism as much as I can, since I believe haiku should state the objective observance, not the subjective judgement about it. I only use it when the situation really calls for it.


Here is the story to the above haiku.

It is candlenight in Japan.
A few good friends have gathered around the old pond, with the odd frog jumping in once in a while too for good measure.
In the darkness, we enjoy the conversation, then the silence, then talk again.

Plop, another frog. Silence deepens.

A firefly zips by and I tell my friends about this haiku, written a few days ago in some haiku forum after a discussion on the subject

temporary enlightenment -
just a bunch of
fireflies

Everybody chuckles ... yea, yea, the follies of us human beings ...
And silence again in the darkness.

Staring toward the white calla lily, a small spider makes its way toward the innermost flower parts. Slowly, stopping, sensing what ?

Everyone gets focussed on the spider and then another little beetle on the white flower next to it. Candlelight makes this scene especially unworldly. Like under a giant spotlight, all we see now is the spider.

And then someone asks:

Is the spider looking for
enlightenment ?

...


So my particular haiku is not really a personification, but a report about a situation during that candlenight.



Anthropomorphism - Pro and Con

Read my Haiku Archives 2007


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

QUOTES

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Here I collect some quotes,
to be enjoyed with haiku!



My QUOTES with HAIKU from 2008



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load
with today's strength
--carrying two days at once.
It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time.
Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow,
it empties today of its strength.

Corrie Ten Boom


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Every happening, great and small,
is a parable whereby God speaks to us,
and the art of life is to get the message.

Malcolm Muggeridge


One way to "get the message" is to write haiku !


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


I shall open my eyes and ears.
Once every day I shall simply
stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person.

I shall not then be concerned at all to ask
what they are
but simply be glad
that they are.

I shall joyfully allow them their
"divine, magical, and ecstatic" existence.

Clyde S. Kilby

..........................................................



simply see
simply be glad
simply write haiku




:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::




Spring passes and one remembers
one's innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers
one's exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers
one's reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers
one's perseverance.

Yoko Ono

....................................................


each season passes
and one remembers
one's haiku


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Success or failure, the truth of a life really has little to do with its quality.
The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight.
The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.

Julia Cameron


....................................................


paying attention -
tha capacity for delight
the capacity for haiku



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Unless your heart, your soul,
and your whole being are behind every decision you make,
the words from your mouth will be empty,
and each action will be meaningless.

Truth and confidence are the roots of happiness.

Kathleen Pedersen


Truth and confidence are the roots of haiku !

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Any fool can make a rule,
and any fool will mind it.

Henry David Thoreau


Aaa, but what about these haiku rules ? grin ...


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Our dependency makes slaves out of us,
especially if this dependency is
a dependency of our self-esteem.

If you need encouragement, praise,
pats on the back from everybody,
then you make everybody your judge.

Fritz Perls


Who is the real judge of your haiku ?


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


The self is not something that one finds.
It is something that one creates.

-- Thomas Szasz (1920-)
American Psychiatrist

...........................


With haiku, it is often the other way round for me:


A haiku is not something that one creates.
It is something that one finds.



How about your haiku creation process ?


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Practice rather than preach.
Make of your life an affirmation,
defined by your ideals,
not the negation of others.

Dare to the level of your capability
then go beyond to a higher level.

Alexander Haig


and then, only then, write a haiku ...


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Your thoughts should agree with your words,
and the words should agree with your actions.

In this world people think one thing,
say another thing,
and do something else.

This is horrible.
This is crookedness.

Sivananda
http://www.sivananda.org/



your thoughts should agree
with your words ...
YOUR HAIKU


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


The world is blessed most by people who do things,
not by those who merely talk about them.

James Oliver


do it! write a haiku NOW !


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


to live like a beautiful summer blossom,
to die like a beautiful autumn moon

Rabindranath Tagore


to work like a beautiful haiku poet


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health,
out of debt, and has a clear conscience?

Adam Smith (1723-1790)



you guess, a haiku !


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



If we learn once again to listen to the gentle voice within,
we will hear it counseling us many times a day to simplify our lives.
When the voices of the world
propose the multiple complexities of modern living,
the gentle voices within will whisper:
Why complicate your life?

Matthew Kelly


less is more -
haiku is more
with less


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


There are two things to aim at in life:
first, to get what you want;
and, after that, to enjoy it.
Only the wisest of humans achieve the second.

Logan Pearsall Smith

..... .....


Life should be enjoyable;
too often we think it's about achievement.
The truth is that making life enjoyable
is an achievement in itself.

unattributed


haiku is not about the achievement,
but about the joy of writing it !


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Simply give others a bit of yourself;
a thoughtful act, a helpful idea,
a word of appreciation, a lift over a rough spot,
a sense of understanding, a timely suggestion.
You take something out of your mind,
garnished in kindness out of your heart,
and put it into the other person's mind and heart.

Charles H. Burr


give a haiku ...

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



If we can recognize that change and uncertainty are basic principles,
we can greet the future
and the transformation we are undergoing with the understanding
that we do not know enough to be pessimistic.

Hazel Henderson

.....


I have become my own version of an optimist.
If I can't make it through one door,
I'll go through another door--
or I'll make a door.
Something terrific will come
no matter how dark the present.

Rabindranath Tagore


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself
and know that everything in this life has purpose.
There are no mistakes, no coincidences,
all events are blessings given to use to learn from.

Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross


..........................


True silence really means going deep within yourself
to that place where nothing is happening,
where you transcend time and space.
You go into a brand new dimension of nothingness.

That's where all the power is.
That's your real home.
That's where you really belong,
in deep Silence where there is no good or bad,
no one trying to achieve anything.

Just being, pure being. . . .
Silence is the ultimate reality.

Robert Adams

...................................................


that place where nothing is happening
well
haiku is happening


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


To be ambitious for wealth,
and yet always expecting to be poor,
to be always doubting your ability to get what you long for,
is like trying to reach east by traveling west. . . .

No matter how hard you work for success,
if your thought is saturated with the fear of failure,
it will kill your efforts,
neutralize your endeavors,
and make success impossible.

Charles Baudouin

... ... ...

Consult not your fears but your hopes and dreams.
Think not about your frustrations,
but about your unfulfilled potential.

Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in,
but with what is still possible for you to do.

Pope John XXIII


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Acceptance is observation of life
and suspension of judgment about
whether what is happening is
good or bad, right or wrong.

Ron Smotherman


Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free.
Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing.

Chuang Tzu


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


People who soar are those who refuse to sit back,
sigh, and wish things would change.
They neither complain of their lot
nor passively dream of some distant ship coming in.

Rather, they visualize in their minds
that they are not quitters;
they will not allow life’s circumstances
to push them down and hold them under.

Charles Swindoll


..........................................


Time is a flowing river.
Happy those who allow themselves
to be carried, unresisting, with the current.
They float through easy days.
They live, unquestioning, in the moment.

Christopher Morley


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


An American tourist found himself in India on the day of the pilgrimage to the top of a sacred mountain.

Thousands of people would climb the steep path to the mountaintop. The tourist, who had been jogging and doing vigorous exercise and thought he was in good shape, decided to join in and share the experience.

After twenty minutes, he was out of breath and could hardly climb another step, while women carrying babies, and frail old men with canes, moved easily past him.

"I don't understand it," he said to an Indian companion. "How can these people do it when I can't?"

His friend answered, "It is because you have the typical American habit of seeing everything as a test. You see the mountain as your enemy and you set out to defeat it. So, naturally, the mountain fights back and it is stronger than you are.

We do not see the mountain as an enemy to be conquered. The purpose of our climb is to become one with the mountain and so it lifts us up and carries us along."

Harold Kushner in
When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough


quoted from
　© www.spiritualityandpractice.com


......................................................................


haiku is an exercise to become one with the mountain too ...


. . . . . BACK TO
My Haiku Theory Archives 　


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Accepting things conditionally,
or rather unconditionally?


Acceptance is a letting-go process.
You let go of your wishes
and demands that life can be different.
It's a conscious choice.

Gary Emery


Of course there is no formula for success
except perhaps
an unconditional acceptance of life
and what it brings.

Artur Rubinstein


　
things are the way they are -
my haiku state things
the way they are


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Because one believes in oneself,
one doesn't try to convince others.
Because one is content with oneself,
one doesn't need others' approval.
Because one accepts oneself,
the whole world accepts him or her.

The Tao Te Ching

..........................................

because one writes haiku
for the joy of writing them
one doesn't need others' approval


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


You can tell whether one is clever
by his or her answers.
You can tell whether one is wise
by his or her questions.

Naguib Mahfouz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naguib_Mahfouz


.............................................


You can tell whether one is ? ? ?
by reading his or her haiku .


rainy season ...
shall I write a wet haiku
or a dry one ?


rainy season ...
shall I write a clever haiku
or a wise one ?


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Schon das kleinste Kunstwerk,
eine Bleistiftskizze von sechs Strichen
und ein Gedichtvers von vier Zeilen,
versucht frech und blind das Unmögliche,
geht aufs Ganze,
will das Chaos in die Nußschale schöpfen!


Hermann Hesse

.......................................................


haiku ...
trying to scoop chaos
into a nutshell


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Guard well your spare moments.
They are like uncut diamonds.
Discard them and their value will never be known.
Improve them and they will become
the brightest gems in a useful life.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

.........................................................

your spare moments
your treasure moments
your haiku moments


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Reduce the complexity of life
by eliminating the needless wants of life,
and the labors of life reduce themselves.

Edwin Way Teale

............................................

reduce the complexity of poetry
by eliminating the needles words of life ..
and the joys of live will double themselves

Haiku with less words ...


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Remember not only to say the right thing
in the right place, but far more difficult still,

to leave unsaid the wrong thing
at the tempting moment.

Benjamin Franklin

...........................

to leave unwritten
this haiku at the wrong moment


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


You do not suffer because things are impermanent.
You suffer because things are impermanent
and you think they are permanent.

Thich Nhat Hanh


suffering and happiness,
they are both sides of the same coin ...

a simple haiku <>
how permanent
can it be ?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


To live content with small means;
to seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion;

to be worthy, not respectable,
and wealthy, not rich;
to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly;

to listen to stars and birds,
to babes and sages, with open heart;

to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely,
await occasions, hurry never;

in a word to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious,
grow up through the common--
this is to be my symphony.

William Henry Channing


.... to live with a haiku and a smile ...


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


You can clear the land, plow the field, spread the fertilizer, and plant the corn. But you cannot make it rain. You cannot prevent an early frost.
You cannot determine exactly what will happen in your life.
The rain may or may not fall, but one thing is certain:
you will get a harvest only if you planted something in the field.

It's important to do everything in our power to ensure our success,
but we also need to let the universe take its course.

Melody Beattie


You plant the haiku! Heaven spreads in it the world.


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

When you arise in the morning,
think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -

to breathe,
to think,
to enjoy,
to love.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

.....

to write a haiku !


Japanese by Nakamura Sakuo :

目覚めごと 生きる尊さ 思いけり
mezame goto ikiru tootosa omoi keri

every wake up
precious life
thinking of


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


To see a world in a grain of sand,
and heaven in a wildflower,
hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.

William Blake



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

What is life?

It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow
which runs across the grass
and loses itself in the Sunset.


Crowfoot, a leader of the Blackfoot nation


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


One of Jesus' favorite visual aids is a child.
Every time the disciples get into head games,
he puts a child in front of them.

— Richard Rohr in Everything Belongs

To Practice This Thought:
Let the little ones be your teachers.

..............................................

for haiku too :
Let the little ones be your teachers.


ko ni aku to moosu hito ni wa hana mo nashi

blossoms are wasted
on anyone who's fed up
with children

Basho, trans. Robin D. Gill


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Sabbaths 1999
by Wendell Berry

I dream of a quiet man
who explains nothing and defends
nothing, but only knows
where the rarest wildflowers
are blooming, and who goes,
and finds that he is smiling
not by his own will.


from Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems by Roger Housden

..............................................


a quiet man
writing his haiku
in silence


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Instead of condemning others,
strive to reach inner peace.

Keep silent, refrain from judgement.
This will raise you above the deadly arrows of slander, insult and outrage
and will shield your glowing hearts against all evil.


St. Seraphim of Sarov

St. Seraphim (born Prohor Moshnin) was born in 1759 to a merchant family in Kursk. At the age of 10, he became seriously ill. During the course of his illness, he saw the Mother of God in his sleep, who promised to heal him.

..............................................


Keep silent, refrain from judgement.
Write haiku, refrain from judgement.


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Your life is always working,
whether you know it or not.
Sometimes it works to bring you what you want,
and sometimes it works to keep you from what you think you want.

Neale Donald Walsch : Tomorrow's God

sometimes it brings you a haiku ...


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


I hope its true -
a good word melts
the cold of this March


Hold Your Tongue
A Practice for Winter Harmony


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Reverence the highest,
have patience with the lowest.

Are the stars too distant,
pick up the pebble that lies at thy feet,
and from it learn the all.

Margaret Fuller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller



pick up the haiku that lies at thy feet


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


true words aren't beautiful
beautiful words aren't true
the good aren't eloquent
the eloquent aren't good
the wise aren't learned
the learned aren't wise

the sage accumulates nothing
but the more he does for others
the greater his existence
the more he gives to others
the greater his abundance

the Way of Heaven
is to help without harming
the Way of the sage
is to act without struggling

daodejing #81
translated by Red Pine
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/jan07/ablution.html

(c)2007 lisbethwest
...............................................


the way of the haiku poet
is to write without words

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


A person who, alone,
has seen something beautiful,
who has heard something harmonious,
who has tasted something delicious,
who has smelt something fragrant,
may have enjoyed it, but not completely.

The complete joy is in
sharing one's joy with others.


Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan
http://www.ruhaniat.org/lineage/HIKBio.php

...............................................


sharing joy
through a haiku -
spring sunshine

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


The ego is a monkey catapulting through the jungle.
Totally fascinated by the realm of the senses,
it swings from one desire to the next,
one conflict to the next,
one self-centered idea to the next.
If you threaten it, it actually fears for its life.

Let the monkey go.
Let the senses go.
Let desire go.
Let conflicts go.
Let ideas go.
Let the fiction of life and death go.
Just remain in the center, watching.

And then forget that you are there.


huahuching number ten
translated by Brian Walker

(c)2006 - 2007 lisbethwest
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/jan07/positioning.html

...............................................

the monkey gone
at least for now ...
a few haiku


.......................... Monkey Haiku
http://indiasaijikiworlkhaiku.blogspot.com/2006/01/monkey.html


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Master Lu's Teachings

............................. The Child Inside

-Let the child live inside you , he is the primordial source of love and happiness.

-And how could I do that? I've asked.

-Clear out your mind from ballast.

-And how could I do that? I insisted.

-Don't think about advantage and loss,
about what is worth to achieve or not.
Be spontaneous just like the sea and the wind.


More of the teachings of Master LU is here
http://www.taopage.org/lu16.html

...............................................


the inner child
is at play - AND THEN
haiku arise


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


The present is the only moment
that is truly ours,
and we ought to make use of it.

Blais Pascal

...............................................


and we ought to make haiku of it


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Even a happy life cannot be
without a measure of darkness,
and the word happy would lose its meaning
if it were not balanced by sadness.
It is far better to take things as they come along
with patience and equanimity.

Carl Jung


....................... I would just add

and with a haiku

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


TAO

Those who wish to embody the Tao should embrace all things.

To embrace all things means first t
hat one holds no anger or resistance
toward any idea or thing,
living or dead,
formed or formless.
Acceptance is the very essence of the Tao.

To embrace all things means also
that one rids oneself
of any concepts of separation: male and female, self
and others, life and death.
Division is contrary to the nature of the Tao.

Foregoing antagonism and separation,
one enters into the harmonious oneness
of all things.

huahuching #3, translated by Brian Walker
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/jan07/sound.html

(c) 2007 lisbethwest

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Anxiety is the rust of life,
destroying its brightness and weakening its power.
A childlike and abiding trust in Providence
is its best preventive and remedy.

Tyron Edwards


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


More of "My favorite QUOTES"
to enjoy haiku even more



Spiritual Practise of the Day
from . . Spirituality & Practice.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::















. . .

Happiness Quotes

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

graves in silence

morning prayers - the graves of the ancestors in deep silence

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


My Haiku Friend Allison wrote

The only thing that caught my eye and took it away from the graves is the slightly yellow 'thing' to the left of the main tree, by the driveway. I don't know what it is, but if you cloned it out, it wouldn't be there to distract me. I know it's a 'little thing', but I really want to focus on the headstones . . . and the rest of your photo (with the gorgeous lighting) pulls my focus right where it belongs.

So she made this lovely haiga for me !

Dear Allison,
thanks for your great effort.

It looks terrific and it made me think ...

I try to write haiku about WHAT IS without judgement and my photos show WHAT IS without interference and retouching (is that the right word?)

Japanese landscape is full of wires and electricity poles and all that, just this morning (speak of coincidence) was an article in the Japan times about
UGLY JAPAN (see below)

When I take our landscape photos, I try to avoid these wires and poles, but sometimes it just can not be done ... so I guess it my modern haiku reality to live with them.

If I write normal poetry and paint a landscape, I am free to transform it as I please, but with my haiku, there is a difference.
I hang on to external and internal shasei, sketching from nature and the inspiration of moment.

Thanks for bringing this home once again.
And thanks for showing the "joys and dangers" of interferring with a photo.
What is reality? quite a question now for me !


morning prayers ..
the fence poles and the graves
in deep silence


GABI

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

©　Japan Times, KEVIN RAFFERTY, Feb.28, 2008

Why's Japan grown so ugly?
By KEVIN RAFFERTY

YUNOMINE, Wakayama Pref. —
My brother wanted to create a new room in the loft of his house in an English provincial city, actually Kingston upon Hull (population 250,000), a place of passing interest to Japanese because two centuries ago it was one of the world's biggest whaling ports. Today, the whales are still present, singing their haunting songs in a museum to the city's maritime history.

The local council refused him permission because the room would have required the insertion of a new window, and that would have ruined the uniform roofline of the avenue where he lives.

I was thinking of this when traveling recently from Osaka to the onsen town of Yunomine, an exhilarating journey along through the mountains of the Kii Peninsula. This is Japan's historic heartland, where the gods had their origins, and these routes have been a place of pilgrimage for a thousand years, through which people have sought self-discovery, purification and healing.

Winter had laid its icy fingers across the land, and the green hillsides were liberally dusted with snow. From time to time we diced with the ice on the narrow old Kumano road and we made several detours on foot along the ancient Kumano way, which meanders up and down the uneven contours of the hills.

But the journey was spoiled by the dreadful depredations that human beings have visited on a beautiful land. Even on the ancient footpath, it is hard to get away from the despoliation of modern life, with the natural shades of green sliced up by silver wires held together by the ugly modern gods of electricity pylons.

On the old road, carefully engineered to follow the twists and turns of the contours of the natural environment, the encroachment of what is termed civilization comes threateningly closer. In places it is hard to hear the birds and insects, let alone the gurgling of mountain streams or the sounds of the wind talking to the grass and trees, above the roar of traffic on the modern road.

That road — and more so the toll roads that go directly through from Osaka to Kumano — shows the contempt that modern Japanese bureaucrats, and their political and corporate construction allies, have for the natural environment. They have bulldozed remorselessly across the countryside and gouged deep wounds through the hills. Where nature has hit back with the threat of landslides, the construction companies have tried to suffocate it by plastering hillsides with concrete.

Alex Kerr in "Dogs and Demons" (2001) documented the grip of the deadly concrete disease on Japan, with 97 percent of rivers dammed and 60 percent of the coastline covered in concrete, not to speak of 43 percent of native forests replanted with allergy-bearing and wildlife-free cedar plantations.

Where is the traditional Japanese love of nature, beauty, gentleness, nuance? All damned and dammed with concrete.

But it gets worse as you venture into remote rural areas, which in other countries offer a refuge from the pressures of hectic modern life. Kerr complained of Japan's "Hello-Kitty-fied" culture. Hello Kitty has a cuteness, but Japan's rural life is plain plug ugly. In every small town, ugliness is rampant: bright signs with mindless slogans; garish advertisements for pachinko parlors; giant banners for used cars; loud screaming posters for every tin-pot business; and of course wires everywhere, as if the spiders are taking over.

Try to take a photograph of what should be a picturesque place. You find wires everywhere, of course: at high and low level, from afar or close to, every view is spoiled. Tasteful traditional wooden houses sit next to tasteless modern monstrosities; exposed metal and plastic pipes scar the scene, some of them leaking; everyone and anyone can put up a banner; concrete is ubiquitous, some of it masquerading as wood; and ugly robotic machines parade the main street dispensing cigarettes or soft drinks. Shops sell over-wrapped over-priced tacky souvenirs (but no bath salts that I could see).

Anyone who has been to Kyoto or Nara or on the road between them is assaulted by the horrors of Japanese town planning.
What is worse is how ugliness has penetrated Japan's historic heartland, and no one seems to care.

Mikako Hayashi, associate professor of restorative dentistry and endodontology at Osaka University, remembers her return to Japan after 16 months doing research at England's Manchester University and exploring the historic spots there. She says: "As the aircraft banked on its final approach, I looked out of the window to see the countryside of my homeland — and it looked as if some demon giant had tipped a huge garbage can over the landscape."

This is surely an appalling thing to say about a country whose people have traditionally taken great pride in being in harmony with nature. But Hayashi believes that there is no point merely in lamenting modern ugliness; she suggests that it is time to do something about it.

In England there is a keenly fought annual competition for the Best Kept Village. It is time for Japan to do something similar, Hayashi suggests: "Japan should be more ambitious: choose the prettiest or most picturesque village and town. Give points for a pleasant skyline, for special features, for good taste or neatness according to a scale: deduct points, say five points off for offensive advertising, 20 points off for a pachinko parlor on main street, 30 or more for ugly buildings that do not blend."

She is being too ambitious. If such a competition were held today on such a basis, the winner would probably be a place with a score of minus several hundred.

You do not have to go all the way of Britain, where one department of a London council insisted that a diseased cherry tree must be chopped down, but another said if it were cut the owner would be fined for altering the skyline.

Hayashi's idea would help develop tourism, both domestic and foreign, and — in a small but important way — teach Japanese to value their precious land and environment. Newly attractive towns and villages may be able to attract back people and jobs. Smothering the land in concrete wastes money and kills ideas, ideals and beauty. Eventually, maybe, the vital message can filter through from the ordinary people of Japan back to the ishiatama bureaucrats and politicians.



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


More of my SNOW HAIKU

SNOW in Paradise



　Internal shasei ...
Environment and emotion: keijo (keijoo 景情 けいじょう)



. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2008


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

dreaming room

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


間　-　間　-　間



dreaming room ...
a new buzzword
for the old MA

click on the haiku to find out more ...

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


as I sit in my dining room
wondering about the dreaming room
he calls from the living room



I do not approve of this word and do not consider it a translation of MA, but never mind.
For me, haiku is about reality and what I experience in the moment, not in a dream.

The word reminds me of the Australian aborigines "dream time, dreamtime", but that is a different matter alltogether, I find.




and one who can not keep his MA in Japanese culture is a

manuke　間抜け "one without a ma feeling"
a fool, an idiot, a blockhead, someone stupid . . .


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Assimilation of the Ma Aesthetic Better Equips Western Poets
to Write Haiku
by Denis M. Garrison

Amongst traditional Japanese aesthetic considerations applicable to the art of haiku writing, ma is arguably preeminent for poets working in another language, for whom much of the treasury of haiku allusions is not available. It is, of course, axiomatic that the better a poet assimilates the full panoply of traditional haiku aesthetics, the better equipped he or she will become; but for non-Japanese poets, ma has special value, I think.

What is ma?
Literally, ma is the sense of time and space, incorporating between, space, room, interval, pause, time, timing, passing, distanced, etc. More particularly, ma may be taken as the timing of space, as in the duration between two musical notes. Silence is valued as well as sound. It is said that the ma aesthetic is influential upon all varieties of Japanese art.

I am not an expert on Japanese traditional aesthetics, in general, nor in ma, specifically. It is not my intent to dissect nor analyze ma in its native context.

Read it all HERE

　© Denis M. Garrison / Simply Haiku Winter 2008


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



the MA ...
could we be silent about
something else?


the MA ...
are we silent about
different things?


I just had a moment of silence with my cat HAIKU and he seemed to ... well ...
January 23, 2009

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


shichi go choo and Kabuki 七五調


quote
"There is nothing like a ma!"

What is ma? Well, that's not so easy to explain but without it Kabuki wouldn't be half so interesting as it is. Imagine, for example, this speech that everybody knows -

"To be or not to be?"
(Dramatic pause)
"That is the question."

In Kabuki that pause would be called a ma, and ma are tension filled moments applicable to acting movements, dance, or speech. The internal psychology of a moment is expressed by the actor, who holds the attention of the audience in a pregnant pause that creates tension and emphasis.

Similar to the above example, ma may be expressed in speeches as the tension between the lines of shichi-go-chô - the division into lines of seven and five syllables used in much Japanese poetry. Look at the following example: in order to make things clear I have divided this haiku poem by the playwright and critic, Kawajiri Seitan (川尻清潭) into syllables -

Yo-za-ku-ra-ya (5) Evening cherry blossoms
Ma-ta Su-ke-ro-ku no (7) And once again
Ke-n-ka-za-ta (5) Sukeroku fights

Here one could imagine a dramatic ma pause after Mata Sukeroku no, before completing the poem. Similarly, when the thief Benten Kozō abandons his disguise as a young girl and reveals his name, (Benten musume meo no shiranami - "Benten the Male, Female Bandit") he dramatically lengthens the last syllable of Kozō before speaking the final part of his name - Kikunosuke. An actor with a poor sense of ma might well leave too short a pause and so any feeling of suspense before the completion would be lost.
Although Western poetry does not use shichi-go-chô (partly because Western languages do not have the consonant-vowel parings which make up the Japanese language), dramatic pausing between the lines can sometimes be equally important but perhaps less stylised than in Kabuki.

In movement, mie stop-motion poses demonstrate the most exciting examples of ma. Probably deriving from the fearsome iconography and facial expressions seen on some Buddhist statuary, mie are powerful poses by male characters that serve to emphasize moments of great import or tension. As the action stops, the character assumes a dramatic pose, revolves his head back and to one side and then, snapping the head into position, crosses one eye over the other and glares at his opponent. Mie are usually accompanied by two clear beats of the tsuke wooden blocks. It is the dramatic pause before the winding up and final snap of the head, between the first beat of the block and the second, which is an example of a ma of action.

Mie are unique to Kabuki and there is certainly nothing like them in Western theatre. Dramatic pauses are, therefore, more naturalistic and we find such pauses in Kabuki too. Let's look at the following fantastic example of ma which I will always remember. It was from Nakamura Utaemon VI's performance of Masaoka from Meiboku Sendai Hagi. Masaoka moves to the hanamichi in order to watch Sakae Gozen depart. Having just watched her son being murdered, Masaoka is desperate to run to his body. Watching her leave, Utaemon held the pose with extraordinary tension until, Sakae now gone, he collapsed in anguish. A master actor holding the audience in his hands!

Although we may not have a specific name for them, ma pauses are very important not only to Western theatre but in music too. My son, Misha, who is not a musician, was watching a very famous American conductor, conducting Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," one of the greatest and most influential works of the twentieth century. The final section, the "Sacrificial Dance," is clearly divided into sections by very dramatic pauses. Every one of those fantastic pauses was cut far too short by the conductor, and all the drama was lost as the music flowed along to greatly reduced effect.

"That conductor is useless!" said Misha, and, judging by this example of very bad ma, I really had to agree. In Japan - particularly in the field of Kabuki - one would say his "ma ga warui" - his "ma is bad," meaning he has no sense of timing.

source : Ronald Cavaye - kabuki-bito.jp


. Sukeroku 助六 - Hero of Edo .




どーも　間が悪い　ma ga warui

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


. . . Read my Haiku Theory Archives


. . . Read my Haiku Gallery



[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

silence of sunshine

autumn brook - the silence of sunshine on stones

. Okutsu, September 2007 　　


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2010

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

the renku pond

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


silence ...
another frog in the
renku pond



This was inspired by friends writing renku in the HH.







Here is the full sequence, which evolved spontaneously
over night with
lmp (Linda Papanicolaou), moi (Moira Richards), _k (Kala Ramesh)
and ke (Kathy Earsman)




silence ...
another frog in the
renku pond / Gabi

spring breeze in the roof thatch
of the hermitage / lmp

all packed
for the pilgrimage
paper, brush, saijiki /moi

falling into the space between
the stepping stone / _k

moonlight gathers
in the mist where trees
used to be /ke

one last cricket singing
in the gecko cage / lmp





Thank you very much, dear friends,
for this precious gift.

Gabi, March 2009


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


. Shrine Sakaori no Miya 酒折宮 　
and Yamato Takeru 日本武尊, first Deity of Renku



Renku, renga, haikai, linked verse . . . Theory 連句, 連歌、俳諧


. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2009

HH
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

woodpecker

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


light snow -
a woodpecker hammers
in the silence





. woodpecker, kitsutsuki 啄木鳥 　


basically a kigo for all autumn, but these days I hear him every morning when I open the window.
And today, in the silence of freshly fallen snow, the sound was most eerie in the valley !




:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


neve leggera -
il martello di un picchio
nel silenzio

Tr. by Moussia


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2011

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Temple Tanjo-Ji

autumn deepens - the unfettered beauty of this Amida temple autumn deepens - the beauty of prayer in stone DRAGON BRANCHES Amida Buddha

LOOK
Temple Tanjo-Ji, ALBUM November 2007

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Temple Tanjo-Ji in my neighbourhood
Temple Tanjo-Ji in Okayama
Saint Honen was born here !


Saint Honen, born at this temple ..
by Gabi Greve


Joodo Paradise where we meet again ..


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

***** pickled radish, takuanzuke 沢庵漬
kigo for all winter

..... Takuan was a famous Zen Priest, who invented this dish. It is very popular. Zen monks are supposed to eat their slices of Takuan radish without making any noise. There are usually two slices on the plate, used to carefully clear out the bolws afer eating and then munching the Takuan in silence.
If you want to know the secret of eating Takuan in silence, contact me :o) !

The Unfettered Mind. by Takuan Soho



Read my Haiku Archives 2007


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

moonlight

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



moonlight
on the temple roof -
and silence



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2009


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Salt and Happiness

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Salt and Happiness

An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.

"How does it taste?" the master asked.

"Bitter," spit the apprentice.

The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the master asked, "How does it taste?"

"Fresh," remarked the apprentice.

"Do you taste the salt?" asked the master.

"No," said the young man.

At this, the master sat beside this serious young man who so reminded him of himself and took his hands, offering, "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. . . .

Stop being a glass. Become a lake."

Mark Nepo in

The Book of Awakening




Salt Lake

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



a glass of water
a glass of salt
a glass of haiku



READ
. . . more of my QUOTES


. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2008


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hanga Calendar 2008

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


What a surprize!
Someone unknown to me
had used my haiku in a calendar project !

Thanks, Shirlee Funk !

heavy snowfall - a white silence deepens

CLICK for enlargement!




:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


HERE
my photo and another haiga of this haiku

雪しきり白き静寂や深くなり
Gabi Greve, Haiku 2005



. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2009


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::