Shuukan - Ni - November 24, 2014

greeting the sun
in the snow at dawn

a blackbird sings

first light of morning
illuminating valleys
- a new day is born

infinite stars
a cloudless autumn night

- the universe

in the park
an iridescent bubble -
reflects the world

(c) G.s.k. '14

Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods); Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods); Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm); Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm); Me purifies greed and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts); Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm).

This is the third of the series for the Shuukan haiku prompt for OM-MA-NI-PAD-ME-HUM 


Ni in the mantra is to help establish patience in order to overcome human passions and desires such as anger, hate, envy, acquisition etc.  In itself desire is neutral but in a society where desire has become the be all of existence, where only having and earning money seems to be the virtue of the age, where everyone is pushed to believe one can only be happy if he/she is rich, that money is the answer to everything, it becomes important that we over-come those passions inspired by our age. We can do this through meditation and realizing that being in a constant state of "desire" only brings us to live in constant fear pushing us into a state of vague unhappiness, depression, dissatisfaction.  The Buddha's goal was to find a way to overcome desire ... to seek happiness in this life and not live in a constant state of want.

Linked to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai - Shuukan

Lantern - Haiku - November 25, 2014

seeking a path
in the darkest of nights -
an unlit lantern

light the lantern
midnight illumination -

to return home

(c) G.s.k. '14

Linked to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai where we read about the Japanese tōrō (灯籠 or 灯篭, 灯楼 light basket, light tower?).  Please follow the link to read more on this fascinating subject!

Sparkling Stars - Tea - October 18, 2014

 an empty cup
water bubbling merrily
a blackbird singing

©  G.s.k. '14

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I loved the prompt by our host at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, Chèvrefeuille.  I can feel completely in tune with the aptmosphere he relates in his post ... beginning with the time of day he's writing, which is the time of day I usually wake up and write.

I'm going to imagine that I'm in a classical tea house, which has been prepared for the Cha noYu - or The Way of  Tea.  I  imagine that the host has spent the day in meditation, preparing the room with just the right amount of charcoal in the brazier to boil the water, the seasonal flower arraingement, and each utensil has been laid out just so ...

I'm reminded of a story that I hear a long time ago about Sen no Rikyū who is considered the the historical figure who had the most influence on the chanoyu, in particular to the Wabi-cha (which is what I'm imagining above) which weighs heavily on estetics.  He was almost fanatical about creating the perfect aptmosphere of simplicity - the size of the room, the position of the every single object under his guidance became an art of precision.  Even to the placing of a drop of water on a petal.

One day, after Rikyū ahd passed a morning preparing the Wabi-cha, a young disciple came into the cerimonial room and distractedly knocked over the flower arraigement that the Master had  worked on all morning.  The student was mortified and was expecting to be disciplined.  Instead of shouting at the young man, Rikyū embraced him thanking him: this is the perfection that I had been seeking all morning!

But he was also famous for this sentence:

The Way of Tea is naught but this:

first you boil water,

then you make the tea and drink it.

Cats Tea Ceremony Tokyo

Here are some delightful haiku by Yozakura whom we have recently met here on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai:

  deep silence
only the sound of boiling water
an empty cup

© Yozakura

 in this tea house
the smell of cherry blossoms
scooping hot water

© Yozakura

 all alone
at the foot of Mt. Fuji -
tea and nothing else

© Yozakura

Yozakura (1640-1716)

Writing with Sodo - There is nothing - September 21, 2014

For today's Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Sparkling Stars .. we look at Sodo and reflect on "nothing" !   ;-)

 yado no haru nanimo koso nanimo are

in my hut this spring,
there is nothing, -
there is everything!

© Sodo (1642-1716)

 A Summer Day

The Eastern window is not hot at dusk;
Through the Northern door comes a cool breeze.
Sitting here, reclining there,
I have not left the room all day;
But if the mind is in its essence attached to nothing,
At home or abroad is just the same.
© Hakurakuten (penname of Pinyin Bo Jugi (772-846), a Chinese poet)

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I think that one of the concepts that is probably the most difficult for many people to "get into" is the concept of nothingness or void that is spoken so much about in Zen.

When I think about "nothing" I like to think about Hakuin's Koan:

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

People have written volumes on that koan and each is probably right and each is probably wrong. 

My personal view is that we live in a world of illusions ... and the illusions are built upon all those life lessons we've learnt as children and then adults that tell us ... this is the world of reality.  But one man's reality is another man's illusion.  Our minds spin and spin realities and concepts ... based on nothing but an illusory conception as to what reality ... the whole vast infinite ... is.  Humility, if nothing else should advise us that a finite thing cannot understand the infinite ... and until we reach Nirvana, we are finite ... we're born and grow and die.  So to me ... the world can be seen through our illusions ... but reality is beyond us.  The sound of one hand clapping is - nothing.

just form and shapes
shadows in an empty room
- illusions

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contemplating
shadows of the morning
an empty room

(c) G.s.k. 14

Carpe Diem Special - September 4, 2014

St. Francis of Assisi is not only my favorite saint, but he's also the patron saint of Italy!

 

 

Today's quote on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is from St. Francis:

 
[...] "For it is in giving that we receive." [...]

Italy until very recently was a very poor country .. divided over the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, the people learnt to live with their poverty despite the encroaching Normans, Germans, Spanish, Saracens or whomever.  On top of all that there was the Church and its opulence, and seeming indifference to the poor of the Earth! This gave rise to many religious reformers, many of whom found their way to the stake for heresy ... a fate that was nearly St. Francis' as well!  It was a miracle and of course the humble personality of Francis which saved his order from becoming numbered among the many "poverelli", as the members of these movements were called in his day, to be marked as heretics.

Francis' illumination came about after he'd returned from war.  He had been a prisoner in the dungeons of Pisa.  His father, a rich merchant was horrified that his only son should renounce the world to live as a beggar in the Tuscan hills.  There are many stories about S. Francis ... we all know of the story of his preaching to the creatures of the Earth ... like birds and even wolves, whom he called his brothers and sisters.  Exactly why Italy chose him for their patron saint is beyond me and I don't want to research it right now.  I'd like to think it was because the people who'd lived in such poverty for centuries felt that only a beggar could intercede for them at the throne of God.

brother sparrow
worry not about the morrow
fly freely in the sky

ah - sister moon
your light illuminates
the winter valley

accumulate love
arid money will leave
an empty soul

an autumn walk
among the poor of the streets
Francis' people

haunty rich men
your souls live in poverty
you receive nothing

the here and now
serenely understanding
a spider's web

Writing with Gibran - Beggar - August 31, 2014

This is the last  haiku prompt dedicated to "Sea and Foam" offered by Carpe Diem Haiku Kai the month began with the following quote:

I am forever walking upon these shores,

Betwixt the sand and the foam,

The high tide will erase my foot-prints,

And the wind will blow away the foam.

But the sea and the shore will remain 

Forever.

Something to always keep in mind as we reflect upon life!  Here are the quotes that will inspire the beggar series:

[...] "We are all beggars at the gate of the temple, and each one of us receives his share of the bounty of the King when he enters the temple, and when he goes out. But we are all jealous of one another, which is another way of belittling the King". [...]

envy at the gate
among the rich and the poor
always wanting more

beggars at the gate
searching for recognition
the king showers gifts

jealous of others
the gates of heaven close
againt the anger

the here and now
 enjoying life's bounty
gateway to heaven

©  G.s.k. '14

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Now for a beautiful series from Kikaku and Issa:

the beggar!

he has Heaven and Earth,

for his summer clothes

© Kikaku

  Now a few haiku by Issa.

kimi ga yo wa kojiki no ie mo nobori kana

Great Japan!
even a beggar's house
has a summer banner

kiji naite ume ni kojiki no yo nari keri

pheasant crying--
it's a plum blossom-filled
beggar's world now!

hatsu yuki ya asaebisu suru kado kojiki

first snowfall--
early morning at my gate
a beggar

 

 

at the temple gate

I bow in front of beggars

honoring their spirit

© Chèvrefeuille

beggar's bowl,

chased by the autumn wind,

enters the temple

© Chèvrefeuille

 

Writing with Gibran - Dreams - August 31, 2014

We are nearing the end of the month of August and coming to the close of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai's daily meme dedicated to "Sea and Foam" .... This post is dedicated to dreams:

[...] "How can I lose faith in the justice of life, when the dreams of those who sleep upon feathers are not more beautiful than the dreams of those who sleep upon the earth?" [...]

[...] "The flowers of spring are winter’s dreams related at the breakfast table of the angels". [...]

[...] "I would not be the least among men with dreams and the desire to fulfill them, rather than the greatest with no dreams and no desires".[...]

Chevrefeuille's Haiku

breakfast with angels

as spring is starting after the cold -

flowering trees

© Chèvrefeuille

after the dark winter

cherry trees are blooming again

Ah! what a joy!

© Chèvrefeuille

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a child's dream
on tarmack in colored chalk
a happy home

in feathered beds
the rich dream of their riches
dragons far away

the Earth's dreams
brightly colored spring flowers
a bee's reality

no dreams or desires
fulfilled in awakened void
zen monk happily walks

 © G.s.k. '14

Writing With Gibran - Solitude (Inner Self) - August 18, 2014

 

Chevrèfeuille writes on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai:

For today's prompt I have chosen a nice quote from "Sand & Foam":

[...] "Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches; Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth". [...]

This post was particularly interesting and revealing to me ... I can so sympathize with the author and curator of Carpe Diem through this post more than I ever have before.  I really think you should drop by to read the post.
In the meantime, this is Chèvrefeuille's haiku:

 deep down inside
hiding in the deeper layers of the soul
divine inspiration

© Chèvrefeuille

Another haiku/senryu ispired on this post:

scent of incense
guiding me through the depths of my soul -
showing the light

© Chèvrefeuille

 through the lonely mist
walking solitary paths
seeking connection

the human journey
through the meanders of soul
enlightened nature

together with nature
united spirit and soul
the lonely voyage

the pitter patter
rain falls on the tarmack
a heartbeat

solitude
silence of inner self
reaching out for nature

 © G.s.k. '14

Writing with Chiyo-Ni (5) - "waterweed" - July 26, 2014

Today's is the last July post dedicated to the famous woman haiku poet Chiyo-Ni at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.  Let's have a look at hr poem:

waterweed
floating away, despite
the butterfly’s weight on it

© Chiyo-Ni

This haiku brought to my mind the image of the flow of life, which continues to flow despite the ups and downs of emotional "interference" ... whether they be joyous, sad, frightening or enraged ... emotions flair, but pass and like floating weeds life continues.

the river flows
under the bridge endlessly
though mosquitoes bite

the branch floats by
playing ducks squawk and dive
on river Sarca

(C) G.s.k. '14

Shuukan - Meander - July 15, 2014

Today for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai  Shuukan... we'll meander!  An interesting word meander ... to sort of walk around without any special goal in site.  Not an easy prompt!  Here's a haiku by Shashi to give us a little "orientation" of at least one of  the meanings of the word:

meandering in dark
forest of senses, souls walk
with karmic baggage

© Shashi S

In the sense of the spiritual the journey of life, Shashi walks through the dark forest of  the senses carrying his karmic baggage, as do we all ... a beautiful inspirational haiku!

 

under tears of leaves
 meandering pathways
the coo-coo calls

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meandering path
through the autumn leaves winding
towards winter dreams