Tag Archives: zen poem

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autumn haiku

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Oak-and-coloursYesterday, an afternoon of gifts for autumn fireside reading!  Zen Women arrived by post followed closely by Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems by Stephen Addiss, Fumiko Yamamoto and Akira Yamamoto.

Stephen Addiss is an amazing teacher of calligraphy and haiku, professor at the University of Richmond VA, and just an all-round generous person.  His books on Zenga are beautiful and gently instructive.  Stephen doesn’t overwhelm you with his obvious scholarship; he invites you to share in his passion for that turn of phrase or shift of the brush tip.  The Art of Zen is the usual collection of zenga trotted out by critics and fans but my favourite book is 77 Dances. He is also the editor of South by South East: Haiku and Haiku Arts, a little publication of haiku submissions from colleagues and students.

Falls-in-background

from Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems

Autumn wind —
in my heart, how many
mountains and rivers

Kyoshi


Dusk —
while the earth and I talk
leaves fall

Issa


The pine wind
circling around the eaves —
autumn deepens

Basho


Thank you for practising,

Genju

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sic transit gloria, she wrote back

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More Ryokan.

The moon appears in every season, it is true,
But surely it’s best in fall.
In autumn, the mountains loom and water runs clear.
A brilliant disk floats across the infinite sky,
And there is no sense of light and darkness,
For everything is permeated with its presence.
The boundless sky above, the autumn chill on my face.
I take my precious staff and wander about the hills.
Not a speck of the world’s dust anywhere,
Just the brilliant beams of moonlight.
I hope others, too, are gazing on this moon tonight,
And that it’s illuminating all kinds of people.

zmm main hall

zmm main hall

After reading of Roshi Daido Loori’s retirement, I sent a note to my teacher.  “Don’t get any ideas!” I typed.

“Sic transit gloria,” she wrote back.

Separation anxiety.

Zen Mountain Monastery was my first encounter with hard-nosed Zen.  I fell in love with the rituals – and Daido Loori is all about finding the sacred in the rituals.  When I heard him define liturgy as the language of a community, I knew I had found a precious jewel in his teachings.  My friends call it obsessive-compulsive features of my nature.  So be it.

Denkoroku

Denkoroku

mro-the-path

Everyday rituals connect me to others.  The cup of tea, the favourite songs, the email signoff, the restaurant where we celebrate birthdays, the sweater I always wear when I’m in writing mode – all intricate containers of our commitment to each other.

How is there practice without commitment?

How does that commitment manifest without an embodiment of what is felt internally?

This is the gift of our teachers:  to always be present to us with through the ritual of practice .

mro-Butterfly1

<images from Zen Mountain Monastery>

Thank you for practicing,

Genju