Our new episode

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I will post our new episode tomorrow. So have a little bit patience ...

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille, your host

Carpe Diem #426, Jinne in (temple 68)

Dear O-Henro ... Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you did like our temple-visit of yesterday in which I explained another part of the Zen State of Haiku, simplicity, and that it inspired you to write haiku as if you were child again. As you maybe have noticed I am a bit behind with commenting on all of your wonderful posts, but I will catch up as soon as possible. So ... be patient ... I will surely visit you all.

Today we are visiting the second temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Kagawa Prefecture, Jinne in (temple 68). Jinne in is situated in Kan'onji City, a city with almost 65.000 inhabitants. On their official city-website I found a wonderful photo of a sight in Kan'onji City's Kotohuki Park. It's a Sand Coin Effigy and it's called Zenigata Sazo. It's really a wonderful sight.

Zenigata Sazo or on wikipedia

Isn't it a wonderful piece of land-art? Really awsome ...
Jenni in is devoted to Amida Nyorai and as you maybe know Issa, one of the four greatest haiku-poets, was a devotee to Amida Nyorai, so I love to share a few haiku written by Issa about Amida Buddha.

saku yuri ni namu amida bu no hayaru nari

amid blooming lilies
many, many prayers
to Amida Buddha

This one refers to the thanksgiving prayer Namu Amida Butsu (All praise to Amida Buddha). With this prayer the followers of Amida Buddha hoped to enter the Pure Land.

And another one:

 

suzushisa ni mida dôtai no agura kana

in the cool air
like Amida Buddha...
cross-legged

And to conclude this episode ... I found a wonderful photo with an along going haiku by Issa which I turned into a haiga.

into morning-glories
with one shoulder bare ...
holyman

(c) Issa
(photo-credits: "Wonderful Buddha")

By the way, "Wonderful Buddha" is for sure worth to visit. It's a great wordpress-weblog about Buddhism.

in deep prayer
eyes closed in devotion -
Lotus starts to bloom

(c) Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until March 22th 11.59 AM (CET). I will try to publish our next episode, Motoyama-ji (temple 70), later on today. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all.

Carpe Diem #425, Daiko-ji (temple 67)

Dear O-Henro ... Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Zen has an extreme simplicity and the volibility of the Japanese language has been completely overcome in haiku. Simplîcity is what Basho means as he says: "Get a three-foot child to write haîku". As we write haiku with the eyes of a child, which îs still there deep înside us, than the simplicity of haiku is very clear. For example I will give a haiku by Basho. It's (I think) one of his well-known haiku:

michi-no-be no mokuge wa uma ni kuware keri

the Rose of Sharon
by the roadside,
was eaten by the horse

(c) Basho (1644 - 1694)

Rose of Sharon

What Basho means is something that belongs to Zen, namely, that we must not wish to do something clever, write a fine poem, but do it as naturally, as freely, as unselfconsciously as a child does everything. Another haiku by Basho, in which his childiss simplicity is exposed. He composed this one on a snowy day when his friend, Sora, called on him:

kimi hi take yoki mono misen yukimaroge

you light the fire;
I'll show you something nice, -
a great ball of snow!

(c) Basho

Issa also has that simplicity of a child as he writes:

I could eat it! -
this snow that falls
so softly, so softly

The aim of haiku is to express the prime phenomena in words. "What you see, is what you get", is  a proverb we all know I think. It's that way too for haiku in all it's simple grace. "What you see, is what you have to read in haiku". This says it all as we know haiku catches a short moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown in water. To conclude this episode another haiku by Basho, a haiku which is the max as it is in simplicity. In this haiku he heralds the beauty of Matsushima.

Matsushima!
Ah! Matsushima, ah!
Matsushima, ah!

(c) Basho

Matsushima

This simplicity in the realm of thought and feeling appears as brevity in that of form. Silence is deeper than speaking; from silence springs speaking, and returns to it.

The brevity of haiku has its origin in the endeavour to appeal from the unconscious in one human being to the unconscious in others. It's like talking with your beloved one without words. You and your beloved one don't need words, your hearts beating together as one are doing the talking. You understand eachother without words. That's the kind of simplicity which is meant here.
   Live your life as a child, see the world around you as a child as if you see it for the very first time and enjoy.

cherry blossom petals
fall one by one in the puddle
hugged by the moon

(c) Chèvrefeuille

what a joy
the song of birds
a new day rises

(c) Chèvrefeuille

Let us enter Daiko-ji temple, devoted to the Buddha of healing and Medicine, as a child and see its beauty in all its simplicity. Daiko-ji is the first temple which we visit in Kagawa Prefecture (the fourth 'country' on Shikoku Island).

Daiko-ji (temple 67)

Nightingale's voice
resonates through Daiko-ji -
Ah! that healing sound

(c) Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open for your submissions until March 22th 11.59 AM (CET). I will try to publish our next episode, Jinne in (temple 68), later on today. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku written in the simplicity of a child with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.
PS.: I hope to publish our new promptlist for April, modern kigo, as soon as possible.

Carpe Diem #424, Unpen-ji (temple 66)

Dear O-Henro ... Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Here we are at Unpenji, temple 66, being back in Tokushima Prefecture (the first Prefecture we entered) were we started. It's just for today that we are back at the beginning of our Shikoku Pilgrimage. Another day has passed away and it's time to explore another theme of the Stata of Zen of Haiku.
Today we will explore non-morality. Zen is non-moral. About morality as such, pure morality, there is something hard and mechanical and dead often makes us wish to do without it. So-called 'good' actions are, as far as the morality of them is concerned, cold, and move us to a merely cold admiration. It is in this manner, rather than then the action or its results, the manner of the person who does it, that the value lies.
At bottom, this 'manner' is the poetry of the action. It has nothing to do with the morality of it. An example written by Oshima Ryota (1718-1787), a not so well-known haiku-poet:

angry and offended,
I came back:
the willow tree in the garden

Willow Tree Bonsai

What a wonderful haiku don't you think too. I can picture the scene. Ryota is offended by someone and is angry about that, but as he returns home and sees the willow tree in his garden, his anger dissapeared like snow in the sun.

Buddha taught that by fulfilment of the moral laws a man may enter into Nirvana. He never suggested that any other means was possible. The teaching of Christ is exactly the same.

Another haiku-example, this time by Taigi (1709-1771), a contemporary of Ryota:

not a single stone
to throw at the dog, -
the wintry moon

Wintry Moon

Taigi was angry on a dog who was barking the whole night through and he sought for a stone to throw at it, but then he saw the wintery moon, and his anger vanished.
This is poetry, howerver inhumane it may also be. The point lies in the fact that e.g. Christ was not hindered by his morality from doing the will of God. It is not a merely superficial view which considers this something which is above morality and destructive. Life is only possible through death, but the positive side of the matter is in life itself. The strange thing is that, because of, or in spite of, or irrespective of morality, all things work together for good, all that we behold is full of blessings.
It is in this sense that we say, Zen is non-moral. It lives a deeper life than morality as such, not cast down by sin or elated by virtuos action, a life of painful joy without ceasing.
For this episode I gratefully used the Haiku-series written by R.H.Blyth.

Unpen-ji (temple 66)

Today we visit Unpen-ji (temple 66) situated in Myoshi, Tokushima Prefecture, devoted to Senju Kannon, a Buddha which we have met earlier on our pilgrimage.The city's flower is a beautiful flower from the family of orchids.

Habenaria Radiata, the flower of Myoshi

scent of orchids
overwhelms me as I enter
Unpen-ji temple

(c) Chèvrefeuille

boiling of anger
after the quarrel with her -
Honeysuckle perfume

(c) Chèvrefeuille

It is not easy to catch non-morality in a haiku, so I tried it with the second haiku above, but ... I am not satisfied with it.

Well ... it was a joy to write this post and I hope you all did like it. This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until March 20th 11.59 AM (CET). I hope to post our new episode, Daiko-ji (temple 67), later on today.

Carpe Diem #423, Sankaku-ji (temple 65)

Dear O-Henro ... Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As we go on with our Shikoku Pilgrimage today we have walked the trail for over two-third of the total length ... Today we will visit the last temple in Ehime Prefecture, Sankaku-ji (temple 65). Sankaku-ji we will find in Shikokuchuo with a population of almost 95000 people. Shikokuchuo is mostly known for it's paper- and paper-products industry.
As in the most Japanese cities Shikokuchuo has its own mayor festival, the Doi Taiko (Japanese Drum) festival which takes place on 13 to 15th October every year.

Doi Taiko Festival

So, maybe we can visit this festival as we celebrate our second anniversary this October. As you maybe know its my goal to visit Japanese Festivals in October and so this Doi Taiko Dai we will see again.

As we are on our pilgrimage, there is no celebration at hand, but just a tough walk along the 88 temples on Shikoku Island.
Sankaku-ji is devoted to Juichimen Kannon, the boddhisattva of compassion, the Far Eastern equivalent of the Christian Virgin/Mother Mary.

Sankaku-ji (temple 65)

Its a tough climb to Sankaku-ji, we have to enter it by a stairway, a pilgrimage by itself. Well ... no one has ever said that a pilgrimage was easy so ... that we all know now.

Japanese drums
resonate through the spring-night -
evil spirits flee

evil spirits flee
as prayers for compassion
resonate through the night

compassionate
she ... the full moon of March
lights the dark night

(c) Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until March 19th 11.59 AM (CET). I will post our next episode, Unpen-ji (temple 66), later on.
Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka or haibun with us all.

Carpe Diem Special #82, The Pilgrimage to Santiago De Compostela (part 8) Agape

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Well here it is the delayed special of yesterday. We are going on with our pilgrimage to Santaigo De Compostela together with Paulo Coelho and his companion Petrus.
In the last special we arrived at Logrono were a big celebration took place. Paulo and his companion left that town very fast and are now again on their way to Santiago De Compostela.
Paulo and Petrus are strong men and while on their pilgrimage they talk a lot. As we encounter them again they are talking about agape, but what is agape? Petrus tells us what agape is:

[...] "Agape is total love. It is the love that consumes the person who experiences it. Whoever knows and experiences agape learns that nothing else in the world is important – just love. This was the kind of love that Jesus felt for humanity, and it was so great that it shook the stars and changed the course of history. His solitary life enabled him to accomplish things that kings, armies, and empires could not. ‘During the millennia of Christian civilization, many individuals have been seized by this love that consumes. They had so much to give – and their world demanded so little that they went out into the deserts and to isolated places, because the love they felt was so great that it transformed them. They became the hermit saints that we know today. ‘For you and for me, who experience a different form of agape, this life may seem terrible. But the love that consumes makes everything else – absolutely everything – lose its importance. Those men lived just to be consumed by their love.’" [...] (Source: The PIlgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

Agape

Here we learn what agape really is. It's unconditional love for all and everything. This is what Paulo had to learn again and through this lesson he is a step closer to regaining his sword what he lost a while ago. This lesson he needed to grow further. For this he went on his way to Santiago de Compostela.

unconditional
without exceptions built in
live agape

(c) Chèvrefeuille

Without agape I couldn't live or excist. It's that strong unconditional love that makes me who I am an oncology-nurse and a haiku-poet. Without agape I couldn't do what I do. This agape is why I post every day a new episode to share my love, my unconditional love with you all my dear Haijin.
This love is very strong and in this time of year, when we are on our way to Easter, this love will become stronger. This time of year we call 'Lent'.

Narcissus Poeticus

narcissus bloom
shining their light on our path -
He has risen

(c) Chèvrefeuille

This Special episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until March 19th 11.59 AM (CET). Our next episode will be, Sankakuji (temple 65).

Delay

I will publish our new special episode tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.