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Thread: ARTS: Poetry

  1. #51
    May I never again feel enmity toward any brother or sister here in this Sangha and as we bought flowers for my wife my daughter bought warmth and constellations of father this to all fathers, and mothers who must act as fathers in this uncertain world may both find exact resources for their children, and may all who have fathers and mothers celebrate peace, joy, and understanding, for all of us are deserving of peace joy and understanding. Today and always let it be true, for Higher Powers of each of us all.
    Gassho
    Bright Blessings
    Tai Shi
    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  2. #52
    This is the day I became frightened for the US! There is no plan in our country to save us, THE US, and I refuse to call us, THE USA. We no longer represent freedom, and what we have is chaos among the states for there in no plan to save us. From the beginning it was chaos as my friends refused to wear masks in public. What do you call it when one man wields so much power for self gain? What would you call it when freedoms are being suppressed in a country that once not long ago represented freedom, and now there is less freedom which relies on greed and avarice, and dishonesty, and anger? Am I wrong? My hope lies in people of color throughout this planet, people of the majority. When people of color find computers, and smart phones and learn more fully to wield them, and the internet becomes a tool for true freedom, we will see a great revolution in voting and interconnectednes, in power, in acceptance of all humankind, not just old white men. The situation is grim, especially in the US at the tom. at the top where there is military might. May we as Buddhists represent a peaceful approach to might and subjugation, for we are a large portion of the Earth, and if Buddhists can find a way to be sane, and caring, to teach peace, and understanding, and acceptance, and my hope lies in people of color as well, people of color who are the vast majority of this Earth will use smart phones, computers, and the internet, we will see power taken from old white men. men at the top, and persuasion through a means that will bring about change, and women and the disabled, with this message I am becoming not afraid, and we as Zen, for Mahayana can change the world for the better, and Buddhists of color and women and men and the disabled all together united for the good the true and the beautiful. I have wept for this world, for the people of the world not able to understand the danger in fossil fuels, and nuclear, and all forms of negative human power, we shall survive. Remember Gandhi marchaning with his followers to the sea, to make salt, how they changed a nation, and how a small group of blue coats forced a larger power, a great power to relent. And how a small group of Bolsheviks provided hope which we can delete from negative force for peace, We must not lose hope is education, and communication, for reality is the way for all sentient beings; please let not my tears be in vain, let me turn my pain, and fear, and anguish into realities, into reaching all sentient beings, all who would...Let not my disabilities, and each individual slight be a stopping point. Let us rely on our individual gifts for the better of humankind and all sentient beings, and all the earth as I rely on my gift of poetry. I beg of you, read this and unite for the better.
    T
    lah
    Gassho
    sat
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 06-28-2020 at 11:33 AM. Reason: Spelling and clarity both to help in every way.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  3. #53
    Ah, Tai Shi, I myself have felt anguish over the very same, and have felt helpless to change anything, being but one person, white and privileged.

    For us the change must start with zazen, yes? That great acknowledging of everything that is, just as it is. It contains everything in all its forms, including you, including me, including all peoples, all colors, all injustices, and all desires.

    As much as zazen contains pain and hurt it also contains justice and joy.

    Brother Tai Shi, let us sit together. Together we begin.

    Gassho,
    Sister Kate Hensho

    Sat

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    Hensho: Knitting Strands / Stranded on a Reef
    "Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises." -Elizabeth Zimmerman

  4. #54
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    Comrades Tai Shi and Hensho
    I read both of your comments and felt great kinship with the words you wrote.
    Gassho
    Onka
    ST

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  5. #55
    Onka:

    Your words are the kindest I've heard all weekend.

    Thank you for sharing them. Without knowing it, you have given me exactly what I need.

    Gassho, Hensho

    sat/lah
    Hensho: Knitting Strands / Stranded on a Reef
    "Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises." -Elizabeth Zimmerman

  6. #56
    Hi Tai Shi and everyone,


    Quote Originally Posted by Tai Shi View Post
    This is the day I became frightened for the US! There is no plan in our country to save us, THE US, and I refuse to call us, THE USA. We no longer represent freedom, and what we have is chaos among the states for there in no plan to save us. From the beginning it was chaos as my friends refused to wear masks in public. What do you call it when one man wields so much power for self gain? What would you call it when freedoms are being suppressed in a country that once not long ago represented freedom, and now there is less freedom which relies on greed and avarice, and dishonesty, and anger? Am I wrong? My hope lies in people of color throughout this planet, people of the majority. ...
    While I am sure many of us empathize with much of what is here, and a lot of it touches on ethics as Buddhist perhaps, I also think some of the content is a bit too political for our Sangha. Let me again explain why ...


    As to politics, we welcome folks left, right and center (the only border being that people are well intentioned, and nothing advocating violence, anger, prejudice and the like). Within those borders, we can agree to disagree, and be tolerant and civil in addressing those who disagree. Our members range from NRA conservatives to a card carrying anarchist and many in between, but I ask them to leave politics at the door.

    The best way to express this is that, within our Practice, Zazen and Sangha, we drop all thought of "me vs. you" "approve vs. disapprove" "left right and center" "win and lose" "right and wrong" ... all to encounter a certain "Good" and "Wholeness" that sweeps through and beyond "me vs. you" and all the rest. A kind of light shines through all of that. There is a Peace and Goodness that leaps through all the battles and anger.

    Then, at the Zendo door, going home, we are free to pick up again our political views and stands on "right and wrong" ... but, perhaps, this time a bit of that light will keep shining at the still still center of it all.

    Sometimes I feel that the Precepts and Vows do drive me to take some open positions on some issues, so for example, I did offer a talk a couple of weeks ago on the current crisis, and how we should have affordable or national health insurance because this is killing people. I rarely speak so openly on issues of social policy, but sometimes I do. It is a fine line, I know.

    Generally, let us keep our eye on the wholeness of the world which leaps beyond all the chaos, division and battles of this ordinary world, Samsara.


    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  7. #57
    all night long
    tossing and turning
    in pain
    opening the window
    there, the cool full moon


    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday/lah-

  8. #58
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    Gassho
    Onka
    st

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    穏 On (Calm)
    火 Ka (Fires)
    They/She.

  9. #59
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    WALKING.WORDS.


    The Game Changer
    Check
    Contents of bucket
    Books and cushion
    Present
    A goalless goal
    Is a goal
    Unable to be
    Ready?
    For what
    Lies ahead
    Lies ahead
    Lies ahead
    Is already gone
    Moving. Walking
    150 metres
    Up. Back
    Strengthened
    Spirit
    Enhanced
    Practice
    Is Practice of the present
    Needed?
    Daily.

    Gassho
    Onka
    st

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    穏 On (Calm)
    火 Ka (Fires)
    They/She.

  10. #60
    Unfortunately, I too regard my words as too political and not after any Buddhist ideal, ideals, per Dharma-- so sorry Jundo, for I do not regard you as a Patriarch, or male status quo. You have been a trusted friend. I regret treating any country as pariah; one must first regard it's people. Since last week, I have been detoxing from Percocet (Oxy with Tylenol) originally prescribed for my arthritic condition, and I take zero now, and have had none since my last pill Sunday afternoon. I have the brave support my 12th step friends, and I have been hospitalized until today. As a poet I am happy my post generated interest, however my comment was not art. I believe first and foremost in art, and cannot regard current trends in poetry as what I learned in school, for I was made to hold high the good, the true, and the beautiful. There may be some obtuse meaning in form and content toward some obscure belief, but it is not art. For years I have been ill with this narcotic, checked myself willingly into Behavioral Health, where I received minimal professional help because of current trends in medicine, and I sat among patients who were not wearing masks, within 6 inches of each other; I came home with medical approval, will recover more fully with my wife who tells me it will take weeks to feel better and I hope never to take, or look at a Percocet pill again. I was on far too much, far to long to uphold my Undertaking of the Precepts. I made the decision after becoming depressed, entering to be observed by medical people. I regret if I hurt anyone in this Sangha which I hold dear, and love, and or follow with my strongest quality, my loyalty. Forgive me friends, for I care for Jundo, and all of you; we are all in this together. Of Lord Buddha, which is no Lord, smile of knowledge, asking not, giving much, let me me rest tonight though I might not sleep. Dear Sangha, I stand in silence, afraid of what my future holds.
    Tai Shi
    not worthy pf Calm Poetry
    sat/lah
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 07-04-2020 at 05:49 AM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  11. #61
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    Comrade Tai Shi
    You received the gentlest of slaps on the wrist for a post that was deemed I tiny bit too political. Rest assured comrade that I regularly receive a kick up the arse in private from Jundo.
    Great news about getting out of hospital, I reckon Marjorie is the perfect person to help you stay off of those pills. Speaking of pills, it sounds like you're in a terrific headspace to be able to manage any and all withdrawals especially with so many years of sobriety under your belt.
    Day by day my friend and in Dharma parlance moment by moment.
    Be kind to yourself comrade.
    Gassho
    Onka
    st

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    穏 On (Calm)
    火 Ka (Fires)
    They/She.

  12. #62
    Quote Originally Posted by Tai Shi View Post
    Unfortunately, I too regard my words as too political and not after any Buddhist ideal, ideals, per Dharma-- so sorry Jundo, for I do not regard you as a Patriarch, or male status quo. You have been a trusted friend. I regret treating any country as pariah; one must first regard it's people. Since last week, I have been detoxing from Percocet (Oxy with Tylenol) originally prescribed for my arthritic condition, and I take zero now, and have had none since my last pill Sunday afternoon. I have the brave support my 12th step friends, and I have been hospitalized until today. As a poet I am happy my post generated interest, however my comment was not art. I believe first and foremost in art, and cannot regard current trends in poetry as what I learned in school, for I was made to hold high the good, the true, and the beautiful. There may be some obtuse meaning in form and content toward some obscure belief, but it is not art. For years I have been ill with this narcotic, checked myself willingly into Behavioral Health, where I received minimal professional help because of current trends in medicine, and I sat among patients who were not wearing masks, within 6 inches of each other; I came home with medical approval, will recover more fully with my wife who tells me it will take weeks to feel better and I hope never to take, or look at a Percocet pill again. I was on far too much, far to long to uphold my Undertaking of the Precepts. I made the decision after becoming depressed, entering to be observed by medical people. I regret if I hurt anyone in this Sangha which I hold dear, and love, and or follow with my strongest quality, my loyalty. Forgive me friends, for I care for Jundo, and all of you; we are all in this together. Of Lord Buddha, which is no Lord, smile of knowledge, asking not, giving much, let me me rest tonight though I might not sleep. Dear Sangha, I stand in silence, afraid of what my future holds.
    Tai Shi
    not worthy pf Calm Poetry
    sat/lah
    Gassho


    Be Well Tai Shi

    Doshin
    St

  13. #63
    The Game Changer
    Check
    Contents of bucket
    Books and cushion
    Present
    A goalless goal
    Is a goal
    Unable to be
    Ready?
    For what
    Lies ahead
    Lies ahead
    Lies ahead
    Is already gone
    Moving. Walking
    150 metres
    Up. Back
    Strengthened
    Spirit
    Enhanced
    Practice
    Is Practice of the present
    Needed?
    Daily.
    Lovely, Onka!


    Summer night
    the heat
    reaches everywhere.
    Longing for sleep
    oh, for Master Mayu's fan*!


    *Mayu, Zen master Baoche, was fanning himself. A monk approached and said, “Master, the nature of wind is permanent and there is no place it does not reach. Why, then, do you fan yourself?”
    “Although you understand that the nature of the wind is permanent,” Mayu replied, “you do not understand the meaning of its reaching everywhere.”
    “What is the meaning of its reaching everywhere?” asked the monk again. Mayu just kept fanning himself. The monk bowed deeply.
    The actualization of the buddha-dharma, the vital path of its correct transmission, is like this. If you say that you do not need to fan yourself because the nature of wind is permanent and you can have wind without fanning, you will understand neither permanence nor the nature of wind. The nature of wind is permanent. Because of that, the wind of the buddha's house brings forth the gold of the earth and makes fragrant the cream of the long river.

    -- Genjōkōan (Kaz Tanahashi translation)

  14. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kokuu View Post
    Lovely, Onka!


    Summer night
    the heat
    reaches everywhere.
    Longing for sleep
    oh, for Master Mayu's fan*!
    Nice! Poetry and a teaching.
    Thanks Kokuu
    Onka
    st

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    穏 On (Calm)
    火 Ka (Fires)
    They/She.

  15. #65

    Poetry

    Nigh after 12,
    I settle into clean sheets,
    Playing our game,
    An afternoon of pleasure
    Smells of town,
    People home
    From COVID 19,
    I ask “Is there no god?”
    Wonder if God abandoned
    Nation gone willingly
    Into deceit or he embodies
    Deceit what one calls
    Citizens out to life
    Into better life, better,
    Detention sequester our kids
    Pass within one foot
    28 centimeters from my back
    Close enough to contaminate
    Or no as whizzing bicycle
    Vaults past my back
    I’m lonely already my week
    To walking to Precepts
    I sat Metta each morning
    At 5 in hospital that’s
    What kept me life
    In many ways to turn
    Corner each evening
    Bedtime or dinner,
    That’s when I would
    Buddhahood reach
    Only in sitting
    When I’m counting
    Thanks to simplicity.
    sat
    Tai Shi
    Gassho


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    Last edited by Tai Shi; 07-12-2020 at 05:32 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  16. #66

    Poetry





    My, I’m grateful and can even have Time, which I have, and Onka, you and I have time, or would I need at least partial Time. I can actually feel it now that much is gone and I have gained, I did sit 1/2 hour each weekday and walk loving kindness for Sangha.
    sat
    Tai Shi
    Gassho
    Deep bows


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    Last edited by Tai Shi; 07-12-2020 at 09:15 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  17. #67

    Poetry

    What have I to give
    Father but life soon
    My body will stiffen
    Cold ready for cremation
    Fire of gas because natural
    Death brought me warm
    Solid chime as Sidhatha
    Predicted. I move
    To less attachment,
    Died and left shell of life
    Dancing on beach after
    Crossing over to other
    Shore I know now
    Why Buddha became
    My following life
    Had taken for years
    My blood too thick
    Yes I’ll die of something
    More believing in more
    Than I ever did with reality
    Induce I’m
    Satisfied.
    sat
    Tai Shi
    Gassho


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    Last edited by Tai Shi; 07-12-2020 at 09:10 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  18. #68

    Poetry

    Finally, I’ve lived
    I’m sitting,
    Trying when I sit
    Through life of brain
    My essence relieved
    Established, no deadening
    I feel accepted by my
    Day of Shikantaza
    Yes I rely on your compassion
    This was “one step for man
    One great step for mankind,”
    Why not humankind where
    We move in our Sangha
    Away to our sitting,
    Had hoped to sleep
    By my side
    I slept
    Early
    So early
    Lord Buddha
    Sutra lives in me!

    Tai Shi
    sat
    Gassho


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    Last edited by Tai Shi; 07-12-2020 at 05:16 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  19. #69
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    Comrade Tai Shi
    You're on fire!
    Keep these words filled with strength and resiliance coming.
    Gassho
    Onka
    ST
    穏 On (Calm)
    火 Ka (Fires)
    They/She.

  20. #70
    Let's Be Honest

    What would I do
    Without honesty?
    Is it Goodness
    Resilience, unbelief?
    Desire of flame,
    Will my mucus
    Membranes regain
    Efficacy, more
    Life as dizzying
    I sit in easy chair?
    Oh, Burgundy
    Wine color
    I cannot have
    Except to sit
    Clothethed in universal.
    Hope, sweet, lingering
    Upon as I sit. Seated
    Dew on grass, how
    Zazen. Could I know
    Relife without
    First day alone
    In universe?
    Hot with molton
    Desire for Life?
    With more Life
    As Buddha like, I attempt
    Relief from dizzy worldliness
    Desire, Duka more than
    I can grasp, ever grasping
    Grasping without holding.
    Someday my body will
    Expire, I shall burn
    In my aftermath of honesty.
    My life, of grasp I now feel.
    This is goodness as I let go.

    Tai Shi
    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Lah fir real.
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 07-09-2020 at 02:05 PM. Reason: spell and edit
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  21. #71
    Quote Originally Posted by Tai Shi View Post
    Nigh after 12,
    I settle into clean sheets,
    Playing our game,
    An afternoon of pleasure
    Smells of town,
    People home
    From COVID 19,
    I ask “Is there no god?”
    Wonder if God abandoned
    Nation gone willingly
    Into deceit or he embodies
    Deceit what one calls
    Citizens out to life
    Into better life, better,
    Detention sequester our kids
    Pass within one foot
    28 centimeters from my back
    Close enough to contaminate
    Or no as whizzing bicycle
    Vaults past my back
    I’m lonely already my week
    To walking to Precepts
    I sat Metta each morning
    At 5 in hospital that’s
    What kept me life
    In many ways to turn
    Corner each evening
    Bedtime or dinner,
    That’s when I would
    Buddhahood reach
    Only in sitting
    When I’m counting
    Thanks to simplicity.
    sat
    Tai Shi
    Gassho


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Thank you all it’s time fo sitting and Buddhist behavior even when I mix it with Christian golden rule or even compassion of Jesus as with the Buddha Sidhartha.
    Tai Shi
    sat
    Gassho


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    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  22. #72
    I like several simple lines in your poem, Onka, and the lines are image which I find necessary in good poetry.
    Tha Shi
    sat
    Lah
    Gassho


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    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  23. #73
    The image begets a great question in your poem Kokuu, again as great a question as does the image in Onka’s story at the end of her poem. Good poetry goes beyond the narrative to open another reality.
    Tai Shi
    sat / lah
    Brief to the point good commentary.
    Gassho


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    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  24. #74
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tai Shi View Post
    I like several simple lines in your poem, Onka, and the lines are image which I find necessary in good poetry.
    Tha Shi
    sat
    Lah
    Gassho


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Simple lines for a simple student. Thanks for the kind words comrade.
    Gassho Onka
    ST
    穏 On (Calm)
    火 Ka (Fires)
    They/She.

  25. #75
    My Own Anger

    As I relieved
    Of serious anger
    By MAO inhibitor,
    He gave me life,
    Where I forgive,
    Prepare me for death,
    My wife side by side
    Ultimate Shikantaza
    Reality comes leaping
    Like fox into night.

    Tai Shi
    sat
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 08-06-2020 at 11:03 AM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  26. #76
    sitting still
    the shadow on the wall is not me
    does it have Buddha nature?



    Gassho,

    Kirk

    sat
    流文

    I know nothing.

  27. #77
    Sit Better than Yesterday

    Fountain of Verse,
    Better than yesterday
    Visible, renound
    My teacher, human,
    Sits better today
    Yesterday exactly
    I know which
    Dharma, which Dharma
    My mouth, my restraint
    Is better than yesterday
    Knowing is knowing lovely
    Smell, tast all eyes, felt
    Sound, all poems
    Read aloud, for poems
    For me better in three
    Verses, more lines, better
    Today, yesterday, and now.

    Tai Shi
    sat/ lah
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 08-06-2020 at 11:08 AM. Reason: corrections, edited
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  28. #78
    Kirkmc, beautiful, craft, in three lines, Oh, haiku!
    Tai Shi
    sat
    Gassho
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 08-05-2020 at 09:01 AM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  29. #79
    Shall longer lines be difficult? No. Each line might contain "Black Petals" on a wet bow, bowel, wood for thought so these words display an image-- more editing with Pound's images, sensation, in Buddhism; can one to six, name them in a poem? SO, plese, I invite you. Creativity a sitting practice. YOUR SPACE!!

    White Wordless Thank you Kokuu for your suggestion.


    Transendent white
    Weeds, in my back
    Yard, fill voids
    of distress. Pandemic.

    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Tai Shi
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 08-29-2020 at 06:17 PM. Reason: Title. Thank You Kokuu
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  30. #80
    White Wordless

    Transendent white
    Weeds, in my back-
    Yard, fill voids
    of distress. Pandemic.

    I like that very much, Tai Shi!

    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday/lah-

  31. #81
    One of my rare attempts at poetry. A fellow in an online Zen group posted this pessimistic piece ...

    Gad Horowitz‎

    DUKKHA
    OH IS’NT THIS TOO PESSIMISTIC?

    Torn from the womb screaming hungry helpless pining paining yearning for love approval safety beg and plead and threaten and whimper and bluster grab and waste one thing after another study work get rich kill study work get rich kill good sex bad sex no sex love hate envy apathy and terror boredom chatter and blather smug self-satisfied and cheery beery glum and weary as body slowly quickly suddenly falls apart more and more sickness and pain and fear of death and wishing for death body falls apart shredded hollowed more and more. how are things? things fall apart. grab some wisdom suck it up too bad for you if you don’t. mourn the wounds the losses of mother father wife husband all close friends one after another even children . it’s only natural. the good books say just relax and accept everything swallow and digest those insults and you’ll have no problem. isn’t that wonderful?
    stiff upper lip bite the bullet resentment and blah blah “self expression”. good for you for “confronting your own mortality” enjoy compulsory equanimity if you know what’s good for you too bad if you don’t live with uncertainty too bad for you if you won’t can’t don’t.
    Tell yourself well it wasnt all bad look on the bright side it wasn’t all bad. I had a nice dinner and cute grandchildren. And a lovely zen garden. Other people are much less fortunate I should be grateful oh so grateful too bad for me if I’m not
    And then do it all over again, again and again maybe this time I’ll be a winner.
    But no. Same old same old. From beginningless time the same losing game. Like and share. Then—maybe — Gone gone utterly and completely gone. Svaha! Maybe.
    Oh my. Yes, the world can be seen so if we wish, but I rejoined ...

    THE CURE FOR DUKKHA
    Oh, isn't this too Shikantastic?


    Born yet beyond birth, silent and satisfied, safe, beyond desire, pain-is-not-suffering, cravings in healthy check, loving, approved and safe, nothing to beg or plead for, free of threat and fear, open hands without grabbing, never a drop of waste, one thing after another yet no place to go, studying and working for their own sake so rich, nobody to kill or be killed (thus we Vow to end the violence!), sex just sex in its time and place, yet more love, never a prisoner or pawn of hate or envy, no way to be apathetic to this treasure of a world, terror exists between our ears yet so does peace, the boredom and celebration of sitting cross legged facing a wall, the loudest chatter and blather of the world is both silence and words of endless wisdom to the attuned ear, the self is satisfied because the self is released, sometimes cheery & sometimes glum yet a Buddha's subtle smile in equanimity through all the ups and downs, sometimes energetic & sometimes weary yet the world keeps turning even as we run or rest, body slowing quickly suddenly falls apart yet there is no time or aging, thus disentangled and content in the face of even sickness and pain and death, moaning and curled up in agony some days as the body falls to pieces yet somehow wonderfully the spirit soars above it all ... observing, Master Dogen says, "If life comes, this is life. If death comes, this is death. There is no reason to try to escape from it, and their is no reason to cling to it either," for all things are impermanent and fall into collapse yet we can allow and flow along with the changes, one need not ask "how are things?" for all things are" just as they be," the people we love and lose and mourn ... mother father wife husband all close friends one after another even children ... go no where and are never lost never born nor die even as we lose them and cry at their graves, . it’s only natural. The good books proclaim so thus they are good, isn’t that wonderful!! May all beings know this treasure, not a matter of some 'stiff upper lip' but a straight upright back just sitting cross legged, the blah blah as simple as the "No going, no coming, no arising, no abiding; Baba wawa" that the Hokyo Zanmai sings - is anything said or not? Oh, so many people in this world are less fortunate, hungry and afraid, let us feed and house and comfort them then teach them how to be free, let us be grateful for all of it ... even the ugly and scary parts ... while we also seek to bring beauty and peace to this sometimes terrible world. No need to be a winner, for the game is already the goal, no gain no loss no win no lose as the ball enters Indra's Net. From the beginning of time, there is no beginning nor time, from the startless start gone gone utterly and completely gone to the other shore right where we sit and stand the Pure Lotus Land ... Svaha! No ifs or maybes about it.



    Here is another Zen poem ...

    Roses are red, violets are blue ...

    ... yet not.


    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  32. #82
    Jundo,

    That's a wonderful prose poem—and a great counterbalance to the other, pessimistic post that you reference. Your poem also has a lovely Kerouac/Ginsberg stream of consciousness vibe that resonates with me.

    And then there's this hidden gem...

    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post
    ...Baba wawa...
    Are you referencing the late, great Gilda?

    Gassho,
    Rob

    -stlah-



    Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
    聖簡 Seikan (Sacred Simplicity)

  33. #83
    Baba wawa ...

    I always think of that too. It is actually a line from the Hokyo Zanmai ...

    Although it is not constructed,
    it is not beyond words.

    Like facing a precious mirror;
    form and reflection behold each other.

    You are not it,
    but in truth it is you.

    Like a newborn child,
    it is fully endowed with five aspects.

    No going, no coming, no arising, no abiding;
    "Baba wawa" - is anything said or not?

    In the end it says nothing,
    for the words are not yet right.
    https://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng.../pdf/01/06.pdf
    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  34. #84
    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post
    Baba wawa ...

    I always think of that too. It is actually a line from the Hokyo Zanmai ...
    So cool. I learn something new every day.

    Thank you for that.

    Gassho,
    Rob

    -stlah-

    Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
    聖簡 Seikan (Sacred Simplicity)

  35. #85
    I was taught several basic ideas in writing good poetry. 1) Aim for concision in making lines pack images into as little space as possible. 2) The image is basic building block of good poetry. 3) An image makes use of one to five senses in writing that packed imaage. {I believe in Buddhism this might include thought.} 4) Verse can be free but it must contain internal assonance, consonance, alliterations, rhyme, and sound devices. 5) internal sound and sensory detail make meaning outside of the evident (Metaphore, and Simile). 6) Free verse (without traditional stanzas in rhyme produces structure freely formed from elission. 6) Elission is the systematic leaving out of structures in conectives. 7) Elission begines with leaving out connectives like a, an, the, and as many conjunctions and articles as possible. 8) Leaving out some ideas to produce implied meaning {Elission} must not sacrafice meaning. 9) A poem must point to meaning. That is, a poem cannot sacrafice meaning in the way lines are built. 10) Free verse poems can produce stanzas of differing length. 11) Within poems that are built upon traditional metter and rhyme, all these "Rules," {implied or obvious} are used in the best poetry. 12) Free verse, without traditional rhyme and metter, can be, and is some of the greastest poetry written. 13) Traditional rhyme and metter is a great body, some of the greatest poetry ever written, of historical magnitude. 14) Great Literature refers back to the great traditions in meaning and sometimes rhyme, meter-- all sound rules and free verse can form {new} meaning. 15) When a poet writes she reaches toward traditions of great poetry while useing the ideas of sound and sense. 16) Weather ultimate meaning in culture is negative, positive, or neutral has no bearing on the magnitude of great writing. 17) The poet spends her time in study to build, fashion, and write great poetry. 18) Great poetry refers back to this entire body of rules and suggestions. 19) Poetry can make use of some, none, or all of these ideas. 20) Sound, sense, sturcture, and thought exist or do not exist in great poetry. 21) It is the obligation of the great poet to know these ideas whether she makes use, or does not make use of tradition. 22) New traditions such as Marxism, Feminism, Gender Studies, Sociological Structures, and new historical events spring up everyday, and can forge ahead to produce new meaning and new forms, content, and meaning. 23) The great poet might make use of none of these ideas. 24) These ideas are only part of the craft of good poetry, and the great poet attempts to craft meaning in words-- sometimes succeeds.{Sorry Jundo, I couldn't restrict this, only part of the studies of students who write or critique poetry, in just three lines}
    Gassho
    Deep bows
    sat / lah
    Tai Shi
    {calm poetry}
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 09-04-2020 at 10:40 AM. Reason: Spelling can be, or might not be evident in poetry (Walt Whitman).
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  36. #86
    Quote Originally Posted by Tai Shi View Post
    I was taught several basic ideas in writing good poetry. 1) Aim for concision in making lines pack images into as little space as possible. 2) The image is basic building block of good poetry. 3) An image makes use of one to five senses in writing that packed imaage. {I believe in Buddhism this might include thought.} 4) Verse can be free but it must contain internal assonance, consonance, alliterations, rhyme, and sound devices. 5) internal sound and sensory detail make meaning outside of the evident (Metaphore, and Simile). 6) Free verse (without traditional stanzas in rhyme produces structure freely formed from elission. 6) Elission is the systematic leaving out of structures in conectives. 7) Elission begines with leaving out connectives like a, an, the, and as many conjunctions and articles as possible. 8) Leaving out some ideas to produce implied meaning {Elission} must not sacrafice meaning. 9) A poem must point to meaning. That is, a poem cannot sacrafice meaning in the way lines are built. 10) Free verse poems can produce stanzas of differing length. 11) Within poems that are built upon traditional metter and rhyme, all these "Rules," {implied or obvious} are used in the best poetry. 12) Free verse, without traditional rhyme and metter, can be, and is some of the greastest poetry written. 13) Traditional rhyme and metter is a great body, some of the greatest poetry ever written, of historical magnitude. 14) Great Literature refers back to the great traditions in meaning and sometimes rhyme, meter-- all sound rules and free verse can form {new} meaning. 15) When a poet writes she reaches toward traditions of great poetry while useing the ideas of sound and sense. 16) Weather ultimate meaning in culture is negative, positive, or neutral has no bearing on the magnitude of great writing. 17) The poet spends her time in study to build, fashion, and write great poetry. 18) Great poetry refers back to this entire body of rules and suggestions. 19) Poetry can make use of some, none, or all of these ideas. 20) Sound, sense, sturcture, and thought exist or do not exist in great poetry. 21) It is the obligation of the great poet to know these ideas whether she makes use, or does not make use of tradition. 22) New traditions such as Marxism, Feminism, Gender Studies, Sociological Structures, and new historical events spring up everyday, and can forge ahead to produce new meaning and new forms, content, and meaning. 23) The great poet might make use of none of these ideas. 24) These ideas are only part of the craft of good poetry, and the great poet attempts to craft meaning in words-- sometimes succeeds.{Sorry Jundo, I couldn't restrict this, only part of the studies of students who write or critique poetry, in just three lines}
    Gassho
    Deep bows
    sat / lah
    Tai Shi
    {calm poetry}
    Tai Shi,

    This is wonderful! A poetry "manifesto" if you will.

    If I may share a similar, yet shorter perspective of my own (in free verse):


    Poetry is

    That sacred space
    Where we meet

    Traversing bridges
    Built of words

    Yet lingering long
    In the spaces between


    Gassho,
    Rob

    -stlah-

  37. #87
    Thanks Rob.

    We welcome
    All commentary
    Emily Dickensin wrote--
    "I know it's poetry when I feel the top of my head coming off."
    William Wordsworth wrote--
    "Poetry is the overflow 'of powerful emotion' recolected in tranquility."
    Each great poet uses their own manifesto..
    I am not a great poet; Dickensin was recognized as one of the greatest geniuses in poetry after her death and Wordsworth while he was alive and after his death-- I venture that the great poet reaches a wide audience during or after their life... the test of the great poet lies in audience reached and longevity of their work. One might claim to be a great poet and realize that such recognition might come after their death, but even so might not be a great poet; if a poet can approach a poem like Dikensin's "Safe in their Alabestor Chambers" or Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads, or Tintern Abby, or John Milton's Paridise Lost or the Haiku of The Great Zen poets, or the Sonetts of Shakespeare, or Wolfgang Von Goethe's Faust. Or the courtly poetry of Andrew Marvel, or the great poetry of any period of any nationality, my hat is off to her. Sylvia Plath's poetry is the nightmare of suicide yet we regard her poetry as great poetry. Say what you will, I know it's poetry when I am moved intelectually, spiritually, or emotionally by the realities so expressed. As in the Heart Sutra, or Heart Crane's "The Bridge," or Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in their Dooryards Bloomed." Consider that the great poet might revise a poem hundreds of times, and yet with Whitman's Leaves of Grass it is the 1855 edition and not the deathbed edition we regard with great genius.
    Gassho
    sat
    Tai Shi
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 09-05-2020 at 12:51 PM. Reason: Spelling is me weakness
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  38. #88
    Now as for Buddhist poetry; much of what I have read is short. Longer great poetry in Buddhism suggests teaching. There is great poetry in Sutras of all types. Often it appears to me in Buddhist poetry meaning intends to teach moral and physosophical content. Often, in long poetry, or short poetry, the image is cental. Sensory detail provides for structure. {much I don't understand because I cannot read the original and must rely on English translations}, accordinf to my daughter, if I could read the original, I might find great beauty outside English understanding. Of what I have read, I have great appreciation for the combining of ideas with sensory details.
    Gassho
    sat / lah
    Tai Shi
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  39. #89

    Poetry

    As it turns out through editing, omission, and inclusion, none of the poetry in my book resembles poetry of Treeleaf Forum. Some is Buddhist, much is not. A few poems from the book have been shared here. I am the poet of every poem in my book.
    Gassho
    sat / lah
    Tai Shi


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 10-01-2020 at 11:55 PM.
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  40. #90
    If time and space, as sages say,
    Are things which cannot be,
    The sun which does not feel decay
    No greater is than we.
    So why, Love, should we ever pray
    To live a century?
    The butterfly that lives a day
    Has lived eternity.

    - T.S. Eliot

    Gassho,
    Gareth

    Sat today

  41. #91
    Quote Originally Posted by bad_buddha_007 View Post
    If time and space, as sages say,
    Are things which cannot be,
    The sun which does not feel decay
    No greater is than we.
    So why, Love, should we ever pray
    To live a century?
    The butterfly that lives a day
    Has lived eternity.

    - T.S. Eliot

    Gassho,
    Gareth

    Sat today
    Beautiful!

    Gassho

    Risho
    -stlah

  42. #92
    Thank you Jundo for your work and explanations. Here is the compendium of Soto Zen.
    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Gassho


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  43. #93
    Fall and Buddha Nature

    Rites of fall clouds moving
    East on Tuthill Park in prairie
    This day blooms late marigolds
    In afternoon crude wind
    Passes me by. Girls with
    Ringlets hug their coats
    Against winding sun
    I am old, look on in disbelief
    Of my own Buddha nature
    In this wrinkled day of light.

    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Tai Shi


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  44. #94
    Do keep writing everyone with all you brief or long or short. Do share with us.
    Gassho
    sat / lah
    Tai Shi


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  45. #95
    Here's to the poets ...

    Nobel reminds us why Glück's poetry matters now
    https://us.cnn.com/2020/10/08/opinio...ann/index.html

    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  46. #96
    I, too, have read Louise Gluck, so in our time, why is it that the greatest poetry is the poetry of depression? This poetry reflects some beauty of and landscape when I chose Theodore Roethke as the poet of my MFA exam, and in that question, and as Roethke had the same disease as me, for 18 years I avoided the hospital after being discharged from one revolving door, and because of other health reasons brought into the Behavioral Health Hospital, a revolving door again like Roethke; he drank too much, and it is said he could be seem crossing the campus of University of Washington talking to the trees. Here 772 new cases of Covid-19 here in South Dakota, 29 new death in three days. It was blood clot to the brain for Roethke in his 50s. I've beaten the odds for a person with mental illness at age 69 because most with mental illness die early. I mean to go into my 80s and beyond. This link tells of Roethke's life. He won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Bollinger Prize in Poetry, and more He was Shielded at U of W because he never earned the PhD but the MA in English, and here again a tragic figure.



    So, should I too remain true to my craft? I've chosen to read instead of The Dharma of Recovery, and a clastic, Loving Kindness which I read eight years ago, and I practice with Metta, and Tonglen. I propose a difficult book to review my knowledge of prosody, The Making of a Poem, Mark Strand and Even Boland, and entirely new to me, Recommend by RobD, Haiku: A Poet's Guide, Lee Gurga; these are after all part of my art, the first I doubt I can read cover to cover, so I will skim, adequate in time left in Ango, then new poetry for me, Haiku. In these pages and in my own computer files sometimes I will practice form and content. Yet, as I have done, perhaps others will practice here the craft of poetry.
    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Tai Shi
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 02-10-2023 at 06:56 PM. Reason: Explanation. Jundo forgive length as I ponder. I am a very bad typist..
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  47. #97

    Poetry

    I’m not to be negative about contemporary poets because there are many since WS Merwin. and Richard Wilbur who can and are positive in poetry— I’m sure! I just haven’t kept up, and I for one don’t shake my stoke of coal into the furnace of life. I know there are many positive poets, and I can be joyous in my own poetry and have been since I wrote the beginning and end of a thesis on tacking stock of the best that my life has yet experienced. My life is good. If I were to die tomorrow, I have enjoyed the content of beauty no man like me is ever supposed to know. I sought out the best corners of my reality, set up camp there and asked no more. But, it took me decades to understand this and as an 18- year-old boy I thought I was grown up, as a 22-year-old man I thought death had caught up with me. Somehow the small part of me said yes and I went to school, got married, became a father, love my little family, and write some good poems have for the better part of my life. It is me who wants to live! And, each of us wants to live, deserves to live no matter what we say to ourselves. I know the universe is no cipher going nowhere because if humanity should not survive, and I believe it will, there are trillions of worlds out there. There is in my mind no way life could escape this reality. To save all sentient beings, but perhaps we will be superseded by life saving us, that if we survive in small form, perhaps sentient beings will save us, beings beyond the small confines of Star Trek.
    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Tai Shi


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Tai Shi; 02-10-2023 at 07:21 PM. Reason: it's a okay--just checking
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  48. #98
    https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sharon-olds

    This poet graphically depicts my home life as boy and early adult seeking everything until i met my precious Marjorie. Our love discovered as I was sudenly transported to somehow be transported to the World of Soto Zen Buddhism, seeking first the winding path to Buddhism and beyond.
    Gassho
    sat/ lah
    Tai Shi
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  49. #99
    Kokuu recently had a Haiku translated in a Chinese Format and published in Chinese and English. He is an excellent poet
    Gassho
    st
    Taishi


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆

  50. #100
    Thank you, Tai Shi! Means a lot coming from an excellent poet such as yourself!

    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday-

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