A Sense of Something Bigger

[colin stewart jones]

hi gang

There are many Buddhists among the haiku community but there seems to be far more people who do not overtly  hold to any religion or belief system. I'll nail my colours to the cross (mixing metaphors as I go along) and say I am a Christian.
Even though not claiming to belong to any one faith or belief is there a feeling among haijin that there is a sense of something bigger, or am I way off the mark?

I look forward with interest to your comments, replies, beliefs and philosophies.
Here is a small offer from myself for "a sense of something bigger"


blue sky
before me
beyond me


A Seal Snorts out the Moon, Cauliay Aberdeen,2007

col :)

[carmensterba]

Colin, I think a lot of Western haiku poets like to use suggestion and are not open to speaking or writing in a dogmatic air, so perhaps the Christians among us in our "haiku world" are not as apparent, but they are there. And of course there is an overlap of people from many faiths who are open to discussing religion and what is their worldview and so on. Certainly, almost all Western haiku poets have been influenced by Japanese culture in one way or another.

In the political front (at least in the US) discussion of religion has become as fearsome as the times of Henry VIII. Perhaps, most poets prefer gentler discussions. I certainly wish it was as easy to discuss religion as it was in my college days in Michigan. Later, when I studied, worked and lived in Japan (31 years), I found very few Japanese wanted to discuss religion deeply. It was a surprise for me at first. I thought, deciding whether you believed in God or not was a part of becoming an adult. Most of my Japanese friends followed their cultural practices like praying to/for their relatives who passed on, giving money to temples at New Year's and taking part in Shinto Festivals or Obon Celebrations. However, none of my friends went to temples frequently, the way my Japanese Christian friends attended church or mass. Not the way, that is common in some Southeast Asian countries like Thailand. There the temples are a big part of the communities, young people hang out there, and the young Thai men usually study and work at a temple in their youth.

Carmen Sterba

[Don Baird]

Hi Col,

Knowing or having a sense of something spiritual is the impetus for me to appreciate the personal moments that cause me to write haiku.  Even when I look at something so grand as a perfect blue sky, I sense the spiritual beyond, in and around.  There's a sense of eternity in all things - large or small - outside/inside.  There's a resonance of connection in both.  I love that connection and, in particular, I bask in the endless feeling of it.

rugged cross ...
a child's voice
cries out

I'm a taoist christian (a philosophy mixed with religion).

in a tomb ...
the mystery
of being

Interesting thread.  Thanks Col for thinking of presenting this one.  

Don



(revised to correct an "article error")

[colin stewart jones]

hi carmen
and thx
perhaps i used the wrong terms in my question
i did not mean to pry as to what peoples' beliefs were but
what i meant was that many haiku poems/poets often seem to be "spiritual"
though not adhering to a particular faith, is this true? or way off?
does anyone have thoughts on this

don
thank you for your post
you are indeed a complex guy...or maybe not

col :)

[hairy]

Hello Colin:

Speaking on behalf of myself: I was born Jewish but was lucky to have liberal parents that let me explore other faiths early on-- and I've come to the conclusion that no one faith has a monopoly on Truth. I try to go beyond ritualistic and ceremonious aspects of religion and when I write my (mostly senryu) I try to go beyond the "slick & trick" (which I compare to the "ritual & ceremony" aspect of religion) and probe deeper. When successful--I feel that they(senryu)  have achieved a universality / spirituality that I am after.

So your question posed "many haiku poems/poets often seem to be "spiritual"
though not adhering to a particular faith, is this true? or way off?" I would have to agree: I consider myself "spiritual" without being religious and my best poems--hopefully--achieve the same characteristics.

Interesting topic,

Al
 

[Chris Patchel]

For me the topic is so much bigger than a haiku forum can accommodate that it feels a bit futile putting in my two cents' worth. And there's a certain shyness since it's personal. But I will say that I've never felt my Judeo-Christian beliefs and traditions to be the least bit lacking when it comes to haiku aesthetics like suchness, present awareness, transience, ma, and so forth. On the contrary. So I'm at least glad that many of the poems shared on Religio bear that out.

To answer Colin's question, I not only have 'a sense something bigger' but it's what everything else derives it's meaning from.

your baptism...
light dances
on the ceiling

[AlanSummers]

Great comments from everyone.

Do haiku poets feel a sense of something bigger? 

I think so, but we often look in the smallest of places to find it.  But then isn't that a Christian, and possibly other religion way, to look for the big in the small?

I checked out various religions, and pre-Roman Empire Christianity and pre-Constantine, seemed pretty cool. 

I've been lucky and witnessed something so I don't have to worry, or believe, anymore, but I'm not aware I put any of that into my haiku.  It gives me food for thought now.

I'm seriously considering religion in haiku, specifically Christian religion for the time being, and would love to see even more haiku posted at Religio that have aspects of religion.

Alan

[colin stewart jones]

me too alan  ;)



honey drips
that would satisfy all --
how sweet the rock


col :)

[AlanSummers]

Hi Colin,

Your haiku reminds me of a performance haibun that I was commissioned to do, and had religious overtones amongst the myth I was writing about for a theatre.

So this isn't haiku, but a link like verse amongst the prose :

Tamarisk honey
the el-tarfah
of dry tears


Other verses included:

Tabernacle Feast
in the shade of apricot trees
palm leaves with myrtle

pomegranate sherbet
flowers move the temple robes
of a priest

I hope I'm not making you hungry? ;-)

Alan

[onecloud]

The white snow melting
Under the sun's warm embrace
Is still passive grace

The lamb's still waiting
In deserted arid space
Became passion's face

hi gang

There are many Buddhists among the haiku community but there seems to be far more people who do not overtly  hold to any religion or belief system. I'll nail my colours to the cross (mixing metaphors as I go along) and say I am a Christian.
Even though not claiming to belong to any one faith or belief is there a feeling among haijin that there is a sense of something bigger, or am I way off the mark?

I look forward with interest to your comments, replies, beliefs and philosophies.
Here is a small offer from myself for "a sense of something bigger"


blue sky
before me
beyond me


A Seal Snorts out the Moon, Cauliay Aberdeen,2007

col :)

This is marty,
for my part the poet is Wm Blake's Los.
so my part is to reveal the creator.
one reason I use an artist name.

[Gael Bage]

though I have great respect for other religions / faiths, I am spiritual rather than religious.

seing God in all,  knowing we are One 

that kinda sums up my belief, for me there is innate love and intelligence behind the whole of creation and I can't label it or name it.only love it.  Whatever we touch connects to everything else,  is interconnected, each tiny part is a miracle if we look closely. that is my understanding of something bigger, something infinite that gives all the opportunity to evolve learn and grow ad infinitum. Creation doesn't push us into a mould it's loving enough to free us to flower as we wish and to make our own mistakes which we do.  ;D

[DavidGrayson]

Hi Alan,

I like your "link like verse amongst the prose." Some of the words are quite visceral, maybe because they are food-related!

David

[hairy]

Gael's explanation is beautifully rendered (thanks, Gael for sharing!) and my belief is similar.

I daily ask myself "how do I become who I really am?" I believe the answer is simple--but the "process" might be difficult.

What I try to do is eliminate the obstacles that I percieve to be in the way to something bigger, namely:  lust, greed, anger, jealousy and backbiting.

To the extent I am able to rid myself of these perceived "obsticles"  the more I feel one with everything and everybody and--as Gael wasely states--an "interconnectedness"--the perfect word to describe how I would like to feel.

And it remains a "process"--evolving through both happiness and sorrow--suffering anf joy. Both are necessary "opposites" for growth and development--IMHO.


Al

[AlanSummers]

Hi David,

It was a great commission to do, and then perform the haibun (for twenty minutes) to a packed audience at the Old Vic Theatre.

Yes, food can be very visceral indeed. ;-)

Alan

Hi Alan,

I like your "link like verse amongst the prose." Some of the words are quite visceral, maybe because they are food-related!

David

[Asa-gao]

Alan .. i am becoming big fan of you  :)

As to the religious component that may be found in haiku.  I think, as God is too big for any one religion (imoo)  ... that what we ultimately find is, spirituality; something unique to each author.  Certainly this is often reflected in the writings of both masters past and present.  Without direct reference to the source, it becomes - something in the air, and something too that everyone may intuitively sense.  I find that the spirituality of haiku is almost always present in writings, and that this spirituality has to do with yes, something bigger than mortal man - who is part of, and not separate from the surrounding nature.  A thing one can feel when standing in a large forest alone, or seen in a poem which issues of its own accord, upon contemplation until is seen - a glimmering.  My thoughts anyway, after much listening to Basho ...