Per Diem Archive: Kala Ramesh Sept. 2012, The Five Elements
Haiku on an Indian Theme - The Five Elements
The Hindus and the Buddhists believe that all Creation, including human beings, is composed of five essential elements. When death occurs, everything is transposed into these elements of nature, thus balancing the cycle of evolution. The elements and their associated sense perceptions are: Ether - Akasha - space / sound; Wind - Vayu - sound & touch; Fire - Agni - sound, touch & form; Water - Jalam - sound, touch, form & flavour; Earth - Prithvi - sound, touch, form, flavour & smell. This classification is woven into the fabric of our day-to-day activities, and widely used in all our art forms, including poetry, literature, dance, music and painting. The haiku poems showcased here might not appear in the order originally arranged, but you could use your ingenuity and guesswork to 'sense' how many of these elements are present in the haiku, when you read them.
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