Sunday, December 20, 2009

Shobogenzo Haiku (Chapters 1-7)


I am only beginning my journey through the Shobogenzo, but it has already ascended to a high place in my list of 'favorites'. I originally intended to write these haiku to side-step my tendency to over-analyze things. I have found that Dōgen's Shobogenzo is poetry already. Many of the phases in the haiku below are taken directly from the text. As a result the credit for these haiku goes to Dōgen, and Nishijima and Cross who worked to preserve the original phrasing and share it with us. I have merely assembled the phrases into a haiku, much like a jigsaw puzzle, and I hope correctly. These haiku are by no means a complete representation of each Chapter and are works in progress. My humble understanding could change at any moment!

Chapter 1- Bendōwa (A Talk about Pursuing the Truth)
Zazen Samadhi -
The Dharma blooms forth, anchored
By this floating stem



Breath ringing the bell,
The worlds in ten directions
Resonate Dharma

Chapter 2 – Maka-hannya-haramitsu (Mahāprajnāpāramitā)
Holding all the threads
Of wisdom, having to do
With a tender heart

Cloaking the body
With prajnā-pāramitā –
Radiant mantra


Chapter 3 – Genjō-kōan (The Realized Universe)
The whole moon and sky
Reflected in just one drop
Not knowing it's dew


In dust, out of frame,
Innumerable dharmas
Past my single shape

Chapter 4 – Ikka-no-myōju (One Bright Pearl)
Floating downriver,
Not fishing for gold-scaled fish --
Gensha, the layman


A ceaseless stirring,
Ten directions held within
One shimmering pearl


Chapter 5 – Ju-undō-shiki (Rules for Accumulated Cloud Hall)
The hall of clouds -- home
To Buddha's truth and harmony
Like milk in water


Chapter 6 – Soku-shin-ze-butsu (Mind Here and Now is Buddha)
Clear, no mist or mud,
Mind's original essence --
Shared and eternal


Coming home to truth --
Relaxing into the arms
Of the infinite


Chapter 7 – Senjō (Washing)
Essence purified --
Not a goal, but the doing --
Washing is Buddha


Wash body like mind
Til water runs clear, so all
Retain the Dharma


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4 comments:

  1. JordanDecember 21, 2009 at 4:18 PM

    Thank you for your efforts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HappiDecember 21, 2009 at 9:37 PM

    Thanks for stopping by and showing your support. Hope you're starting to get settled.

    Gisela (Happi)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mike CrossDecember 22, 2009 at 4:55 AM

    Hi Gisela,

    Work in progress is always the best kind of work. Wishing you all the best for the continuation of yours.

    Mike

    P.S.

    Here is something that your work prompted to invade my sitting this morning, a Zazengi haiku:

    A backward step
    Turning the light
    Of, in, by, for, on
    Oneself

    ReplyDelete
  4. HappiDecember 22, 2009 at 10:33 AM

    Hi Mike -

    Thanks for your blessing.

    Here is a haiku I wrote 'on the fly' after tweeting the link to this post yesterday:

    Moving from darkness
    to light — stepping back, tilting
    the head to listen.

    Wishing you peace, breath and right direction this holiday season.

    Palms together in Gassho,

    Gisela (Happi)

    ReplyDelete