Rosenstock Gabriel - The Awakened One: Buddha-Themed Haiku from Around the World

PRAISE FOR THE AWAKENED ONE This is the first anthology I have seen that collects contemporary haiku from every continent, every nook and cranny of our planet. Pairing Japanese masters of the past with people writing haiku right now, The Awakened One is full of little zap insights. You feel that thrill, that quick wake-up to the ordinary, when the junky human stuff drops away and our world feels moist, tender, and real. Why has haiku been equated for so long with Buddhist insight? Pull this packet, compiled by Adjei Agyei-Baah and Gabriel Rosenstock, from your hip pocket. You might find your original self peeking from these little poems. Andrew Schelling editor The Wisdom Anthology of North American Buddhist Poetry The Awakened One The Awakened One Buddha-Themed Haiku from Around the World Adjei Agyei-Baah Gabriel Rosenstock awaken ~ be still ~ drop the ego ~ awaken POETRY CHAIKHANA Copyright 2021 Adjei Agyei-Baah and Gabriel Rosenstock All rights reserved.

POETRY CHAIKHANA www.poetry-chaikhana.com ISBN: 978-0-9854679-9-9 Introduction May this pocket anthology of haiku be of real benefit to all who dip into it! A haiku is an awakening and the Buddha is The Awakened One who wishes all of us to come to an awakening, sooner or later. Yes, a true haiku is a true awakening. It is an awakening to universal insights experienced by people of all beliefs and none: The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms. This is the Buddhist mind, the open, universal mind, the awakened mind, the joyous mind (even in hard times), the haiku mind as expressed beautifully above by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Haiku can become this beautiful path which the Vietnamese monk describes for us so tenderly; and it can become a daily practice, too: reading haiku, writing haiku, illustrating haiku, translating haiku, experiencing its glow. This anthology contrasts haiku by major and minor Japanese haijin (haiku masters) with contemporary practitioners. We could have filled it a thousand times over. But that would have contradicted the spirit of haiku which is a paring back to the essential, to the unclothed, mysterious trembling Void behind and beyond all phenomena and the Spirit that moves all things. May haiku flourish and flower in all lands and in all languages ! The Editors To readers All versions of Japanese classics are by the Editors and may be reproduced freely. enlightenment is straightly attained by freedom from separate selfhood Buddha heavenly mystery... autumn leaves descend on a stone buddha Imaizumi Sogetsu-ni (17501804) sudden wind the garden buddhas head crowned with cherry blossoms rafale de vent le bouddha du jardin couronne de fleurs de cerisier Olivier Schopfer (Switzerland) on the old door... the flickering shadow of a swallow Shha (17271771) lamp light Buddhas features flicker Anne Curran (New Zealand) wild geese descend cry upon cry... frosty night Morikawa Kyoroku (16561715) twilight a part of me too with the honking geese Jill Lange (USA) many solemn nights blond moon, we stand and marvel... sleeping our noons away Matsunaga Teitoku (15711654) hilltop buddha moonlight in the emptiness of his cupped hand Katherine Raine (New Zealand) the mind grows still... deep in the forest drip! drip! drip! Hosha (18851954) emptying his thoughts into the rising sun... hilltop monk bepso hoteni yi nadwendwen nyinaa de gu owia mu Adjei Agyei-Baah (Ghana) beginning of spring the first silent step of the stork Shha (17271771) Christmas bells self-realizing the hard way Luca Cenisi (Italy) though you grow cold, dont draw close to the fire, Snow-Buddha Yamazaki Skan (14581546) little Buddha in the bottom drawer left behind Jerome Gagnon (USA) O the dragonfly! he has dressed himself in the color of autumn Hori Bakusui (17181783) imitating the buddha my smile too painted on Mike Rehling (USA) the spring sun shows its power between snowfalls Shigeyori (16021680) snow falls an old monk sets aside his beads Robert Witmer (Japan)
hearing the truth he becomes a lake... pure, tranquil, deep Buddha sparrows flying from scarecrow to scarecrow Sazanami (18701933) last frost a sparrow builds with scarecrows innards Randall Herman (USA) sleeping alone too sad it is! voice of the male mosquito Nun Chigetsu (16341718) lazy afternoon unpunished mosquito on my foot leniwe popoudnie bezkarny komar na mojej stopie Wiesaw Karliski (Poland) the gates alone remain of some great Buddhist temple on this withered plain Masaoka Shiki (18671902) the golden temple on the wooded hillside enveloped in cloud David Burleigh (Ireland/Japan) crickets cry no more... now one can hear dewdrops falling Rogetsu (18731928) the stone Buddha as if it does not exist autumn fog ere Buddha kan bi eni pe ko simbe oye erun Anthony Itopa Obaro (Nigeria) its fleeting light vanishing in the palm of my hand... firefly Kyorai Mukai (16511704) some must wait... water lilies receiving morning light cuid dobh ag fanacht... snn duilleoga bite grian na maidine Gabriel Rosenstock (Ireland) in a cloudy well this one moon... let us all adore it Tagami Kikusha-ni (17531826) cherry blossoms the morning moon mingles with the petals trenja u cvatu stopljen s laticama jutarnji mjesec Tomislav Mareti (Croatia) blossoms fallen peoples hearts becoming quiet Koyu-Ni (18th c.) after mothers death I am finding true happiness in cherry blossoms nakon majine smrti pronalazim pravu sreu u cvjetovima trenje Goran Gatalica (Croatia) raven, did you just call my name from shadowland? ... frosty morning Shukabo (17171775) midday sunshine a trail of ants hurries in and out of the dead crows eye Bill Wolak (USA) desolate moor... frosty morning Shukabo (17171775) midday sunshine a trail of ants hurries in and out of the dead crows eye Bill Wolak (USA) desolate moor...

I bow before a stone Buddha illumined by lightning Kakei (16481716) living with it in light and in shadow the garden Buddha Sylvia Forges-Ryan (USA) sad stories whispered to the jellyfish by the sea slug Shha (17271771) sunrise a caterpillar on the path to the stone Buddha Nikolay Grankin (Russia) ebb tide a crab wary of a footprint Miki Rofu (18891964) go slowly ferryman so I can observe once more the other bank polako laaru da jo jednom vidim drugu obalu Nikola ureti (Croatia)
beyond this shore the farther shore... beyond the beyond Buddha skylark in the heavens... what do you think of the boundless sky Chiyo-ni (17031775) mothers day... looking for her star in the sky ... Tsanka Shishkova (Bulgaria) socks out to dry in frosty sun shivers! Utsuji (18811920) last leaf on rowan tree the wind wont leave it alone Martin Vaughan (Ireland) when my eyes fall out of their sockets I wish to see the lotus! Yamaoka Tessh (18361888) lotus viewing... namu amida butsu Dr. namu amida butsu Dr.

Randy Brooks (USA) end of the old year... first thing to clean up yourself! Butsugai Fusen (17951867) four winds come four winds go the Self remains unchanged Kon Markogiannis (Greece)
again and again stitching the rows of barley a butterfly Sora (16491710) new buddha a butterfly perching and unperching buddha hr na nru ucha na-egbu egbu ma adighi-aghasa Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian (Nigeria) the traveler who hesitates just creates dust on the road Buddha