Apr20

Halfway Mark on my year journey

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Halfway Mark on my year journey

I wanted to take a moment to reflect upon my haiku journey so far. Today is the halfway mark of my journey. Like the lotus flower in the picture I have not bloomed yet. 🙂 When I look back at my early haiku I can see that I was ignorant of the history of haiku and had no subtlety in my work. Over the past few months I have devoured as many books on haiku as I could, joined various organizations and submitted my work for publication (which resulted in a few publications). This weekend I will be attending “Haiku Fest” here in Chicago to continue my journey.

Thank you to all who read my work, thank you to my children for letting me have time to work and to my darling wife for her support.

Filed under Haiku and tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

About fiercebuddhist

Welcome. I am happy that our paths have crossed. Here you will find various poems, articles and photography. I hope that you enjoy them and visit often. I am currently working on writing “A Haiku A Day” so that I can, perhaps, have enough good ones for publication. If you are wondering what a “Fierce Buddhist” the following declaration should clarify. The “Fierce” in FierceBuddhist I define as “an obligation to do what I can to benefit all sentient beings, not just those close to me or those I agree with. If I see something or someone that is hurting others I must step forward and do what I can to assist them.” In the Army and in the dojo I learned how to defend myself, family and country but that does not mean I endorse the use of force. Two nonviolent examples of Fierce Buddhists that come to mind are Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama. While I do not claim be even close to them I can strive and so can you. Furthermore, my Buddhist name, given to me by Sensei Kubose, is Seiyo. His interpretation of my communication and interaction with him led him to this name. He told me Seiyo means “Fierce Sun.” The sun shines on everyone without prejudices without giving preferential treatment to anyone. This is tough to live up to, as you can imagine, but it sure sets the tone for my life. In Buddhism this is called a Fierce Bodhisattva. I am only on the path to Enlightenment and can only say to be a Fierce Buddhist.

9 responses »

  4. I hope you are enjoying your journey fb…sounds like things are going good for you! I look forward to reading your haiku and your tidbits about it. I’ve learned a lot from you 🙂

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  6. I am apparently following in your footsteps … which I deem a good thing. I have an excellent haiku library now. However I am choosing 3 of Higginson’s books as my texts. Then I am reading the old and modern masters. I also go over and read the haiku on NaHaiWriMo. For a while I was publishing there. Now I just collect the prompts and will write a a while. I was actually pleased with one of my haiku. I think it is good. But gee one out of what 5-6 months of haiku. Have fun at the fest.

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  7. I think you are making very good progress and reflection is a really important part of that journey. Well done with the publications! Keep up the good work! 🙂

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