simplicity of
curves drawn in sand
stills the mind

© Sandy

1. toast
2. lint
3. tap water
4. toilet paper

You're not that complex, Sand.

Song of the Sanyasin by Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

Wake up the note! the song that had its birth
Far off, where worldly taint could never reach,
In mountain caves and glades of forest deep,
Whose calm no sigh for lust or wealth or fame
Could ever dare to break; where rolled the stream
Of knowledge, truth, and bliss that follows both.
Sing high that note, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

Strike off thy fetters! Bonds that bind thee down,
Of shining gold, or darker, baser ore;
Love, hate -- good, bad -- and all the dual throng,
Know, slave is slave, caressed or whipped, not free;
For fetters, though of gold, are not less strong to bind;
Then off with them, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

Let darkness go; the will-o'-the-wisp that leads
With blinking light to pile more gloom on gloom.
This thirst for life, for ever quench; it drags
From birth to death, and death to birth, the soul.
He conquers all who conquers self. Know this
And never yield, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

"Who sows must reap," they say, "and cause must bring
The sure effect; good, good; bad, bad; and none
Escape the law. But whoso wears a form
Must wear the chain." Too true; but far beyond
Both name and form is Atman, ever free.
Know thou art That, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om! "

They know not truth who dream such vacant dreams
As father, mother, children, wife, and friend.
The sexless Self! whose father He? whose child?
Whose friend, whose foe is He who is but One?
The Self is all in all, none else exists;
And thou art That, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

There is but One -- The Free -- The Knower -- Self!
Without a name, without a form or stain.
In Him is Maya dreaming all this dream.
The witness, He appears as nature, soul.
Know thou art That, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

Where seekest thou? That freedom, friend, this world
Nor that can give. In books and temples vain
Thy search. Thine only is the hand that holds
The rope that drags thee on. Then cease lament,
Let go thy hold, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

Say, "Peace to all: From me no danger be
To aught that lives. In those that dwell on high.
In those that lowly creep, I am the Self in all!
All life both here and there, do I renounce,
All heavens and earths and hells, all hopes and fears."
Thus cut thy bonds, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

Heed then no more how body lives or goes,
Its task is done. Let Karma float it down;
Let one put garlands on, another kick
This frame; say naught. No praise or blame can be
Where praiser praised, and blamer blamed are one.
Thus be thou calm, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

Truth never comes where lust and fame and greed
Of gain reside. No man who thinks of woman
As his wife can ever perfect be;
Nor he who owns the least of things, nor he
Whom anger chains, can ever pass thro' Maya's gates.
So, give these up, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

Have thou no home. What home can hold thee, friend?
The sky thy roof, the grass thy bed; and food
What chance may bring, well cooked or ill, judge not.
No food or drink can taint that noble Self
Which knows Itself. Like rolling river free
Thou ever be, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

Few only know the truth. The rest will hate
And laugh at thee, great one; but pay no heed.
Go thou, the free, from place to place, and help
Them out of darkness, Maya's veil. Without
The fear of pain or search for pleasure, go
Beyond them both, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

Thus, day by day, till Karma's powers spent
Release the soul for ever. No more is birth,
Nor I, nor thou, nor God, nor man. The "I"
Has All become, the All is "I" and Bliss.
Know thou art That, Sannyasin bold! Say --
"Om Tat Sat, Om!"

sg, after reading your poem i was inspred to make my own version.... when spoken slowly , it may allow for you to become one with the sand , which is but after all, nothing more than lines and shadows. enjoy.

I calming go

In a sand where

Lines and shadows.

While Haiku is traditionally 17 syllables arranged in a 5-7-5 pattern, I think this piece would work better if you deviated from that tradition here . .

Simplicity
curves drawn in sand
still the mind

d;-)

As winter comes
just one last leaf remains
reminding me of spring

Soon the snow will fall
the seeds will sleep for now
await the sun.

d;-)

N/T

SG

SG

A chill morning wind
scatters the last autumn leaves
bringing thoughts of snow

d;-)

Sore, aching muscles
Hot epsom salt bath renews
While cold beers refresh

Two beers after
Walking through an Autumn world
I brush off a leaf

From http://www.beerhaikudaily.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haiku shows us what we knew all the time,
but did not know we knew; it shows us that
we are poets in so far as we live at all.
- Haiku, Volume 1

A haiku is not a poem, it is not literature; it is a hand beconing,
a door half-opened, a mirror wiped clean. It is a way of returning
to nature, to our moon nature, our cherry blossom nature, our
falling leaf nature, in short, to our Buddha nature. It is a way in
which the cold winter rain, the swallows of evening, even the very
day in its hotness, and the length of the night, become truly
alive, share in our humanity, speak thery own silent
and expressive lanugage.
- Haiku, Volume One, p. 243.

It is not merely the brevity by which the haiku isolates a particular
group of phenomena from all the rest; nor its suggestiveness, through
which it reveals a whole world of experience. It is not only in its
remarkable use of the season word, by which it gives us a feeling of
a quarter of the year; nor its faint all-pervading humour. Its peculiar
quality is its self-effacing, self-annihilative nature, by which it enables
us, more than any other form of literature, to grasp the thing-in-itself.
- Haiku, Volume Four, p. 980.

These are some of the characteristics of the state of mind
which the creation and appreciation of haiku demand:
Selflessness, Loneliness, Grateful Acceptance, Wordlessness,
Non-intellectuality, Contradictoriness, Humor, Freedom,
Non-morality, Simplicity, Materiality, Love, and Courage.
- Haiku, Volume One, p. 154

The love of nature is religion, and that religion is poetry;
these three things are one thing. This is the
unspoken creed of haiku poets.
- History of Haiku, Vol. One, Introduction, 8.5

The sun shines, snow falls, mountains rise and valleys sink,
night deepens and pales into day, but it is only very seldom
that we attend to such things ... When we are grasping the
inexpressible meaning of these things, this is life, this is living.
To do this twenty-four hours a day is the Way of Haiku.
It is having life more abundantly.
- Haiku, Volume One, p. 11

Literature, especially poetry, has the same double, paradoxical nature as religion, and it is the main theme of 'Zen in English Literature,' that where there is religion there is poetry, where there is poetry there is religion, not two things in close association, but one thing with two names. The false religion and the false poetical life are equally one: a wallowing in God, a vague and woolly pantheism, nightingales and roses. If anything is so-called poetry, if anything in Buddhism or Christianity will not stand the test of Reality, the test of Zen…'What will not hold perfection, let it burst!"
- Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics

Remember "The Genuine Haiku Generator" ?

Here!! <link>

glumly, janitor
patters, barbarian sneers
piously, faintly

Denny nice poem ;

A chill morning wind
scatters the last autumn leaves
bringing thoughts of snow

Denny , if you do a little research on haiku and the ‘evolving ness’ of it all, you will find that no linger do poets need to ‘follow’ the 5/7/5 format , although certainly it will always remain an option. But there is another world beyond the number 17 sir ! Here’s a link to a site about haiku.

<link>

At the bottom of that very page is another link to the original site where more articles may be found.

Sometimes saying less is more, as this version of your poem would indicate. Perhaps. Be well .

Morning wind scatters

The autumn leaves

For thoughts of snow.

Or even perhaps………….

Morning wind -

Moving autumn leaves

For thoughts of snow.

cause everybody knows when you move autumn you get winter dude!

hi southerngal,

simplicity of
curves drawn in sand
quiet contemplation

this sounds like a nice poem, but the real trick to haiku is to get the mind to experience 'quiet contemplation' ( if that's what your after) without actually having to say it. otherwise our poems becomes an explanation, as opposed to an actual experience, or a state of mind.you know what i mean ?

Gotcha. REW/OEM used to discuss Haiku at length here years ago. But I still like the "challenge" of trying to effectively use the 5-7-5 format, with slight variations.

In this case, I wanted the idea of "chill" to marry with "winter".

d;-)

Ubasti ------------- thank you for all you've done today- the sites immediately above are absolutely fantastic and the quotes are out of this world !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice haiku to leave an open space in my afternoon! Thank you Sandy.

I also love a Zen garden.. And a lone turtle walking towards the ocean.

The hungry vulture
Must scrape its talons on sand..
There will be no death today.
A