{"id":6673,"date":"2019-11-26T09:52:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T16:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6673"},"modified":"2019-11-26T10:04:12","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T17:04:12","slug":"basho-snow-viewing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/26\/basho-snow-viewing\/","title":{"rendered":"Basho – snow-viewing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Come, let\u2019s go
\nby Matsuo Basho<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto<\/font><\/p>\n

Come, let\u2019s go
\nsnow-viewing
\ntill we\u2019re buried.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter<\/a>, Translated by Lucien Stryk \/ Translated by Takashi Ikemoto<\/font><\/p>\n


\n\/ Image by dadofliz<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I am sitting here at my computer reading poetry in snow boots. I just came in from shoveling the sidewalk. It looks like we might get two feet of snow today.<\/p>\n

My car is in the shop and probably needs to be replaced. After 15 years of loyal service, it died on the road just as the first snowflakes started falling yesterday. In the space of a few blocks of driving it went from running fine, to making a strange noise, to completely dying. I had to jog half a mile in the snow to my home because I don\u2019t have a cell phone, call a tow truck, and then watch as our car got hoisted up on the truck bed, and ride with it to the repair shop.<\/p>\n

Rather than going into anxiety about the whole situation in the midst of the increasing snow, I found myself\u2026 dare I say it?\u2026 content. Even entertained. Accepting the situation for what it is, I rode along with the events. It became a sort of adventure.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m being told that it\u2019s probably not worth the cost of repairs at this point, so in a few days, when we dig ourselves out, I will be shopping for another car.<\/p>\n

A longtime car becomes a sort of family member, like a pet or trusted workhorse. Some people may feel it\u2019s silly, but I\u2019m fond of that old car and there is a bit of sadness at saying goodbye. I hope to adopt a new wheeled family member who becomes just as much of a friend.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, past chronic fatigue patterns have been in abeyance for most of the past year, so I have been working more hours at my day job and I have a small amount saved that can now be used as a down payment for our next car.<\/p>\n

When events just happen and there is no avoiding their cascading onslaught, sometimes the best option is just to grow still, enjoy the scene, and laugh as we are buried.<\/p>\n

So, with no car at the moment and nearly two feet of snow on the ground and with more snow falling, it is a good day to pause and go snow-viewing\u2026<\/p>\n

That phrase \u201csnow-viewing\u201d may seem rather odd, if poetic, but it is actually a playful twist on the Japanese practice of tsukimi<\/i> or moon-viewing. In Japan, there is a tradition of moon-viewing in autumn. Towns have moon-viewing festivals, a family might invite friends over for moon-viewing. To me, as an outsider, that sounds like a beautiful way for all of society to slow down and appreciate the masterful artwork of nature, communing with the rhythms of the world. Basho\u2019s snow-viewing is an expansion of that idea \u2014 inviting a friend to step outside in order to appreciate the beauty of a recent snowfall in quiet companionship and shared ritual.<\/p>\n

Particularly the Zen poetry, snow often carries with it the suggestion of deeper meanings we might want to explore.<\/p>\n

When the difficulties and coldness and enforced internalization of winter are emphasized, snow can represent the struggles of spiritual practice that precede the spiritual awakening of spring.<\/p>\n

When the silence that settles of the world bathed in snow is emphasized, it can represent the perfect stillness of mind that occurs in true meditation.<\/p>\n

When the quality of blanketing all things in a uniform whiteness is highlighted, snow can be seen as an allusion to the unifying white or golden-white light that shines through everything, the light one perceives when the mind awakens.<\/p>\n

This haiku by Basho can carry variations of all of these meanings, but especially the last one.<\/p>\n

Notice the joke in these lines: By viewing the snow we become buried in it \u2014 and that is what Basho is really inviting us to do. With a lot of snow (and a dash of wit), Basho might be saying that by viewing something deeply, we become the beauty we perceive. Seeing the universal radiance, we become the radiance. Hearing the silence, we become the silence. Witness the eternal, and we become consumed by it, the ego self becomes lost in the blanket of white that covers everything, making all of existence one.<\/p>\n

Have a beautiful day, with or without snow! And be warm and safe!<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Matsuo Basho<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Poetry of Zen: (Shambhala Library)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nHaiku Enlightenment<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Four Seasons: Japanese Haiku<\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\"Matsuo<\/a><\/td>\n\nMatsuo Basho<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Japan (1644 \u2013 1694) Timeline<\/a>
\nBuddhist<\/a> : Zen \/ Chan<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Basho took his name from the Japanese word for \u201cbanana tree.\u201d He was given a gift of a banana tree by a student and the poet immediately identified with it: the way the small tree stood there with its large, soft, fragile leaves. (See his banana plant haiku.)<\/p>\n

Basho was probably born in 1644 in Iga Province outside of Kyoto, Japan. His father was a poor samurai-farmer.<\/p>\n

As a teenager, Basho entered the service of the local lord, acting as a page. The young lord was only a couple of years older than Basho, and the two became friends, enjoying the playful exchange of haiku verses.<\/p>\n

When Basho was still a young man, his friend and lord died. In reaction, Basho left home, abandoned his samurai status, and took to a life of wandering.<\/p>\n

After several years, he settled in Edo (Tokyo), continuing to write and publish poetry. His haiku began to attract attention. Students started to gather around him. At about this time, Basho also took up Zen meditation.<\/p>\n

Basho remained restless, even in his fame. A neighborhood fire claimed his small house in Edo leaving him homeless, and Basho once again took up the itinerant life, visiting friends and disciples, taking up residence for brief periods only to begin another journey. It was during this time that Basho composed some of his greatest haiku.<\/p>\n

Basho returned to Edo in 1691 and died there in 1694.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Matsuo Basho<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Come, let\u2019s go by Matsuo Basho English version by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto Come, let\u2019s go snow-viewing till we\u2019re buried. \u2014 from Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter, Translated by Lucien Stryk \/ Translated by Takashi Ikemoto \/ Image by dadofliz \/ I am sitting here at my computer reading poetry in snow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,3],"tags":[115,40,125,116,417,277],"class_list":["post-6673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ivans-story","category-poetry","tag-basho","tag-buddhist-poetry","tag-haiku","tag-matsuo-basho","tag-snow","tag-zen-haiku"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6673"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6681,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6673\/revisions\/6681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}