Haiku Bindii

Stella, Lynette, Steve, Maeve and I met for our usual Zoom meeting. We received apologies from Maureen, Kaarin and Subha. Steve had undertaken to give us a fascinating introduction to Zen Buddhist teachings, in the context of wabi sabi . As a trained Buddhist teacher himself, he is amply qualified to speak on the subject. We all said afterwards that it would be wonderful if he could produce a webinar on the subject that could be broadcast to other members of the Australian Haiku Society and/or to the general public. Steve connected the Buddhist precepts of impermanence, suffering and removal of the concept of self with the principles of wabi sabi. He added that the reality modes in Buddhism: emptiness, fullness and interconnectedness, also directly relate to wabi sabi . The moment of enlightenment, Steve said, can itself be a manifestation of wabi sabi , in the sense that it is not a dramatic experience; it is more like a moment of intimacy with an everyday natural event. Steve

Stella, Lynette, Maureen and I met for our usual Zoom meeting. We received apologies from Steve, Kaarin and Maeve. Some of us had attempted haiku using the ideas promoted in Michael Dylan Welch’s Haiku on Steroids paper that was published online during the 2022 Haiku down Under online conference. After discussing the merits of radical experimentation, we tried writing a spontaneous haiku sequence, taking turns to write each line. The result was certainly entertaining, but perhaps not a work of literary merit. It was, however, a useful way of generating ideas. The next Zoom meeting will be on Saturday, Feb 11 at 3pm. We welcome a new member, Subha, who belongs to a Sri Lankan online haiku group and is based in Sydney. The topic will be wabi sabi, and Steve will give us a presentation on the concept.   Julia Wakefield