Haiku as Teacher

#1.Immerse yourself in nature.

#2.Be still.

#3.Pay attention to one thing.

#4.Express your mind's eye picture.

#5.Pause. Absorb the lesson.

#6.Stay connected. Share with others.

Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

Haiku is all about paying deep attention. Its essence is full immersion in the moment. In a world filled with distractions, how does one learn to be more fully in the now? Where does one start?

First, find one thing on which to concentrate for a few moments. Depending on the day, it might be the weather, the sky, an animal, the full moon, something that is blooming, or anything that captures your imagination.

Yesterday, because of the wind conditions, it was the ravens that caught my attention over and over again. The wind currents and thermals were enabling some amazing artistry in the sky above me.

Just as haiku is about rapt attention, you gain ever increasing awareness through your expression of unique haiku moments.

What is a haiku moment? Margaret McGee eloquently describes this as "a moment when the mind stops and the heart moves." And so, the best haiku capture the heart of a moment.

One of my most powerful experiences of a haiku moment occurred early one morning when I was taking a stroll down the nature trail behind my country home. Suddenly, I came upon dozens of feathers scattered at my feet. It was obvious that a bird's life had ended there. I felt incredible sadness at this loss of life. Out of that reverent moment a haiku was born.

You might think of haiku as a snapshot. It begins as a picture in your mind's eye. A well-crafted haiku is meant to depict a single image. Of course, this can be a multi-sensory experience.

One morning, after a rain shower, I lay in bed listening to drops of water falling from the trees and landing softly on the ground. The rhythmic percussion of those rain drops was joined by the distinct song of a cardinal outside my bedroom window.

In my mind's eye, I could see the cardinal's voice dripping from the trees just as those drops of water were slipping down off the leaves.

Astonishment is born of attentiveness. By focusing deeply on one thing during one moment, a space within is created for astonishment.

We write to taste life twice... ~Anais Nin

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