MEMORIES, HAIKUS

I was checking back in archives of The Buddha Diaries this morning in the attempt to recall when I actually started this blog. It was January, 2007, and it morphed out of the first blog I ever wrote, The Bush Diaries. My first post in that blog was in November, 2004, when I awoke one morning to the realization that George W. Bush had been re-elected to the presidency. RE-elected! I was appalled--so appalled that I felt the need to do something, say something... and fell headfirst, like Alice through the Looking-Glass, into the blogosphere. After four years--I think--writing almost daily to and about Bush, I realized it was time for a change and The Buddha Diaries was born.

All of which was of interest because, when I looked back, I was reminded that my first entry in The Buddha Diaries coincided with a week-long retreat with Thanissaro Bhikkhu in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In which context, the day's retreat here in Laguna Beach a couple of days ago took on a new perspective--that of many years of work with Than Geoff, and many years of entries in The Buddha Diaries.

That first post included what follows below. I had been making note of Than Geoff's sayings throughout the week of the earlier, longer retreat and, on a whim, composed them into these (Un)Intentional Haikus, hoping to capture some of the wisdom, compassion, understanding and humor of his words. One of my favorites is the last: "Is the mountain/heavy? Not/if you don't try to lift it." So here they are again, Than Geoff's unintentional haikus, more than 10 years later:

Viva Voce

(Un)Intentional Haikus
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
as written down by Peter Clothier
January 28, 2007

the fear:
more dangerous
than the tiger

*

learn
to perceive your anger
as dangerous

*

be aggressive
not out of anger
but out of strategy

*

what made me angry
today? why? what
was the issue?

*

your anger starts
speaking; its reasons
not so good

*

in case of possession, spread
lots of metta
to the spirit

*

give these things
space; think of it
as possession

*
we all
have multiple
personalities

*

"as excited
as a Chinese person
during a fire"

*

the Buddhist approach:
dealing with anger
spread lots of goodwill

*

next time you get
angry, remember: you look
really ugly

*

remind yourself:
I'm not seeing straight
right now: be quiet

*

let loose, or
bottle it up: neither
of these is healthy

*

forty years
of bottled-up anger? Put it
in little bottles and sell it

*

use the energy of anger
without the blindness
to work it out

*

what could I have said
differently, so that person
would not have blown up?

*

think: often
the opening words
are the important ones

*

how to deal with peole
that you hate? analogies
change your perception

*

when we're angry
we think we're in a position
of total power

*

seeing goodness
in other people
nourishes ourselves

*

when you're thirsty
and trembling, you need
what water you can get

*

this person does have
some good; let's
forcus on that first

*

if you spend your time
hating that person
you consume yourself

*

acknowledge their power;
let's see
if we can work together

*

standing here
I haven't seen
anybody

*

that's us; we need
the goodness of other people
to nourish our own goodness

*

when you're in the human
realm, there are going to be
injustices

*

if we take injustices
personally, we've got
a problem

*

why is this
happening to us? We're
human beings

*

shame and compunction;
when they're gone
you're left without defense

*

with anger, there's
a surge of power; but it's
a false power

*

if he keeps acting
in that way, he causes
trouble for himself

*

the sword
coming out of the pillar of fire:
what was that about?

*

may you learn
to do those things
that lead to true happiness

*

am I speaking
out of kindness, or
vindictiveness?

*

who made you
the National Bureau
of Standards?

*

you're getting upset
about the normal course
of human events

*

equal to the great earth;
try to make your goodwill
that big

*

the Buddha is not
teaching us to be
doormats

*

you can defend yourself
but without hatred
for that person

*

if you have an attitude
of goodwill, more of your mind
is available

*

there are times when fear
is skillful:
it helps you

*

when your fear gets tied
with anger and delusion,
that's when it's dangerous

*

your big fear: to do something
unskillful. I'd rather
go down honorably

*

we tend
to spot fear easily
in each other

*

the state of your mind:
more valuable
than your body

*

you've got
something nobody
can touch

*

it takes an act
of will to maintain
that attitude

*

when we grow up
as a country
we have to live with danger

*

a stingy person
cannot attain nirvana; you've got
to be generous

*

if you're talking about
our basic nature, well,
we need food

*

the Buddha
never mentioned
Buddha nature

*

when people asked
certain questions, the Buddha said
don't ask

*

it takes time
to become a Buddha:
it's your choice

*

a false assumption:
that you can go out
and save somebody

*

at some point in their life
people will want
to find a way out of their suffering

*

even this wonderful state
is not
the ultimate freedom

*

is the mountain
heavy? Not
if you don't try to lift it