Sunday, August 14, 2016

Carpe Diem #1024 success


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new day at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. This month its all about "the power of words" and all our prompts are related to a quote by a known or unknown person. Today I have chosen to share a quote by Swami Sivananda Saraswati (1887-1963).

Sivananda Saraswati (or Swami Sivanada) was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in British Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism. He lived most of his life near Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh. He was the founder of the Divine Life Society (DLS) in 1936.

Swami Sivananda Saraswati
And here is the quote for your inspiration:

[...] "Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success." [...] Swami Sivananda

This quote fits us as haiku poets. As we look at the smallest things around us, the smallest creatures in nature than that can and will bring you a successful haiku. 

An example by Issa, one of the four greatest haiku poets ever:

giddy grasshopper
take care...do not leap and crush
these pearls of dewdrop

© Issa 

Or this one by my master Matsuo Basho:

how pitiful!
underneath the helmet
a cricket chirping.

© Basho

Look at the tiny things around you and become the creator of a successful haiku (or tanka).

Cricket
Here is my response on this quote, shared from my archives:

deep silence
this lazy summer evening -
song of a cricket

© Chèvrefeuille 

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 19th at noon (CET). Have fun!

2 comments:

  1. It made me smile to see a bit of Issa ... I love his joyful sense of humor. :)

    Namaste

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love Issa's haiku! Mine is up at: https://purplepeninportland.wordpress.com/2016/08/20/success/

    ReplyDelete