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Gratefulness
The fourth of an eight-day practice celebrating National Poetry Month and inspired by Br. David's appreciation of and experience with haiku.
Not to feel that you feel, not to know that you know, but just to feel, just to know– how liberating! ~ Br. David Steindl-Rast
Welcome.
In his book A Listening Heart: The Spirituality of Sacred Sensuousness, Br. David guides readers in an exploration of some aspects of a peak experience. He proposes an experiment in which we close our eyes and recall a major or minor peak of our past experience. Maybe it was “a moment on a mountain top…Or sitting on a fence-rail dangling your legs, not in boredom, not at all, but in utter absorption. Absorption into what? Into nothing; for nothing happened.” He goes on to reflect upon the fact that our peak experience is “an altogether unreflective moment,” writing “Only afterwards can I reflect on it and so talk about it. And what I am then inclined to say is something like ‘I was simply swept off my feet,’ or…’I had lost myself,’ This was all. But not quite all. For looking back I will also admit that at that moment of my Peak Experience I was more truly and more fully myself than at any other time.”
Haiku and calligraphy by Br. David Steindl-Rast
Through this exercise, Br. David suggests that “we have gained access to Haiku from within.” He writes, “If you have become aware that you are most truly yourself when you forget yourself; that in truly being alone you are one with all…you have discovered in your own experience the paradox in which Haiku has its roots.”
Today, we invite you to close your eyes and bring to mind a major or minor peak experience, referencing Br. David’s guidance above. Let it be a moment of utter absorption in which you “forgot yourself.”
Once you have relived this moment, notice what words begin to arise in your recall of this peak experience. With this experience fresh in your heart and mind, experiment with writing a haiku.
We invite you to reflect on your experience in a notebook or in the reflection area below. If you’d like, you may also share your haiku.
You may have noticed that Br. David signs his haiku as “Anon.” You might explore doing this for your own haiku. Notice how it impacts the poem. Notice how it feels for you. Imagine how it might land with others.
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Still meandering along at my own pace as the Spirit moves.
Serendipity that we have been visited by so many butterflies lately. Vibrant red and yellow echinacea, bell shaped soft lavender hosta blossoms. They can’t resist.
I wrote in my journal that although I have been to the Grand Canyon, it is the birth of my daughters that springs to mind as my “peak experience”. They surprised me, these miraculous creatures.
Waiting, empty, longing Afraid to hope. And then…Surprise!
Godspace Space between thoughts Free
Kites flutter above Sun, breeze, and music playing Soaking in the peace
Birds calling, soaring, fresh morning breeze carrying sights and smells of dawn
Now, think about it, she said, the moment destroyed. The day remains good.
(We overthink too often, Where is the fun in that?)
Not a haiku but what I came up with:
In New Moon darkness I sit on a dock listening to unseen sea creatures jumping in the bay: plop, plop, plop.
Softly they splash all night, the same as the first fish, as the ancestral fish of billions of years ago.
In primordial salt water, under the stars, Time began.
Long before I came to be with fish plopping unseen in salt water, Time started ticking forward.
The fish, sea and stars will continue in their slow procession onward long after I have come to pass.
flooding sound overwhelms slipping into reverie Mozart oh Mozart
Exasperations walking Breathing with delight A glass of water
Cold snowy night Taxi ride warmth between us A rush from the star highest
Angst and pain with relief ahead Approaching life Higher eve
PowWow dancing magic flows. Colorful music….. rising high raises the heart
in the flooded road a heron stands, intensely still, i stop, he flies
Quiet night at sea. Dolphins glide silently by in swirls of blue light.
An invitation To breathe, to bathe, and to splash No bathing suits here
Thank you for this 4th practice on Haiku. Each practice strikes a heartfelt chord This practice hits me quietly with an aha moment: THIS is what haiku is about : Just being in the moment with nature; for whatever is happening right there. Also attention, curiosity, observation, appreciation,engagement, play and joy coming together in one brief moment and captured with 17 syllables. A micro moment of aliveness. A life giving pause to today fast pace of life. With Gratitude
‘A micro moment of aliveness.’ Yes! Thank you Merie.
Thank you,Serafina for adding joy. Resonance. Smiles.
A misty morning Walk on wet grass, bare footed Quiet and carefree
Under Northern Lights Feeling massive energy we are so, so small
Ice veins the pond snow dusts the leaves yet this red rose unfolds to life!
Last winter a few days before Christmas I looked out into our garden and saw a miniature rose with three buds showing color! It had snowed lightly the night before, and for weeks everything in the garden had gone into winter slumber. On Christmas Eve the temperatures were predicted to plummet, so I brought the blossoms inside where they graced our Christmas table.
on the bark-bare log mountainside whispers come be cradled in wild flowers
Wow! The hurricane last summer has left us much the same. These lovely lines remind so much of the. universal experience we share. Thank you!
Making love with spouse creates: joy, pain, life, death;worth cost of the covenant.
Years ago we had a son who died at birth. The healing remedy was to love again, create a new life again. It was scary. This is not something they tell you about in marriage prep programs, that in making love all of the aspects of life are also created. And yet, we are fortunate because of our committed relationship, our covenant and trust in those words of “I do….for better or worse,” and in that experience we realized, i.e. made real, the worth of our commitment, our covenant to each other. In that, we shared a moment of God’s love and commitment to us. Subsequently, we had three more children. We continue to be grateful.
Sending you and yours blessings.
Naming gulls, crafting tales of loss and passion Toes deep in sand My girl and I laugh tears
On San Simeon pier encompassed by vastness of peerless blue sky.
Write an entry in your private gratefulness journal
When after heavy rain the storm clouds disperse, is it not that they’ve wept themselves…
What if you discovered that living with awareness and intention, focusing on what makes you…
An eight-day practice inspired by Br. David Steindl-Rast’s appreciation of haiku.
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We are delighted to announce the release of Kristi Nelson’s book Wake Up Grateful
