Finding Zen

Advice from a Tree by Colleen Keating

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                                  ADVICE from a TREE

 

Stand tall and proud.

 

Go out on a limb

 

Remember your roots

 

Drink plenty of water

 

Be content with your natural beauty

 

Enjoy the view

 

     

(Trees with their own characters)

     

(Trees on our local walk)

(A tree in grdens with a lot to say if you listen)

Some words from  poet and philospher, Herman Hesse

“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. 

I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche , like Hildegard of Bingen and Virginia Woofe

In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. 

Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. 

When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.

A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: 

Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.

A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one’s suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.

So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.”

Hermann Hesse

(BECOMING ONE. This tree fascinates me . It is early in the walk at Kur -rin-gai Wild Flowers Park)

 

Stay informed without Drowning in Anxiety

colleen Finding Zen, General , , , ,

I often remind myself of the Buddhist words:
“When you can’t calm the storm,
calm yourself
and wait for the storm to pass”

Many of us these days can be anxious about what’s going on in the world,
and reading the news or looking at social media seems to trigger our fears
and worries more than ever.
But we feel we can’t just bury our heads in sand.
So how do we stay informed but not get crushed with anxiety and overwhelm
from current events?
There aren’t any easy answers,
but here are a few ideas we can share with each other
and remind each other of these points.

1. LIMIT: Maybe limit checking news to twice a day, on two different sites
And limit the checks to 10 to 15 minutes each time.

2. WAIT: Don’t get caught up in reacting instantly.
Wait a day before sharing or reacting. Let yourself process it,
let the anxiety die down and breathe.

3. FOCUS: Keep yourself focused on what you can control.
What action can you take in your local community?
Can you get involved with a national campaign?
Are there conversations you can have with people
that will help the situation? If not,
then focus on the actions you can take,
and don’t take on the responsibility of having to fix everything
or worry about everything in the world.

4. NOTICE: practice noticing when you’r feeling anxiety
or overwhelm or frustration, and notice how it feels in your body,
in your mind, heart, gut!
Focus on the sensation, and let it be OK that you’re feeling things,
without adding extra fuel to the fire.

5. BREATHE: Sone slow, deep breaths can really help calm you.

6. BALANCE: with walking, nature, something beautiful every day

(Adapted with thanks from Leo Babauta, Zen Habits)

For me, these days as I get older I just have to remind myself

Stay calm in the storm
Find your prayer or mantra in nature, music, art, creating .
Make a habit of meeting the sacred everyday
Show resistance through joy, trust, love and creating .

(Adapted from Hopi Indian Chief White Eagle.)

 

 

Eucalypt Issue 37 2024 ed. Julie Thorndyke

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Thank you to the editor Julie Thorndyke for an exquisite production of the latest Eucalypt .

I can always feel the love and care in the selection and  placement  of  the tanka on the page

which of cousre enriches each one tanka.

Your work is appreciated. 

I am proud to be included with so many fine Tanka writers and  sensitive work  in this latest issue. 

 

 

     

 the wet sand

of the ebbing tide

reflects a pink dawn

my bare feet encounter

the first touch of spring

Colleen Keating

Thrilled to see Pip Griffin and Dr Andy Hede as two of my Tanka friends included in the latest Eucalypt

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another favourite of my tanka

pink glow

behind silver grey clouds

waiting

medical reports

still to be read

Colleen Keating

 

 

Spring Ginko with White Pebbles Haiku Meeting

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For our spring ginko White Pebbles haiku poets gathered at  Edogawa Gardens at the Gosford Regional Gallery and Arts Centre on a glorious warm Saturday morning,14th September, 2024. Present were  Beverley George, Maire Glacken, Michael Thorley, Marilyn Humbert and Colleen Keating with apologies from Samantha Sirimanne Hyde, Pip Griffin and Gwen Bitti  and Kent  Robinson.

The ducklings were not fluffy babies but teenagers  and defying their parents  who were trying to keep up for them.

 

We met in the Gallery’s cafe for a catch-up before a stroll through the gardens. Over coffee,  Beverley gave us each some leaves she had collected to share, including a very soft, smooth acacia gun-metal leaf and a lemon myrtle leaf. Both stimulated lots of conversation about texture, aroma, colour  shape and the patterns in the leaf,  It reminded us to walk slowly and pay attention. And she challenged us to return with a leaf haiku.

We strolled the garden, enjoying the apricity – the warmth of the sunshine on our backs, the scent and colours of the azaleas and the business of ducks and koi carp sharing the pond and water features of the gardens. The duckling were a highlight following children around after food. The white pebbled garden was simply but beautifully raked.

Then we gathered to share our thoughts and words.  Beverley said how happy she was to see so many White  Pebble haikuists being published in Echidna tracks and encouraged us all to send  haiku this month in for the next edition. We then shared  our haiku. We  making suggestions to improve our haiku  Next, we considered the haiku and images that had been gathered on the garden walk earlier. This proved an extremely productive exercise. Michael shared his new working haiku on a small coloured card which he distributed as a gift for us to keep. We all liked this idea and decided to bring copies of our work to hand around next time.  A few ideas that enriched  my days:

lemon-scented gum
we drink mugs of  billy tea 
by the campfire          

Colleen  Keating

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abstract art
pond wriggles with koi
around the ducks

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We concluded the White Pebbles Spring meeting 2024 with our hope to meet on the second Saturday 14th December for our Summer meeting.   (just a date to put in our new 2025 diaries when we get them –  our Autumn meeting  just for this one time will be on the third Saturday 15th  March  2025 )

still as a statue
a water dragon stops
and stills passers-by

 

Spring haiku by Colleen Keating

colleen Finding Zen, Poetry
 mountain mist ~
from our chairlift
the sound of cow bells
Colleen Keating
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two lorikeets
on my sun-lit deck
catch-up coffee

crowded festival
the shin shin
of falling blossoms

Colleen Keating

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school assembly
her first public speech
scent of jasmine

Colleen Keating
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ripple on the pond
as a koi surfaces. . .
falling leaves

Colleen Keating

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spring blossoms
soften stone
and hearts

Colleen Keating

______________________

wind chimes ~
southerly breeze
wild bamboo

Colleen Keating

________________________

winter memory ~
crisp red apples
locally grown

Colleen Keating

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old age…
propped-up cherry tree
blossoms

Colleen Keating

White Pebbles Haiku Group Summer Meeting 2024

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White Pebbles Haiku Group Summer Meeting 2024

Due to unforeseen circumstances, with weather threatening safe travel, the White Pebbles summer meeting scheduled for December 9th was deferred to January 13th.

Six of our members were present and we were joined by welcome guest, Pip Griffin. Michael Thorley and Samantha Hyde were unable to attend this time and they were missed.

We gathered at 10 a.m. for a catch-up and refreshing cuppa, before setting off on our silent ginko around the garden, looking appreciatively at wider landscapes and into small spaces, listening to natural sounds, sniffing the perfumes of leaves and blossom and alert to the shifting patterns of shadows and reflections.

At 11 a.m. we gathered at an oval table in a quiet room we hire at each meeting for workshopping.

Each member had heeded the suggested worksheet distributed in advance of the meeting, and shared haiku they brought with them relevant to that, in addition to those jotted on the ginko. As always, the sharing of haiku and respect for each other’s work was paramount to the enjoyment of the day and we look forward to our autumn meeting in the gardens.

Group photo
left to right: Pip Griffin, Gwen Bitti, Marilyn Humbert, Colleen Keating, Kent Robinson, Beverley George, Maire Glacken

White Pebbles Spring Meeting and Ginko 2023

White Pebbles haiku poets gathered at the Edogawa Gardens at the Gosford Regional Gallery and Arts Centre on Saturday morning, 16th September, 2023. Present were Maire Glacken, Marilyn Humbert, Gwen Bitti, Colleen Keating, Beverley George and Kent Robinson, with apologies received from Samantha Sirimanne Hyde and Michael Thorley.

A glorious spring day greeted us. Ducks and koi carp shared the pond and water features of the gardens. As they fed the ducks, children’s laughter echoed among the beautifully manicured flora. Spring blooms of every hue brightened the walkways.

We met in the Gallery’s cafe for a catch-up before a stroll through the gardens. Over coffee, Marilyn Humbert, advised us that, in order to refine our sense of observation as we strolled, we look into the small spaces – distill whatever we saw, and trust ourselves and our senses as we composed our haiku.  We strolled the garden, feeling the warmth of the spring sunshine on our faces. The scent of blooms bursting all about and the joy of being immersed in birdsong were intoxicating.

Now it was time for a round table meeting in the niche beneath the art gallery. At the beginning of the meeting our dear friend and valued member of White Pebbles, Gail Hennessy, who sadly recently passed, was remembered fondly. The round table about which we gather is extremely significant to our group. Around it we may share ideas and each single poet is as one with all others. How fortunate we feel, that White Pebbles is such a mutually supportive group!

Beverley George distributed for purchase “under the same moon”, the Fourth Australian Haiku Anthology, in which several White Pebbles members have haiku. (Many thanks to Vanessa Proctor for furnishing Beverley with copies of this fine anthology in advance of our meeting.)

Echidna Tracks 11 was spoken of, with congratulations to all White Pebbles poets who feature therein.

We then moved on to the business of the day. Beverley had asked that we each bring a haiku that had inspired us in the early days of our haiku journey, as well as one of our own that we had composed in those early days. Matsuo Basho featured strongly as an early influence to many.

Next, we considered the haiku and images that had been gathered on the garden walk earlier. This proved an extremely productive exercise. Beverley presented some haiku that Michael Thorley had sent in. Thank you, Michael. Your sensitive haiku were a fine addition to our meeting and very much appreciated by all.

Marilyn Humbert had prepared a presentation entitled “The Art of Discovery”. She advised us in composing haiku to observe light and shade at different times throughout the day, different seasons, different weather conditions, different sounds and different moods. And to be aware of the ephemeral things – feathers, stones, bird calls, the shapes of twigs and leaves, tree trunks and bark, rough and smooth. To trust our senses. Helpfully, Marilyn supplied a number of examples of haiku written from different points of view. Many thanks to Marilyn for a most informative and thought provoking presentation.

At this point, towards the end of our meeting, we acknowledged our members who have recently had books published.
* Gwen Bitti has had a novel entitled “Between Two Worlds” published by Ginninderra Press. Gwen spoke of the writing of “Between Two Worlds” and furnished each White Pebble poet with a sachet of fragrant herbs, a snippet of silk and one of hessian to enhance sensory perception, as she spoke.
* Colleen Keating’s carefully researched book, “The Dinner Party” was also published by Ginninderra Press and we enjoyed hearing about it.
* And we recalled that only recently, in 2022, Samantha Sirimanne Hyde’s book “The Lyrebird’s Cry” was published.
Congratulations All!

This concluded the White Pebbles Spring meeting 2023. The general sentiment was all are looking forward to our summer ginko.

Kent Robinson

Group photo
Back, L to R: Colleen, Kent; Front, L to R: Beverley, Maire, Gwen, Marilyn

 

Author: leanneausthaiku

Secretary, Australian Haiku Society

The Chinese Garden of Friendship: An Unfolding Journey

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Un Unfolding Journey

After visiting the Powerhouse Museum to be part of the final exhibition before it closed for years, to be renovated, we bought a take away coffee and walked into Darling Harbour to visit The Chinese Garden of Friendship. Something I had not done for years.

We did what the brochure said “Take time to explore the mystery and magic,  allowing the Garden to gradually reveal its many secrets and hidden stories.”

We found a table near the lake in weeping willow shade to have our picnic with our coffee and watched the water dragons around our feet  and pop up on roa rock. We watched a turtle come out of the water and sit on a rock , the gold koi . 

It was lovely to picnic and wander through this small piece of tranquillity in a a busy noisy city. But here nothing is placed by accident. The whole garden  is based on the Taoist principles of Yin-Yang and the five elements of earth, fire, water, metal and wood. 

Chinese  philosophy places a lot on the flow of qi which we translate as energy  or life force and the garden is built with the idea of the flow of qi  as we walked  observing the  bridges, plants, trees,  sculptures, rocks, secret corners, pavilions meandering  stone steps have been meticulously chosen and placed to capture the qi of the five elements, Feng Shui and the universal forces that bind them together.

We experienced the gazing out   from the  mountain, from different perspectives of The Pavilions.  We experienced  the balancing opposites in the garden, rock  defying gravity  the constrasts of bonsai trees and conifers , the sound of cascading water and the stillness of the lake , the short soft mondo grass beneath the sturdy long-stemmed bamboo and the beauty of the large pink lotus lilies flowering on the lake. 

Below the Dragon Wall is the pool of reflection where many years back I had a moment of epiphany . Sitting their for quite awhile pondering the reflection of dragons and the wall  and counting coins it was a shock to suddenly see the clouds floating along in the water. It was one of those moments when you realise what you see is only a minimum of what is there. So easy to   forget we have only a small part of the whole .And it was one of those wow moments as the shallow pool became deeper and deeper

“The jewel of the Garden, The Gurr , also known as The Clear View Pavilion , sits at its highest point. Decorated with a lavish golden roof intricate wood carvings and an ornate lantern symbolising prosperity , it has a perfect view of the whole landscape.  

 

Spring Walk in Wyrrabalong National Park by Colleen Keating

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In the bush I hear the trees
ferns, palms and moss
whispering their wisdom
renewing my being
healing my soul
– Colleen Keating

After winter

Still dark enough to note the morning star
she walks again the bush track. A few magpies
fossick in frosty grass for first feed. Swallows dart

among the insect motes off the dandelion spent heads
and fly back to perch on telegraph wires.
It is still cold. Apple-crisp and silver.

The clouds open as silk fans, their bone
displayed like veins of a feather. The magpies
sing now from branches above, and she thinks too

how their morning song is her Delphian oracle.
She walks the track that’s a bracelet of charms
taps a branch watching a spangle of diamond–

dew drops light the way while the early light captures
a scarred tree trunk hollowed black like Munch’s Scream.
A cockatoo perched above glints with the gold                                      

of a mohawk fiend, soon in flight it will have the air
of a Tiger Moth in a opal-tinted sky. She has always loved
the walks here, the brush turkey stepping from

its scratchy music of an old LP, the whipbird checking
on its mate from the high river gums, the wrens chirping
from the safety of undergrowth, yet today it is a rupture

of spring that sings a rhapsody of song: purple milkwort
ravishing attention, pink wax Eriostemon, wedding veil
showers of boronia and orange pea plants sitting

in their spiky foliage. There is joy in watching the earth
re-awaken, the inevitable journey out of a winter
segueing towards summer. Ahead she can see

why she came – a wild display of flannel flowers. Petals
still mostly closed – their green tips a rising choir ready to sing
an Alleluia chorus. Open petals like earth-bound stars have                                                

the velvety feel of a childhood dress and sparkle in the shifting
light. She loves those Banksia trees that shade the groves
flamboyant with rough bearded seed pods like sleepy-eyed owls

wisely peering down: with the zephyr of a breeze there’s
a shuffling sound as if feathers are being ruffled or a yellow
skirt swinging through dried grass. The sun now on the shoulder

beams into the canopy of green and she will walk back
her mind pianissimo as a gentle Brahms largo passage
alert to nature watching, her enlivened step. 

Colleen Keating

 

 

Finding Zen and the Guesthouse by Rumi

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Coming to learn to be fully human consider my body a guesthouse

When you breathe deeply and go inward,
make space for whatever wants to come to visit your guesthouse today.
What do you notice rising up in you?
What could it be helping you accept or understand?
What has your grief taught you?

The Guesthouse 

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Jalaluddin Rumi

from Rumi: Selected Poems, trans Coleman Barks with John Moynce, A. J. Arberry, Reynold Nicholson (Penguin Books, 2004)