Should Christians and, especially, Roman Catholics dabble
with things like haiku? What would be the problem? There are certainly
‘Christian’ and ‘Catholic’ haiku - Google them. They are sentimental nonsense
and nothing to do with haiku. But this led me as a Roman Catholic to question
if the practice of haiku - both reading and writing them - is compatible with
my faith.
Haiku has its origins in Japanese Zen Buddhism and it is obvious that
the Buddhist influence persists from my extensive reading of haiku. The
influence is not only in the haiku but in essays around haiku, book reviews and
books where people expound on haiku both generally and specifically. It is
abundantly clear that many practitioners of haiku are Buddhist. There is no
Roman Catholic line on haiku but there certainly is on Buddhism. While Pope John Paul II
wrote very positively about Buddhism in the Opus Die inspired Crossing the threshold of hope, it is clear that it is incompatible
with Roman Catholicism if, for no other reason, than it denies the existence of
a personal God and strays into some practices and holds some beliefs that many
would easily see as not being remotely Christian, such as reincarnation.
On the other hand, to deny, as some would, that there is nothing in common between Catholicism and Buddhism is ridiculous - even in our beliefs. We can look at spiritual practices such as meditation and liturgical devices such as burning incense and church bells and it is hard to deny this superficial influence of Buddhism on Christianity. After all Buddhism preceded Christianity by centuries. But, what about haiku and what are they?
Haiku are, essentially, poems. Traditionally, in Japanese, they had a three line, seventeen syllable structure
with a seasonal reference (kigo) and a cutting word (kareji) to indicate a break
in the flow of ideas. When haiku were imported to the west the three line
seventeen syllable structure was mimicked but has gradually disappeared as it
only had meaning when the Japanese language was used. Most poems described as
haiku now are, strictly, senryu as mostly they do not contain a seasonal
reference and deal with a very wide range of topics. But the essence of haiku
is not in its structure or specific features of its content. Haiku are about
the celebration of the mundane, in the present moment, the taking notice of
small things but represented in such a way that there may be ambiguity in the
form of words - openness to interpretation - with no moral message and a
minimum of emotion and sentiment. For example, one of my own haiku:
Haiku has its origins in Japanese Zen Buddhism and it is obvious that
the Buddhist influence persists from my extensive reading of haiku. The
influence is not only in the haiku but in essays around haiku, book reviews and
books where people expound on haiku both generally and specifically. It is
abundantly clear that many practitioners of haiku are Buddhist. There is no
Roman Catholic line on haiku but there certainly is on Buddhism. While Pope John Paul II
wrote very positively about Buddhism in the Opus Die inspired Crossing the threshold of hope, it is clear that it is incompatible
with Roman Catholicism if, for no other reason, than it denies the existence of
a personal God and strays into some practices and holds some beliefs that many
would easily see as not being remotely Christian, such as reincarnation.On the other hand, to deny, as some would, that there is nothing in common between Catholicism and Buddhism is ridiculous - even in our beliefs. We can look at spiritual practices such as meditation and liturgical devices such as burning incense and church bells and it is hard to deny this superficial influence of Buddhism on Christianity. After all Buddhism preceded Christianity by centuries. But, what about haiku and what are they?
Haiku are, essentially, poems. Traditionally, in Japanese, they had a three line, seventeen syllable structure
with a seasonal reference (kigo) and a cutting word (kareji) to indicate a break
in the flow of ideas. When haiku were imported to the west the three line
seventeen syllable structure was mimicked but has gradually disappeared as it
only had meaning when the Japanese language was used. Most poems described as
haiku now are, strictly, senryu as mostly they do not contain a seasonal
reference and deal with a very wide range of topics. But the essence of haiku
is not in its structure or specific features of its content. Haiku are about
the celebration of the mundane, in the present moment, the taking notice of
small things but represented in such a way that there may be ambiguity in the
form of words - openness to interpretation - with no moral message and a
minimum of emotion and sentiment. For example, one of my own haiku:
the ploughman
his thoughts mingle
with the gulls
(Published (2018) in Blithe Spirit (Journal of the British Haiku Society) Volume 28, Number 1, page 19. LHA Ref: Blithe Spirit 28.1, February 2018)
(Published (2018) in Blithe Spirit (Journal of the British Haiku Society) Volume 28, Number 1, page 19. LHA Ref: Blithe Spirit 28.1, February 2018)
Not too ambitious but a moment captured and an impression
conveyed. Perhaps a new way of looking at something that you have often seen. Rarely are haiku explained and expounded on - but occasionally they are. The above haiku was inspired by seeing fields being ploughed, a very common sight from my youth in rural Kincardineshire but still visible from roads as we drive past fields in Spring. The gulls follow the plough where the newly turned earth offers worms and other edible substances that have been buried beyond their reach. I imagined the ploughman thinking and his thoughts rising to join the gulls. Obvious, perhaps, but some haiku are quite obscure.
What would there not be to like about haiku from the Christian perspective? Well, nothing in my view but
this celebration of the moment and the mundane is certainly very ‘mindful’ - to
use a current term which definitely has Buddhist meditational origins. Such
meditation emphasises a focus on small things and not on the eternal and this may seem like dangerous meddling with another form of thought, even a syncretism. Perhaps it is but I see no incompatibility between Christianity - and Catholic Christianity - and celebrating the mundane and elevating it to consciousness. After all, the mundane and the
eternal are equally part of God's creation.
What would there not be to like about haiku from the Christian perspective? Well, nothing in my view but
this celebration of the moment and the mundane is certainly very ‘mindful’ - to
use a current term which definitely has Buddhist meditational origins. Such
meditation emphasises a focus on small things and not on the eternal and this may seem like dangerous meddling with another form of thought, even a syncretism. Perhaps it is but I see no incompatibility between Christianity - and Catholic Christianity - and celebrating the mundane and elevating it to consciousness. After all, the mundane and the eternal are equally part of God's creation.
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