Three Simple Lines
A Writer's Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku
1 of 1 copy available
A haiku is three simple lines. But it is also, as Allen Ginsberg put it, three lines that "make the mind leap." A good one, he said, lets the mind experience "a small sensation of space which is nothing less than God." As many spiritual practices seek to do, the haiku's spare yet acute noticing of the immediate and often ordinary grounds the reader in the pure awareness of now.
Natalie Goldberg is a delightfully companionable tour guide into this world. She highlights the history of the form, dating back to the seventeenth century; shows why masters such as Basho and Issa are so revered; discovers Chiyo-ni, an important woman haiku master; and provides insight into writing and reading haiku. A fellow seeker who travels to Japan to explore the birthplace of haiku, Goldberg revels in everything she encounters, including food and family, painting and fashion, frogs and ponds. She also experiences and allows readers to share in the spontaneous and profound moments of enlightenment and awakening that haiku promises.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
December 29, 2020 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781608687428
- File size: 126418 KB
- Duration: 04:23:22
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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December 15, 2020
Venerated writing teacher, writer, and artist Goldberg dispenses personal stories and literary and Zen Buddhist wisdom in books notable for their warmth, candor, and lucidity. Here she shares her immersion in haiku, a form Allen Ginsberg introduced her to when she was a student. Goldberg states, "Haiku is a refuge when the world seems chaotic," as it does now, and, indeed, the way she showcases haiku, both classic and new, while recounting her adventures in Japan as she followed the footsteps of the haiku masters--Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki--proves to be stress-reducing, stimulating, and replenishing. The essence of haiku, Goldberg notes, is "pure awareness," while its three lines should "make the mind leap." Goldberg deepens appreciation for the evolution of the form by telling tales of the master's lives and reclaiming the key contributions of an overlooked woman practitioner, Chiyo-ni. Goldberg's participation in a haiku writing group at her Santa Fe library, her fish-out-of-water moments in Japan, and her sense of humor and humility converge in a uniquely intimate celebration of haiku and its distillation of life's beauty and transience.COPYRIGHT(2020) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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