More Death Poems

More death poems by Japanese haiku poets:

Joseki (died July 21, 1779, age 85)

This must be

my birthday there

in paradise. (207-208)

Shoshun (died April 24, between 1660 and 1672, less than 90)

Flowers bloomed yesterday,

today winds blow--

what but a dream. . . (302-303)

Chiyoni (died Sept. 8, 1775, age 73)

I saw the moon as well

and now, world,

“truly yours. . . “ (152)

Chiyoni, one of the best-known women haiku poets, became a Buddhist nun at the age of fifty-two. In her death poem she creates a metaphor of life as a letter. Kashiku is phrase used by women to end their letters.”

Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death. Ed. Yoil Hoffmann. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle, Co. 1986.

"The Up Side of Down"--2014 Books

I read The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well is the Key to Success by Megan McArdle while I was at Lebh Shomea on my Kindle. I thought I had highlighted sections I liked, but now cannot find the notes!

Megan McArdle has long been a successful business blogger. In this book, she argues that America is unique in its willingness to let people and companies fail, but also in its determination to let them pick up after the fall. Failure is how people and businesses learn. She teaches us how to recognize mistakes early to channel setbacks into future success. 

"Handle it right, and failure can be the bet thing that ever happened to you (though it may sometimes feel like the worst). Handle it wrong and it won't just feel like the worst thing that ever happened to you. I know; I've been there. And the good news is there are concrete things you can do to train yourself to be more resilient, and to turn a very unpleasant setback into an opportunity to do something you might never have had the courage to do otherwise."

With the kindle, I do not have page numbers. Plus, I keep thinking that I may have more to share when I've reviewed the book again!

"Awareness" : 2014 Books

Thanks to the weekly book study, Wisdom Class, I recently read Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello for the second time. I probably need to re-read it several more times to learn and practice "awareness" more often. These essays seem to be from transcripts of retreats he gave, so reading them aloud enhances understanding. We did not do that very often in our meetings, but needed to be reminded that that was the form of writing. He keeps saying, "Wake up!"

"Put this program into action, a thousand times: (a) identify the negative feelings in you; (b) undertand they are in you, not in the world, not in external reality; (c) do not see them as an essential part of 'I'; these things come and go; (d) understand that when you change, everything changes." (89)


It helped to watch videos of Anthony de Mello; we were fortunate to have these loaned to us to watch. But his talks are available on the internet via U-tube--go here! It is definitely worth the time to look at one or more of these. Here is a 4-minute glimpse:



And about God:

"The fact is that you're surrounded by God and you don't see God, because you 'know' about God. The final barrier to the vision of God is your God concept. You miss God because you think you know. That's the terrible thing about religion. That's what the gospels were saying, that religious people 'knew,' so they got rid of Jesus. The highest knowledge of God is to know God as unknowable. There is far too much God talk; the world is sick of it. There is too little awareness, too little love, too little happiness, but let's not use those words either. There's too little dropping of illusions, dropping of errors, dropping of attachments and cruelty, too little awareness...." (102)

I highly recommend this book and will be reading it again.

2014 Books: "Zealot"

I am definitely a reader, but also a procrastinator: So far in this third month of 2014, I have only listed one book I have read this year even though I have read many. I will try to write about some of these books in the coming weeks. This won't be in consecutive order though!

Today I feel triumphant for finishing the book, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan. Daughters AE and KA in Seattle sent it to me as a surprise some months ago, whenever there was all that hoopla about FOX News inadequately interviewing author Reza Aslan.

I put off reading it because I'd already spent years reading about the historical Jesus, both at Oblate
School of Theology and on my own. However, with our priest liking it and so many members of the Wisdom Class wanting to read it, I read it and am glad I did.

It is very historical, with lots of documentation. In fact, the author has 50 pages of expanded notes at the back of the book (219-272).  All that impresses me; I have always liked to read notes, especially extensive ones like these. Aslan sets the stage very well for the reader to imagine what the politics and culture were like in the time of Jesus and afterwards. This is important for people to read.

I found it especially interesting how he draws comparisons to Paul's view of Jesus and the experiences of those in Jerusalem who knew him in his life at the end of the book. I learned more than I ever knew before about "James the Just," the brother of Jesus, who was called "Bishop of Bishops" in Jerusalem before the decimation of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 c.e.

Zealot is an interesting book to read, one that will create questions that may be old or new to each reader. As a review by Dale B. Martin in the NY Times reveals:

"A real strength of the book is that it provides an introduction to first-century Palestine, including economics, politics and religion. Mr. Aslan uses previous scholarship to describe the precarious existence of Jewish peasants and the lower classes, and how the Romans and the Jewish upper class exploited the land and the people. He explains not just the religious but also the economic significance of the Temple, and therefore the power of the priestly class controlling it. 

“Zealot” shares some of the best traits of popular writing on scholarly subjects: it moves at a good pace; it explains complicated issues as simply as possible; it even provides notes for checking its claims. 

"But the book also suffers from common problems in popularization, like proposing outdated and simplistic theories for phenomena now seen as more complex."

(Go here to read the entire review.) 

I am glad I read it; I learned some new things; I want to investigate some aspects mentioned.  This will be a good book for our weekly book study group, the Wisdom Class, because it will prompt a lot of questions and discussion. It will be slower reading than usual, since it is more of a scholarly book, but they successfully read The Case for God by Karen Armstrong a few years ago.

Zealot is a good book to read for historical information of the area and times of Jesus; it is one that will prompt more questions, discussion and research.

2014 Books

With this being the third of January of 2014, I have decided to keep track of the books I read this year. I did this for a few years when I first began my blog eight years ago and would like to do it again. You can see the list to the right of this post.

I read about Crossing for Safety by Wallace Earle Stegner somewhere on the internet and bought a used copy. It was published in 1988, when I had three children and was not reading much except quick mysteries. Its description as a quiet book about two couples intrigued me, as well as the date of its publication.

The narrator of the book is the male member of one of the couples, who is about 64. That is almost my age, so his reflections seemed relevant as to our age perspectives. These couples met while they were in graduate school. The book chronicles with flashbacks their relationships and challenges as they grow and change. It is an interesting book.

It evidently was the last book that Wallace Stegner wrote before his death in 1993. It was so well-written that I plan to read more of his books, but will get them from the public library if possible.