A Little Etymology and Terminology ~ · Aum Infinite Cosmoses

A LITTLE ETYMOLGY AND TERMINOLOGY ~Narayanan Raghunathan

Zen [From Sanskrit Dhyana] ~ Divine Meditation ~

Hai roughly means a little joke, a humorous instant, a sly observation, a gentle smile, happy laughter, innocent irony, ~ Scholars say that this word is very difficult to translate. “Ku” is more clearly poetry ~

Jin is a person. Haiku so is a beautiful little verse that brings a gentle smile of recognition. Many Japanese feel that the Haiku in English are too serious, solemn without the Hai so to say! So I read in more than one place.

Haijin [Hai + jin] ~ A person who practises the art of Haiku.

Kigo ~ the prominent season word ~ Japanese Language has thousands of such words with intrinsic seasonal reference ~

http://renku.home.att.net/500ESWd.html

http://home.att.ne.jp/star/biling-haiku/kigocollection.htm

http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_kigo#Japanese_seasons

“The Haiku Handbook ~ William J. Higginson” Published by Kodanasha International Ltd., 17-14 Otowa 1-chome, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 112-8652

Check the “Season Word List and Index” for a classified list of Japanese Kigo with English translations.

Onji ~ The fundamental phonetic unit of Japanese Language the onji is intrinsic to the Japanese language like the sounds and inner silences that constitute the language ~

“on [ sound ] ~ In poetry, the smallest metrical unit represented by a single written phonetical character. Abbreviation for onji

onji ~ [ sound, symbol ] A character in the Japanese phonetic syllabary; hence a technical term for the smallest metrical unit in Japanese poetry – equivalent to mora in Latin prosody and [not simply a syllable as it is usually translated]. “

Glossary ~ “The Haiku Handbook ~ William J. Higginson” Published by Kodanasha International Ltd., 17-14 Otowa 1-chome, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 112-8652

Some scholars say that it is a somewhat old fashioned word which has found a place among non-Japanese writers of Haiku

Stalking the Missing Onji ~ Richard Gilbert

http://ww7.tiki.ne.jp/~gilbert/Onji/onjifrm.htm

But surely the onji is a useful expressive word even in English.

Kireji ~ The Intrinsic pause [cut] [break] that occurs naturally in Japanese Haiku by the essential Structure and Rhythm of The language by certain expletives which have intrinsic meanings too. In English Haiku it may have to be indicated specifically by a [-, :, ; ~ ] sign.

5 -7 -5 and Kireji - practical advise

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/274

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/590

For a list of some common kireji, please check glossary

in “The Haiku Handbook ~ William J. Higginson” Published by Kodanasha International Ltd., 17-14 Otowa 1-chome, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 112-8652

saijiki ~ “Dictionaries of kigo words with examples of Haiku based on them.” Gabi Greve

http://home.att.ne.jp/star/biling-haiku/kigocollection.htm

Ginko ~ garden walk ~

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/407

Ginko is usually followed by a Kukai, a meeting

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/902

Sabi [ feelings of vast solitude isolation [sabishisa]

Sabi is the invocation of feelings of transitoriness of all things in this world and a gentle sadness and nostalgia for lost worlds and dreams. It also invokes solitude and a mendicant’s general contentment and natural ease and poetry even in his material poverty.

Wabi [ feelings of humble poverty accepting the vast divine dukkha of earthy existence. ]

Wabi is the invocation of feelings of deep pain by deformity, ugliness, a lack of something an incompleteness in man and nature generally. Wabi may be said to invoke a feeling of Mahaa Dhukkha[ Cosmic Pain ] in the sensitive recipient. A very Buddhist Feeling of A Bodhisattva is invoked

”The two dominant principles of Chinese and Japanese art and culture are wabi and sabi. Wabi refers to a philosophical construct, a sense of space, direction, or path, while sabi is an aesthetic construct rooted in a given object and its features, plus the occupation of time, chronology, and objectivity. Though the terms are and should be referred to distinctly, they are usually combined as wabi-sabi, as both a working description and as a single aesthetic principle. ”

http://www.hermitary.com/solitude/aesthetics.html

”Sabi is literally solitude or even loneliness. This is the atmosphere created by poetry and music, the sensibility provoked by art and drama, the reffectiveness provoked by a landscape. The design principles of sabi were applied to the spectrum of Japanese cultural expressions, including gardens (Zen and tea), poetry, ceramics, calligraphy, tea ceremony, flower arranging, bonsai, archery, music, and theater.

The confluence of wabi and sabi led to using the two separate terms as one. Wabi-sabi ”

Yugen [ divine mystery ]

Yugen invokes the very subtle ~ “says without saying, always saying more than what is said” ~

Yugen invokes wonder and astonishment. It is mystery, vision, Revelation, delight, poetry all together

Yugen [mystery] ~ Elegance, mystery, depth.

[ Several whole volumes in Japanese are devoted to this word, particularly in relation to the no-drama. ]“

Glossary in “The Haiku Handbook ~ William J. Higginson” Published by Kodanasha International Ltd., 17-14 Otowa 1-chome, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 112-8652

Karumi ~ [ lightness ] ~ In haikai and Haiku the beauty of ordinary things

Glossary ~ “The Haiku Handbook ~ William J. Higginson” Published by Kodanasha International Ltd., 17-14 Otowa 1-chome, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 112-8652

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Haiku-Essays/message/42

Hosomi ~ [slenderness] ~ In haikai-no-renga and Haiku, empathy bordering on the pathetic fallacy

Glossary ~ “The Haiku Handbook ~ William J. Higginson” Published by Kodanasha International Ltd., 17-14 Otowa 1-chome, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 112-8652

Shibumi ~ “astringency, austerity or slight asceticism. astringent, low-key; not making a big fanfare the opposite of sugary,cloying, or “Poetic” (and so not calendar art, say)." Seen from behind, he looks quite cold. " Gabi Greve

http://awakening.to/haiku.html

Shasei ~ “Describing nature as it is, like in a snapshot with a camera as opposed to a painting, where you can input your feelings. Shiki used the word shasei, meaning “reality sketches,” to characterize his approach to what he saw and did with his writing. His poems mix sound and color in a unique way, and this mix reverberates throughout the modern Japanese sensibility.” Gabi Greve

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/914

Sensei [ a leader master ] of a group

“one born before you” Gabi Greve

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/1051

Aware [ invokes the eternal transience of things ]

”Mono no aware, the transience, touchiness of things. In other forms of Japanese literature also.” Gabi Greve

http://www.worldhaikureview.org/23/whcessay_edgecomb.shtml

Haibun [ hai[ku]+bun ] ~

“haiku and bunsho: bunsho means an essay, a text. Haibun is a text with haiku interspersed, the most famous is the OKU NO HOSOMICHI.” Gabi Greve

Haiga [ haiku+ga] ~ “haiku and ga, haiku and a painting. Usually the haiku is first and the painting made afterwards. Many Japanese haiga are abbreviations like Zen-paintings (Zenga).” Gabi Greve

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/119

Haigajin, Haibunjin, Tankajin, Tankaga, Tankabun, such expressions are not used in Japanese.