JOYFUL MIND WELLNESS
  • HOME
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • subscribe
  • ONLINE
    • Online Yoga >
      • Watch a sample
      • what people say
  • LOCAL
    • Calm in Kyogle
    • Mindfulness Courses & News
    • Meditation Course
    • Taking in the Good
    • Yoga >
      • Yoga Booklet
    • Mindfulness Workshops
    • Schools
    • iRest
    • Links
  • Blog
    • Blog Roll archive
  • Shop
    • Product

Joyfulmind Blog

STORE
JOIN

SPARSE WORDS OF WISDOM: HOKUSAI SAYS

13/10/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture

Hokusai says look carefully.
He says pay attention, notice.
He says keep looking, stay curious.
Hokusai says says there is no end to seeing
​
Hokusai Says joyfulmind.net.au
Nineteenth century Japanese bohemian artist, the great Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) expressed his view of life in images.

​Have you noticed a paradox? Sparse
expressions can best convey life’s pithy meaning in its depth and width.
 
Hokusai says look carefully.
He says pay attention, notice.
He says keep looking, stay curious.
Hokusai says says there is no end to seeing


He says look forward to getting old.
He says keep changing,
you just get more who you really are.

 
It’s quite magical that words, when used sparingly, carry the power to essentialize their subject, the way an image can.
 
He says get stuck, accept it, repeat
yourself as long as it is interesting.
 
He says keep doing what you love.

 
Thus an extraordinary creation resulted when contemporary poet, art historian and curator of Japanese art, Roger Keyes, translated the art of the great Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) into language.

A professor of East Asian studies in the USA, Keyes reads between the brushstrokes of Hokusai’s extensive oeuvre to pen a beautifully structured poem, “Hokusai Says”.

He says keep praying.
 
He says every one of us is a child,
every one of us is ancient
every one of us has a body.


I like to relish the words and read them slowly. It’s like each line is a golden carp darting through a lily pond.  One carp, one line. Watching til it disappears and another comes swimming along.

Hokusai Says Shakti Burke

.Are you getting a certain sensation in your body from hearing the words? Do they slow you down and take you to a sanctuary within? A welcome place of mindfulness.

 
A google search tells me Keyes wrote his Hokusai poem to console his ailing Japanese wife, Keiko Mizushima Keyes, while he was working away from home. Another layer of meaning and kindness to decorate the carp pond. That was some time ago. Keiko died in 1989 at her home in Woodacre, California.
 

AN AUDIO- VISUAL TREAT!
 
And here’s a really big audio-visual treat!

Keye’s “Hokusai”  poem has been put to images in a number of You Tube clips.

 
My favourite is read by Meral Mathews, whose mellow voice has a timeless quality, charging the verse with an immediacy that is at once romantic, poignant and convincing. The images used portray Hokusai’s Thirty Six Views of Mt. Fuji, planting the poem firmly in a Japanese woodblock landscape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVPhuf5zTyE
 
Another version is beautifully read by Mark Williams, one of the founders of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for depression. The clip aired during the Mindfulness Summit, 31 Days of Mindfulness, a free on-line event devised by Australian duo Melli O’Brien and Matt Dickinson. 
​
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkTvAi9UdLw
 

Like it? Share it!
 
I love to hear from readers! Mobile users, click on the blog link to get to the screen where you can leave a comment. Laptop users click on the orange 'Comments' below.
​
Here's the entire poem by Roger Keyes:
​
"Hokusai Says"
 
Hokusai says look carefully.
He says pay attention, notice.
He says keep looking, stay curious.
Hokusai says says there is no end to seeing
 
He says look forward to getting old.
He says keep changing,
you just get more who you really are.
He says get stuck, accept it, repeat
yourself as long as it is interesting.
 
He says keep doing what you love.
 
He says keep praying.
 
He says every one of us is a child,
every one of us is ancient
every one of us has a body.
He says every one of us is frightened.
He says every one of us has to find
a way to live with fear.
 
He says everything is alive --
shells, buildings, people, fish,
mountains, trees, wood is alive.
Water is alive.
 
Everything has its own life.
 
Everything lives inside us.
 
He says live with the world inside you.





He says it doesn't matter if you draw,
or write books. It doesn't matter
if you saw wood, or catch fish.
It doesn't matter if you sit at home
and stare at the ants on your veranda
or the shadows of the trees
and grasses in your garden.
It matters that you care.
 
It matters that you feel.
 
It matters that you notice.
 
It matters that life lives through you.
 
Contentment is life living through you.
Joy is life living through you.
Satisfaction and strength
is life living through you.
 
He says don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid.
 
Love, feel, let life take you by the hand.
Let life live through you.
 
 
- Roger Keyes
2 Comments
Helen
15/10/2015 01:56:52 am

Hi Shakti I love the delightful compact fullness of his words.

Reply
Judith Childs
30/4/2017 06:29:25 am

Hello, Roger. Thank you for this. I looked online and found your deeply considered words at a time when I needed them. Warmest and best thoughts from Judith.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

           Categories

    All
    Anger Management
    Circular Thoughts
    Home Yoga Practice
    Letting Go
    Nervous System
    NVC
    Prolonged Sitting
    Self-empathy
    Setting Intention
    Sleep Well
    Standing Desk
    Values & Goals

    Archives

    December 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    September 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013

    RSS Feed

Services

Yoga Online
Mindfulness
Coaching

Joyfulmind

About
The Blog
Shakti Burke is a registered Senior Teacher with Yoga Australia

Support

Contact

© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • HOME
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • subscribe
  • ONLINE
    • Online Yoga >
      • Watch a sample
      • what people say
  • LOCAL
    • Calm in Kyogle
    • Mindfulness Courses & News
    • Meditation Course
    • Taking in the Good
    • Yoga >
      • Yoga Booklet
    • Mindfulness Workshops
    • Schools
    • iRest
    • Links
  • Blog
    • Blog Roll archive
  • Shop
    • Product