Carpe Diem #393, Kumadaniji (Temple 8)

I usually don’t copy but link to the Carpe Diem stories which inspire the haiku I write for this blog, but this one particularly interested me because recently I happened to speak to a good friend of mine of the bodhisattva of compassion.

“Guanyin or Senju Kannon in Japanese is the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means “Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World”. She is also sometimes referred to as Guanyin. Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western pure land of Sukhāvatī.”

Haiku

compassionate heart
listening – understanding
stopping the stigma

Tanka

along your pathway
where to turn in troubled times
she is waiting there
a calm compassionate friend
with her understanding ear

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Written for a bodhisattva in training…