Poetry, Zen, Writing
Poetry as Insight into Living January 17th, 10 am—3:30 pm
Cost: $30.00, lunch includedFacilitator: Peter Harris
Whether or not we choose to label it as such, “poetry,” like music, has been with us forever. It is in us and we are in it. Poetry can inspire us to live our lives more fully. In this session, we’ll look at poems from various cultures and time periods that restore us to the mystery hidden in everyday life. In addition to group discussion, we’ll do some writing of our own. No previous experience with poetry is necessary.
Zen Wisdom in Poetry
March 14th, 10
am—3:30 pm
Cost: $30, lunch includedFacilitator: Peter Harris
Zen pervades everything from the cosmic to the mundane — from Buddha to your left foot, from expressions of grief to tiny details, like the pause between “hip-hip” and “hooray.” And yet, this omnipresence is hard, if not impossible, to put into words. This is where poetry comes in.Buddhists of all stripes have always turned to poetry as a way of expressing the inexpressible. In this workshop we’ll read and discuss a sampling of poetry in the Zen spirit — from Li Po and Basho, to Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, to Rilke and Gary Snyder. The workshop will include writing, meditation, and discussion. No experience with Zen, poetry, or meditation is necessary.
Writing and Reflection: Overhearing What Happens - Fall 2009
Cost: $60, breakfast and lunch included. Half price for students.Co-facilitators: Peter Harris and Jim Sprouse
Participants are welcome to bring sleeping bags and stay overnight in the meditation room. Many of us feel the call to write, but that urge often gets drowned out by the din of everydayness, by our inner critic, and by the hyper-fast intrusions of mass media. What happens if we slow that up a bit and reflect on what we see as well as overhear what we tell ourselves? In this workshop, we’ll combine meditation, reading, and various sorts of writing. We’ll be attending closely to our inner landscapes and our physical surroundings, with a faith that there is illumination in everything if we can allow it to surface in the world and in ourselves. No creative writing experience is necessary, just pen and paper.
About
the Facilitators:
Peter Harris has been teaching literature
and writing at Colby College since 1974. Practicing Zen since
1994, he
is an ordained priest practicing at Treetop Zen Center.Jim Sprouse, a longtime Zen practitioner, has an MFA in fiction writing from Stonecoast and has been writing poetry and fiction since the 1970s.