A Zen Wave

by Robert Aitken

Book by Aitken, Robert

Genres: Poetry, Zen, Buddhism, Literature, Japan, Japanese Literature, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Robert Aitken was a retired master of the Diamond Sangha, a Zen Buddhist society he founded in Honolulu in 1959 with his late wife Anne Hopkins Aitken.

A lifetime resident of Hawai‘i, Aitken Rōshi was a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i with a BA degree in English literature and an MA degree in Japanese studies. In 1941, he was captured on Guam by invading Japanese forces, and interned in Japan for the duration of World War II. In the camp, he met the British scholar R.H. Blyth, who introduced him to Zen Buddhism. After the war, he practiced Zen with Senzaki Nyogen Sensei in Los Angeles, and traveled frequently to Japan to practice in monasteries and lay centers with Nakagawa Sōen Rōshi, Yasutani Haku'un Rōshi, and Yamada Kōun Rōshi. In 1974, he was given approval to teach by the Yamada Rōshi, Abbot of the Sanbo Kyodan in Kamakura, Japan, who gave him transmission as an independent master in 1985.

Aitken Rōshi is the author of more than ten books on Zen Buddhism, and co-author of a book-length Buddhist-Christian dialogue. In Hawai‘i he was instrumental in founding the Koko An Zendo, the PĀlolo Zen Center, the Maui Zendo, and the Garden Island Sangha. A number of other centers in Europe, North and South America, and Australasia are part of the Diamond Sangha network.

Aitken Rōshi is co-founder of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (now with a local East Hawai‘i Chapter) and serves on its international board of advisors. He has been active in a number of peace, social justice, and ecological movements, and his writing reflects his concern that Buddhists be engaged in social applications of their experience.

Aitken Rōshi has given full transmission as independent masters to Nelson Foster, Honolulu Diamond Sangha and Ring of Bone Zendo in Nevada City, California; John Tarrant, Pacific Zen Institute in Santa Rosa, California; Patrick Hawk, Zen Desert Sangha in Tucson, Arizona, and Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Joseph Bobrow, Harbor Sangha in San Francisco, California; Jack Duffy, Three Treasures Sangha in Seattle, Washington; Augusto Alcalde, Vimalakirti Sangha, in Cordoba, Argentina and Rolf Drosten, Wolken-und-Mond-Sangha (Clouds and Moon Sangha), in Leverkusen, Germany. He authorized Pia Gyger, One Ground Zendo in Luzern, Switzerland, as an affiliate teacher of the Diamond Sangha. He joined with John Tarrant in giving transmission as independent masters to Subhana Barzaghi in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and to Ross Bolleter in Perth, Western Australia.

As a retired master, Aitken Rōshi worked with a few long-time students, and continued to study and write. His work, Zen Master Raven: Sayings and Doings of a Wise Bird , was published by Tuttle in 2002 [review]. His more recent publications, The Morning Star: New and Collected Zen Writings , and a new edition of A Zen Wave: Basho's Haiku and Zen , were released in October, 2003, by Shoemaker and Hoard.

Reviews

[Manoj Saranathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

there is too much written about both haiku and zen by people who haven't the foggiest of either. no one is more competent to talk about both topics, in the same breath if you will, than aitken roshi. a zen master who also studied under the formidable rh blyth who introduced english audiences to beautifully translated haiku, this book discusses 20 odd haiku of Basho- some famous and some obscure. each haiku is handled very much like how classical koans are- with a capping verse, a commentary and a closing verse. there is a lot of discussions, mostly vacuous, in the haiku community of how much influence zen has had on haiku and does one need to "know" zen to write haiku. if one can accept the premise that haiku captures the moment as it is, without judgment, without subjectivity, without comparison, it is no different from zazen and it is clear from reading the haiku themselves and aitken roshi's commentaries. this book should be mandatory reading for all haiku poets, wannabe haiku poets and zen students.

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject matter of this book is Zen, the human mind, and the haiku of Matsuo Basho, the greatest Japanese haiku poet.

Robert Aitken takes the reader to the heart of Basho's haiku, he shares insights with the reader, and illuminates the twists and turns of what it means to be human, to be alone, to be with friends.

This is a wonderful book written with true insight and appreciation of Basho's mastery of the haiku form, as well as his deep understanding of Zen. Please read and enjoy, only good can come of it...

[John Fredrickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent. It is an exposition of numerous of Basho's haiku, with great sensitivity to the Japanese language and its use by Basho in expressing his Zen poetry. One learns on many fronts with this.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much more of a book for students of Zen than fans of poetry IMO. Some of the terms will likely lead to a lot of Google searches and references to The Heart Sutra will similarly sail overhead. But this book does an excellent job of placing Basho’s work in the Zen tradition and goes into greater exploration of the language and spiritual purposes beyond just creating a nice poem about a frog jump in a pond.

[Epikos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the Aitken book, although I'm not convinced Bashō had necessarily Zen in his mind when writing his poems. Nevertheless, this is a great book both to introduce Bashō and examine some of his most well-known poems under the Zen light.

[Jonn · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a lot of work in every word.
Not your regular literature analysis.
Zen-orientation might scare some off.

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aitken plumbs the depths of twenty-six of Basho's haiku, with particular focus on how Basho's poems touch on Zen Buddhist ideas. Each chapter begins with an English translation, a romanization of the Japanese original, and a literal English translation (which differs from the previous translation as it reads clunkily in comparison to the more functional translation because it follows Japanese grammar.) The chapter then examines any ideas that are hard for a present-day Western world reader to grasp about Basho's 17th century life of vagabondage across Japan. The book also compares and contrasts said poem with others (both by Basho or by other haiku poets -- past and present-day.) Aitken also tries to disabuse the reader of some of the common misconceptions that have grown up around Basho's work.

The book includes artworks, notes, a glossary, and other helpful features.

I'd highly recommend this for haiku readers who want to understand Matsuo Basho's poetry at a deeper level.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the patience he takes with each poem, especially the attention to form and comparison to other translations.

His take on the famous Fuji poem stays with me--

A day when Fuji
is obscured by misty rain!
That's interesting.

I think most versions of this I've seen translate the word as "weird" or "strange." In this translation, the focus is not on the object that's obscured as interesting but on the day itself, somewhat (or completely) independent of Fuji--literally: "This very day, this Fuji-obscured day, is itself interesting" (45).

It's possible that some readers might be turned off by his quite detailed discussion of postpositions/prepositions & other parts of speech. I know nothing about the language, so I appreciated it.

[Howard Mansfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read Aitken’s book three or four times and I’ll read it again as slowly as I can, one short chapter a morning. He is insightful about haiku, Zen and Japanese culture, but more than that he creates the kind of silence that surrounds good haiku.

[Eduardo A. Camargo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential for every Zen practicioner.

[Jeff D · Rating 5 out of 5]

An erudite exploration of Bashō's haiku through the lens of Zen priest Robert Aitken - flashes of lightning!

[Dayana · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 & 1/2 stars

[Vashti Puls]

Beauty comes undenieably in the moment

[David Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely ... two masters, eyeball to eyeball.
Gasho-ho-ho in the noosphere, Aitken Roshi.

[Seann · Rating 5 out of 5]

the taste of zen

[Chee Lian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one book whose beauty you want to revisit again and again...

[Joana · Rating 5 out of 5]

How noble -
The one who is not enlightened
At a flash of lightning.