Metta Convention Week: Haiku Poetry Writing

Presenter:  Venerable BomHyon Sunim (In person)

Wed 27 Sep | 7-8.30pm AEST

Location: In person at Western Sydney University, Level #4, Bankstown City campus or Online (Zoom link below)

Cost: Free

Join us in learning about Haiku Poetry, and learn to write your own!

An old silent pond…

A frog jumps into the pond,

Splash! Silence again.”

Matsuo Basho

A brief moment …

provocative, colourful,

a sudden illumination …

What is Haiku?

• A conception that challenges our habitual grasping & concept-forming mind activity.
• Cutting through … a juxtaposition of two images and a ‘cutting word’.
• A kind of verbal punctuation mark …
• A moment of separation demonstrating how juxtaposed elements are related.
• A visual image or a line drawing.

The word ‘haiku’ derives from Japanese haikai, a humorous linked-verse poem. Traditional haiku describes a moment in time, using words that awaken the senses but over the centuries and with its importation to the West, the form and subject matter has become more experimental.

Join Venerable BomHyon Sunim, a respected teacher from the Korean Zen tradition, for a captivating session on Haiku. Venerable will guide our interactive discussion. There will be the opportunity to collaborate on a group haiku as well as to craft your own.

This event is part of Metta Convention Week, a week-long program aimed at fostering metta (loving kindness), mindfulness, compassion and inner peace. Metta Convention week offers a unique opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and learn from renowned Buddhist teachers from around the world! Register here.

About the presenter: Venerable BomHyon Sunim is from the Korean Zen tradition and is currently living in Sydney, Australia, having lived in Victoria for the past 8 years, where she was the resident teacher of the Bodhi Ahm Buddhist Centre and founded the Healthcare Chaplaincy program for the Buddhist Council. She is also the Senior Buddhist Chaplain for the Australian Defence Forces.

Venerable BomHyon Sunim is a leading representative of Buddhism in Australia, and an active advocate of chaplaincy and spiritual care. She has a deep commitment to live and learn with others who are motivated to support each other, ecologically and compassionately, in right relationship to the planet and all beings. Venerable BomHyon Sunim has long been active in chaplaincy and spiritual care, having managed the Prison Chaplaincy program and established the Spiritual/Pastoral Care program for the Buddhist Council of Victoria. Since relocating to Sydney, she has been a volunteer Chaplain at Western Sydney University where she is also undertaking doctoral research into the culture and practice of chaplaincy in Australian universities, with particular interest in the religious and spiritual wellbeing needs of the Gens Y/Z demographic. Sunim is a postgraduate Fellow of the Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies program at Chulalongkorn University (Thailand) and a practitioner of Non-Violent Communication. More info can be found here.

Hybrid event: Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive session in person at the Western Sydney University, Bankstown City campus or online by clicking on this link to access the session: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83506489824?pwd=cmpNQ1ljSmFVYURLWVN1dWllYUN1dz09 Alternatively, you can dial in from your telephone (call charges apply): +61 2 8015 6011 | Meeting ID: 835 0648 9824| Passcode: 718905