Basho's thoughts on...
Matsuo Basho 1644~1694
The only substantial
collection in English
of Basho's renku, tanka,
letters and spoken word
along with his haiku, travel
journals, and essays.
The only poet in old-time
literature who paid attention with praise
to ordinary women, children, and teenagers
in hundreds of poems
Hundreds upon hundreds of Basho works
(mostly renku)about women, children,
teenagers, friendship, compassion, love.
These are resources we can use to better
understand ourselves and humanity.
Interesting and heartfelt
(not scholarly and boring)
for anyone concerned with
humanity.
“An astonishing range of
social subject matter and
compassionate intuition”
"The primordial power
of the feminine emanating
from Basho's poetry"
Hopeful, life-affirming
messages from one of
the greatest minds ever.
Through his letters,
we travel through his mind
and discover Basho's
gentleness and humanity.
I plead for your help in
finding a person or group
to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material,
to edit and improve the material, to receive 100%
of royalties, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide
and preserve for future generations.
Quotations from Basho Prose
The days and months are
guests passing through eternity.
The years that go by
also are travelers.
The mountains in silence
nurture the spirit;
the water with movement
calms the emotions.
All the more joyful,
all the more caring
Seek not the traces
of the ancients;
seek rather the
places they sought.
basho4humanity
@gmail.com
Plea for Affiliation
Plea For Affiliation
I pray for your help
in finding someone
- individual, university,
or foundation -
to take over my
3000 pages of material,
to cooperate with me
to edit the material,
to receive all royalties
from sales, to spread
Basho’s wisdom worldwide,
and preserve for
future generations.
basho4humanity
@gmail.com
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Topics >
Humanity and Friendship
Four little words near the end of Basho's famous journal A Narrow Path in the Heartlands express his ideal for humanity: katsu yorokobi, katsu itawaru, "All the more joyful, all the more caring." Here we explore these qualities in his closest friendships and in his own consciousness.
Hope for Humanity
Basho’s messages of Hope have not been translated because scholars with limited knowledge of his works believe he was “impersonal, detached ... at times, cold-hearted, ...
D-01
Joy and Fun
To overcome the reputation Basho has been given for being "impersonal, detached" and "serious and humorless" here are 25 examples of joy and fun in Dear Uncle Basho.
Drunk on the shoulder ...
D-02
Dreams in Basho
1) images, ideas, emotions, sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind asleep 2) a state of abstraction; a trance 3) a condition or achievement longed for; aspiration, hope.& ...
D-03
Compassion in Basho
30 Basho items revealing his "compassonate intuition" can be resources we use to discover and nourish compassion within ourselves. Autumn wind / saying not a word / child in tears.&nb ...
D-04
Humanity Blossoms
Every Basho haiku in this chapter, and at least one stanza in every renku, is about cherry blossoms – however in each case “cherry blossoms” means human life or death. He m ...
D-05
Laughing with Basho
How can a writer so light-hearted and funny as Basho be judged as “serious, humorless” and “in a state of perpetual despondency”? Scholars unfamilar with his renku and haibun k ...
D-06
Six Close Friends
“Contrary to his popular image, Basho was not a social recluse. Instead he constantly cultivated a community of disciples and poets with whom he engaged in poetic dialogue.”
P ...
D-07
Letters to Ensui, Basho’s BFF
Ensui was the poetry name of Basho's childhood friend and adult follower Soshira. He was the oldest son in a family that owned a sake shop in their home town of Iga; the name of the sho ...
D-08
Sampu, patron and close friend
Basho lived on the generosity of the wealthy merchant Sampu, three years younger, and the two had lots of fun together: some of Basho’s funniest works were written in connection with Sampu. ...
D-09
Sora: traveling companion
Here we learn of one of the greatest friendships ever recorded in world literature. Each item appears chronologically, so we travel with Basho and Sora through their time.
Sora was b ...
D-10
One Fine Woman, Uko
Of the women in Basho’s circle, Uko is the one for whom we have the most information and can draw the most fascinating picture. He wrote two tanka and one haiku to her, three le ...
D-11
Widow Chigetsu
Chigetsu’s samurai husband was in charge at the Otsu post station of the delivery of important packages by horse. Because they had no son to inherit the household, they adopted Chigetsu’s ...
D-12
Madame Sonome
Sonome ("Garden Women"), daughter of a priest and official at the Ise Shrine, married to an eye doctor, known for her beauty. The six verses by Sonome in this article, plus Basho's spoken word a ...
D-13
Letters to Kyorai
Through Basho's letters to his beloved friend we travel through Basho's mind. Kyorai was born in 1651, the second son of Mukai Genshou, a doctor of Chinese medicine in Nagasaki wher ...
D-14
The Life and Death of Chine
Chine was the younger sister of Kyorai; passages from Kyorai’s Ise Journal, including four poems of Chine, reveal the exuberance and playful heart of this young woman in Japan of old. ...
D-15
Hospitality
Here are Basho's poems about hospitality in Japanese women: the act, practice, or quality of being hospitable: entertaining guests in a friendly, generous manner.
We begin ...
D-16
Basho's thoughts on...
Matsuo Basho 1644~1694
The only substantial
collection in English
of Basho's renku, tanka,
letters and spoken word
along with his haiku, travel
journals, and essays.
The only poet in old-time
literature who paid attention with praise
to ordinary women, children, and teenagers
in hundreds of poems
Hundreds upon hundreds of Basho works
(mostly renku)about women, children,
teenagers, friendship, compassion, love.
These are resources we can use to better
understand ourselves and humanity.
Interesting and heartfelt
(not scholarly and boring)
for anyone concerned with
humanity.
“An astonishing range of
social subject matter and
compassionate intuition”
"The primordial power
of the feminine emanating
from Basho's poetry"
Hopeful, life-affirming
messages from one of
the greatest minds ever.
Through his letters,
we travel through his mind
and discover Basho's
gentleness and humanity.
I plead for your help in
finding a person or group
to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material,
to edit and improve the material, to receive 100%
of royalties, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide
and preserve for future generations.
Quotations from Basho Prose
The days and months are
guests passing through eternity.
The years that go by
also are travelers.
The mountains in silence
nurture the spirit;
the water with movement
calms the emotions.
All the more joyful,
all the more caring
Seek not the traces
of the ancients;
seek rather the
places they sought.
basho4humanity
@gmail.com
Plea for Affiliation
Plea For Affiliation
I pray for your help
in finding someone
- individual, university,
or foundation -
to take over my
3000 pages of material,
to cooperate with me
to edit the material,
to receive all royalties
from sales, to spread
Basho’s wisdom worldwide,
and preserve for
future generations.
basho4humanity
@gmail.com
