Korea Haiku and Mindfulness — The Language of Living One Moment Fully

Korea Haiku and Mindfulness— The Language of Living One Moment FullyCultural Critic KIM SUSEONGMindfulness is not so much a special technique of practice as it is an attitude of not losing sight of the moment here and now. The sensation of breath entering and leaving the body, the warmth of the ground transmitted through the soles of the feet, the practice of observing passing thoughts without clinging to them. Mindfulness is not about adding something more, but about noticing what is already taking place, just as it is. In this sense, haiku may be said to have long been a language of mindfulness.Haiku does not force thought forward. Nor does it amplify emotion. Instead, it quietly places a single scene before us and waits for the reader’s mind to pause of its own accord. This moment of pause is precisely the core of mindfulness. To read haiku is less a matter of interpreting meaning than a practice of staying with one moment.Korea Haiku reveals this quality of mindfulness with particular clarity. Haiku written in Korean does not greatly distort the language of everyday life. Rather than elaborate symbols, it chooses scenes from daily living; rather than grand enlightenment, it captures small shifts in sensation. …