Reviews
What feelings and meaning does our everyday life hold? Since everyone’s life is different, each person may experience its feelings and meaning differently. Still, the process of gently stroking our hearts may help us find peace of mind, both individually and together. We can find that peace by listening to music, painting, exercising, meditating, or—as the author does—writing poetry. We know that the mind is changeable, sometimes dynamic and sometimes calm. But when it becomes agitated and
Each of us may have different reasons for having varied experiences and negative feelings as we live in a complicated world. But if we overlook or neglect these things, greater risks and negative aspects of life may follow. This book lets readers consider the subject from different perspectives, judge it realistically at times, and reflect on whether they should change how they live and approach life or adopt a growth-oriented mindset. It is an enjoyable work of literature and a book of essays.
“River”: Rather than being hurt by colliding with angular stones and rocks, the river fears being scratched by one of its own kind even more, so it keeps winding around and around. Tense like the tender inner flesh of a river touching the sea for the first time, I am in such pain, such pain. (p. 28) “Ball”: It folds its body around itself and sinks into its own deep thoughts. Can it no longer bounce? Once the air went out, it finally relaxed and felt at ease. Its body’s thoughts could breathe.
Do we take even a few seconds each day to soothe our own hearts? Could our tragedy arise from days when we do not make time for that, simply waking up and simply going to sleep? What might those moments of soothing the heart look like? Time spent reading a book, perhaps. We can breathe alongside the author and, in that conversation, take time to look back at our own hearts. What else? Time spent meditating would be good, too. As we steady our breathing and quietly focus on each breath, even
The book contains 52 poems and commentaries. Since 2020, the author, Venerable Dongmyeong, has received one poem every day from an official at Jogye Order headquarters. It has been more than three years, so I suppose roughly a thousand poems have arrived by now. That would feel like a burden (I would quietly hit block), but the author reads each poem and calmly adds his own thoughts. That is why the title includes the word “gently.” He must have commented on more than a thousand poems, but
It didn’t take long to find out who Venerable Dongmyeong was. I remembered buying and reading a collection of poems by the poet before he became a monk when I was in school: Tree Fish. While I drifted away from poetry as I worked, the poet left home to become a monk. I’ve liked books by poets who became abbots of temples that combine poetry and prose, and the title strongly appealed to me in the midst of my current unsettled situation, when I feel as if I’m doing nothing. The book has four
A romantic origin for the project: Venerable Dongmyeong says that after an official at the Jogye Order Publishing House sent him one poem every day on KakaoTalk, he made time whenever he wanted to jot down brief reflections. He then compiled 52 of those poems and reflections into this book. The story of someone sending him a poem every day, and of him scribbling down his thoughts whenever he had time, is all so romantic. Easy, unpretentious poetry reading: I got to read poems by familiar poets
There are many poetry collections featuring beautiful poems, well-known poems, poems that awaken the feelings of first love, or poems recommended by famous poets. But poems read aloud by a monk? That felt unfamiliar, and that made it fresh. I bought the book because I was curious how poems I already knew would be different when read by a monk. There was a strange, almost magical quality to how poems simply singing of love or talking about life gently came to me as the Buddha's teachings, and it
Same name: Gently stroking the heart
Venerable Dongmyeong, an established poet, literary critic, and Buddhist monk who left home to practice, has published a collection of poetic essays, Gently Stroking the Heart, offering new interpretations of 52 modern poems from a contemplative perspective. His first book as a monk, Listening Quietly to the Sound of Pine Wind, reflected on the meaning of “life” through Zen poetry; this time he introduces modern poems more familiar to readers. Through a wide range of poems—from works by leading Korean poets such as Kim Ji-ha, Do Jong-hwan, Shin Kyung-rim, Lee Mun-jae, and Jeong Hee-seong to fresh works by poets less familiar to general readers, including Kim Nam-geuk, Seok Yeon-gyeong, Ahn Myeong-ok, Im Bo, and Yoo Yong-ju—he shares reflections that clear the mind and everyday life. The book began several years ago when an editor started sending the monk one poem each day. He enjoyed reading them, so he began posting the poems and his comments on the “Everyday Buddhism” online group he ran. Sometimes he posted every day, sometimes once every few days; sometimes his comments were brief, and sometimes he analyzed the poems at greater length. The format was free, but after more than three years, over a thousand poems had accumulated. He selected 52 of them and brought them together in a book, blending his literary sensibility as a “poet,” his close analysis and interpretation as a “critic,” and the clear perspective of a “Buddhist disciple” who reveres the Buddha.
Korean title: 가만히 마음을 쓰다듬는
Korean author: 동명
Korean publisher: 모과나무
ISBN-13: 9791187280569
Reviews
What feelings and meaning does our everyday life hold? Since everyone’s life is different, each person may experience its feelings and meaning differently. Still, the process of gently stroking our hearts may help us find peace of mind, both individually and together. We can find that peace by listening to music, painting, exercising, meditating, or—as the author does—writing poetry. We know that the mind is changeable, sometimes dynamic and sometimes calm. But when it becomes agitated and
Each of us may have different reasons for having varied experiences and negative feelings as we live in a complicated world. But if we overlook or neglect these things, greater risks and negative aspects of life may follow. This book lets readers consider the subject from different perspectives, judge it realistically at times, and reflect on whether they should change how they live and approach life or adopt a growth-oriented mindset. It is an enjoyable work of literature and a book of essays.
“River”: Rather than being hurt by colliding with angular stones and rocks, the river fears being scratched by one of its own kind even more, so it keeps winding around and around. Tense like the tender inner flesh of a river touching the sea for the first time, I am in such pain, such pain. (p. 28) “Ball”: It folds its body around itself and sinks into its own deep thoughts. Can it no longer bounce? Once the air went out, it finally relaxed and felt at ease. Its body’s thoughts could breathe.
Do we take even a few seconds each day to soothe our own hearts? Could our tragedy arise from days when we do not make time for that, simply waking up and simply going to sleep? What might those moments of soothing the heart look like? Time spent reading a book, perhaps. We can breathe alongside the author and, in that conversation, take time to look back at our own hearts. What else? Time spent meditating would be good, too. As we steady our breathing and quietly focus on each breath, even
The book contains 52 poems and commentaries. Since 2020, the author, Venerable Dongmyeong, has received one poem every day from an official at Jogye Order headquarters. It has been more than three years, so I suppose roughly a thousand poems have arrived by now. That would feel like a burden (I would quietly hit block), but the author reads each poem and calmly adds his own thoughts. That is why the title includes the word “gently.” He must have commented on more than a thousand poems, but
It didn’t take long to find out who Venerable Dongmyeong was. I remembered buying and reading a collection of poems by the poet before he became a monk when I was in school: Tree Fish. While I drifted away from poetry as I worked, the poet left home to become a monk. I’ve liked books by poets who became abbots of temples that combine poetry and prose, and the title strongly appealed to me in the midst of my current unsettled situation, when I feel as if I’m doing nothing. The book has four
A romantic origin for the project: Venerable Dongmyeong says that after an official at the Jogye Order Publishing House sent him one poem every day on KakaoTalk, he made time whenever he wanted to jot down brief reflections. He then compiled 52 of those poems and reflections into this book. The story of someone sending him a poem every day, and of him scribbling down his thoughts whenever he had time, is all so romantic. Easy, unpretentious poetry reading: I got to read poems by familiar poets
There are many poetry collections featuring beautiful poems, well-known poems, poems that awaken the feelings of first love, or poems recommended by famous poets. But poems read aloud by a monk? That felt unfamiliar, and that made it fresh. I bought the book because I was curious how poems I already knew would be different when read by a monk. There was a strange, almost magical quality to how poems simply singing of love or talking about life gently came to me as the Buddha's teachings, and it
