[The context is closed but thread left for history.]
In another thread, one of our readers, JohnPawn, told us that he had some incense he’d like to give away and suggested a contest for the box. This incense is an ORS favorite and I’m always up for some fun so I was happy to indulge. Note that this contest, its winners and such, are all determined by John and his son, the judges, not by ORS, but I’m happy to make a place for it to happen. So here is the contest and rules…
Hey Everyone!
How about a little contest?
I have a box of last year’s coveted Dzogchen Monastery Lotus Ground incense (minus a few sticks) that I would like to give away. I enjoy it, but it doesn’t move me. I would rather this rare incense find a home where it will be treasured. You can read about this wonderful prize here:
http://www.essenceoftheages.com/dzogchen/dzogchen1.html
As you may know, a haiku is a traditional, three line, Japanese poem with 5, 7 and 5 syllables per line, respectively. Contestants are kindly asked to reply to this post with their own original, incense related haiku. The best one wins the prize.
Now you might say, “Hey JohnPawn, why are you offering a Tibetan prize for a Japanese poem?” There are two reasons for this. First, I don’t know of any short form Tibetan poetry and, second, I don’t have any Japanese incense that I want to give away. Sometimes we just have to live with life’s little ironies.
The judges will announce the winner approximately one month from today on May 16th, which coincidentally happens to be the 365th anniversary of the founding of the Dzogchen Monastery. Or maybe it isn’t. Either way, that is the day that the judges will reveal the winner based on their own arbitrary and undisclosed criteria. And, of course, the judges’ decision will be final. The judges will be myself and my youngest son. Even though my son is only 12 years old, he has a wicked nose and a keen ear for poetry…although I will admit that he has a tendency to favor art of the scatological nature. We’re working on that.
The only other caveat for the winner is that they must have a U.S. address. Obviously, this is due to shipping costs. Mike made the suggestion that I could request a non-U.S. winner to pay for the additional shipping charge. However, I would prefer not to have money involved. I know that this will exclude many readers from the prize, but hopefully our international friends will understand and still want to participate.
All entries must be submitted as replies to this post and be time stamped as of May 14th, 2015. It would also be appreciated if you also stated if you were a U.S. or non-U.S. resident.
To get you in the mood, here are two haiku that I whipped up this morning…
Haiku #1
Smoke soars thick and sweet
Was wonderful but now gone
So too was our love
Haiku #2
New to Tibetan
With one wiff the woman asks,
Who sent the poo scent?
Here’s hoping people will participate!
-JohnPawn, Co-Protector of the DSS