Spring Haiku Inspired by Radim Schreiber’s photos Pink dogwood flowers Delicate tender beauty Captured by the lens April 21, 2023 Fairfield, Iowa © Ken Chawkin
Related posts: Japanese culture: poetic aesthetics, artistry, and martial arts, inspired me to write haiku and tanka || Radim Schreiber captures the magic of fireflies in beautiful award-winning photos and films
Do you remember The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill that John Lennon wrote and sang on the Beatles White Album? It was based on a real person who was on the same Transcendental Meditation Course the Beatles had attended in Rishikesh, India with Maharishi.
Richard Cooke III was there with his mother, Nancy Cooke de Herrera, who was a publicist for Maharishi at the time. Maharishi had assigned Nancy to look after the Beatles during the course.
I don’t know if Richard stayed for the whole TM training course, but he took time off to go on an elephant-riding tiger-hunting trip while he was in India. He killed a tiger and was proud of his accomplishment, as was his mother, who related the story to Maharishi. John happened to be in that meeting. Richard and his mother are referenced in the song’s lyrics.
A friend sent me this new article, which brings us up to date. Here is the continuing story of Richard “Rikki” Cooke III in his own words: My Last Hunt, published in Chasing the Light.
It’s interesting how Maharishi’s response and John’s song profoundly altered the trajectory of Richard’s life. He decided to trade in his gun for a camera and did a different kind of shooting from then on. Learn more about Richard A. Cooke III at rikkicooke.com and National Geographic.
This photo shows Nancy with the Beatles and other celebrities attending the course at the ashram in Rishikesh. She’s the tall blond woman behind John Lennon and next to Paul McCartney. Others in this photo are: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, George Harrison, Mia Farrow, John Farrow, (Mia and Prudence Farrow‘s brother) and Donovan Leitch. A larger photo shows Pattie Boyd in front of Nancy, and Jane Asher and Cynthia Lennon next to Donovan.
Update: Sept 9, 2020: Speaking of that time, a new film, Meeting The Beatles In India, about Paul Saltzman’s brief stay there, premieres tonight, 7pm, online at Gathr.com. Here’s an announcement about the film from the national TM Office of Communications with a message from the director. Here are a few film reviews: Cryptic Rock, NYS Music, and Variety. Paul’s website: https://thebeatlesinindia.com, and trailer.
I saw the film tonight. It was well done, personable, and revealing, as was the post‑screening discussion and Q&A with Emmy Award-winning director Paul Saltzman, and surprise guest Rikki Cooke III, aka “Bungalow Bill.” In the Q&A that followed, Rikki explained why he thought the remaining Beatles left the ashram abruptly. It made a lot more sense than the usual rumor mentioned in the article. I posted a comment (below) on the Variety article of what he said including related material.
There are several interviews posted on YouTube. Beatle Brunch host Joe Johnson spoke with Paul Saltzman on a zoom call about the film. This is another good interview published in the Cleveland.com. And this one from the BBC: When a ‘heartbroken’ backpacker met The Beatles in India.
International music journalist Jeff Slate wrote an article for The Daily Beast about the film: My Transformative Time With the Beatles in India. He contributed the usual rock history and interviewed Paul Saltzman, Jenny Boyd, Pattie’s sister, and Deepak Chopra, a close friend of George Harrison. In the Q&A that followed the premiere, Jeff heard Rikki Cooke’s explanation of why he thought the Beatles had left the ashram. Jeff appreciated this different perspective saying it was “one for the record.”
The documentary film, plus exclusively filmed Q&As moderated by Jeff Slate with Paul Saltzman, Jenny Boyd Levitt, Rikki Cooke, and Stephen Maycock from events in India, Germany and London are available on Gathr starting Friday, Sept 11, 2020. Total run time is 2hrs 20mins: movie, 1hr 20mins; Q&A Highlights, 1 hour.
I later found this excellent movie review by Beatles fan and Michigan State Theatre Programming and Media Coordinator Nick Alderink: This Week: Turn Off Your Mind, Relax and Meet the Beatles in India.
CTV News anchor Angie Seth interviewed Paul Saltzman at his home in Oakville, Ontario about his film and what it was like Meeting the Beatles in India. You can see it here.
Dec 21, 2020, Bob Roth announced on Instagram that a free rental of the film will be available between December 24th 2020 and January 1st 2021 thanks to @LynchFoundation and @TM_Program.
June 8, 2021, The Irish Times: Saltzman has been left with more than some priceless holiday photos. What memory does he still hold on to from that week? He replies, instantly: “Doing my first 30-minute meditation. It was fun meeting The Beatles, but that was secondary to the transformation of my inner life.” – Guardian
June 12, 2021, Paul Saltzman spoke to Mayank Chhaya about his story of meeting The Beatles in India. You can see this wonderful interview on Mayank Chhaya Reports YouTube channel.
In one incident, when Paul was in London, he describes how he was invited by a filmmaker friend to join him in a private first screening of a film they were working on. It turned out to be Yellow Submarine!
A surprised Mayank comments on this as another example of serendipity, things as if magically happening in Paul’s life. Paul then talks about the importance of listening to his soul, his intuition. That’s when unexpected things occurred.
Paul tells Mayank: “I do know that when we truly listen to our hearts, that’s the best guidance system on the planet. When we truly open ourselves to hear our own soul’s guidance, it never leads us wrong. It’s when we don’t listen to our inner guidance that we get …. (Mayank interrupts saying: “That’s when things go wrong.”) Maybe Paul was going to say that we get into trouble, i.e., we suffer.
It reminds me of what Maharishi said about being self-referral and enjoying the support of nature as a result of regular practice of Transcendental Meditation.
My comment to the Variety article:
Ken Chawkin September 9, 2020 at 10:39 pm
I saw the film tonight and enjoyed it. I stayed online for the Q&A that followed with director Paul Saltzman and surprise guest Richard “Rikki” Cooke III, aka, Bungalow Bill. One of the questions asked was why the Beatles had left the ashram, and did it have something to do with Maharishi supposedly making a pass at one of the female course participants. That story was a fabrication created by a jealous Magic Alex to draw John Lennon out of there. But Cooke had another explanation, and it had nothing to do with Alex, although he said he stirred up a lot of trouble while he was there. I had also read about this explanation in a book years ago. The Beatles had told Maharishi of their desire to make a documentary film about him and his message of TM to help create world peace. Maharishi was amenable and they were excited to do it. Unfortunately, Charlie Lutes, the leader of the TM movement at that time, had already signed a deal with Four Star Productions, and they had dispatched a film crew to Rishikesh, India. Cooke said when the Beatles found out, they were disappointed, upset, and decided to leave. Rikki said he saw them walk out the north gate at the same time the film crew were coming in through the south gate. He said it was an unfortunate misunderstanding. I had also heard that when John and George had gone to speak with Maharishi beforehand, most thought it was to ask about his making a pass at a girl. But the real reason may have been to verify the rumor of a Four Star film crew coming to make a documentary. If so, they would not want to be involved with it in any way, and would be leaving. With both John and George gone we may never know for sure, although it seems more plausible. Of course, John would write Sexy Sadie in retaliation. He had originally used Maharishi’s name, but George convinced him to change it to Sexy Sadie. Years later, George would visit Maharishi, with the help of Deepak Chopra, to apologize for John’s behavior at that time. Maharishi said he was not upset with John, regardless of what he had said, that he loved them. Deepak had told Maharishi that when The Beatles had played on the Ed Sullivan Show, there were no crimes committed in America. When Maharishi heard that, he called them angels, and said he could never be mad at them. Chopra said that George broke down, and was emotionally relieved with that karmic burden now off his heart. In separate interviews, both Paul and George said there was no truth to those accusations about Maharishi, which they felt were unfortunate.
(PS: I later noticed that all comments were removed in the archive of the Variety article. Thinking that might happen I saved and included it here.)
September 4, 2020, The Daily Beatle published this excellent review: Watch Meeting The Beatles in India.
Paul Saltzman is a two-time Emmy Award winning Toronto-based film and television producer-director known for over 300 productions. In March 26, 2010, he spoke at TEDxWaterloo on My life in Art. His talk opens with his story of how he went to India to work on a film and received a letter from his girlfriend that she had left him for another. Brokenhearted he traveled to Rishikesh to find Maharishi’s ashram to learn Transcendental Meditation. He describes meeting the Beatles and them welcoming him into their fold. The latter part of his talk is about a film he made with Morgan Freeman, Prom Night in Mississippi, and his work with Moving Beyond Prejudice.
Paul concludes his talk sharing wise advice from his own life’s journey up to that point, to be open to receive what the universe is waiting to give us, and to be willing to look at ourselves, our prejudices, to talk about them openly, and to change. This reminds me of a poem by Kukai, Singing Image of Fire, “all things change when we do,” and this poem by Vaclav Havel, It Is I Who Must Begin. Change begins within, and it starts with me.
On New Year’s Day, 2023, a friend sent me this wonderful interview on the You Can’t Unhear This podcast from December 27, 2022: My Unforgettable Week With The Beatles | Paul Saltzman | YCUT Interviews.
I saw this photograph of an early winter forest scene that Julia Preminger had posted on her Instagram. It inspired me to write this haiku.
another winter haiku
based on a photograph by Julia Preminger
white wisps of winter
nature powders her features
we watch in wonder
®Ken Chawkin
Nov. 27, 2019
Here’s an earlier one: this snow buddha photo inspired a winter haiku.
Here is another beautiful blog post by westcoastwoman. I had liked and posted an earlier one, Afterglow. She said this photo became the muse for the poem. It was a happy accident. In our discussion she “tried to photograph this totem at daybreak and twilight and finally in frustration a full on ‘throw away’ sun-in-the-lens shot. This is the one that stuck for me. Shadow and Light ….. loved it.” Yes, it is stunning, and the short, succinct poem it inspired delivers a powerful message!
August 30, 2019
Don’t look…..
into the Light
Don’t shoot…..
into the Light
Rules…
Light exposes shadow,
Shadow, Light.
Rules…
Meant to be broken
Light without Shadow
Half Life
Half Love
Half Question
Unlived, Unloved, Unspoken.
©westcoastwoman 2019
My daughter Shara and her husband Toby live on Lopez Island, WA. On Feb 12, Toby took this photograph of their buddha statue covered in snow. About a foot tall, it’s located in their back yard near the clifftop seats overlooking the ocean. It’s quite the view! I visited them in June 2017. Toby said: “We had quite a bit of snow here, it was really lovely just for that week.” He recently added the photo to his impressive collection on social media. I was inspired to write him a winter haiku on this first day of spring!
a winter haiku
wrapped in white silence
contemplating nothingness
the buddha ascends
©Ken Chawkin
March 21, 2019
Fairfield, Iowa
You can see more of Toby’s photos on his Facebook: fatbuddhascat and Instagram: greatbritishphoto.
Here is another winter haiku based on this photographer’s work: A photograph by Julia Preminger of the Catskill Mountains covered in snow inspired this haiku.
My son takes photos of the changing panorama before him throughout the day and night looking out from the hills of the Santa Barbara Riviera. Today he posted this beautiful early morning image on Instagram. It inspired this haiku.
Photo by Nathanael Chawkin
Santa Barbara Riviera Haiku
mystical seascape
white waves rolling in to shore
morning mesa mist
© Ken Chawkin
February 13, 2016
See a haiku, Translation, inspired by a painting of Egrets by Australian artist Gareth Jones-Roberts. The poem was published in two poetry anthologies. Nathanael also likes that combination so I’m mentioning it.
About 6 years earlier, Nathanael had lived in San Leandro as an uchideshi. I had visited him there and witnessed his Sensei demonstrating Aikido, which inspired this tanka, My Son’s Sensei. Someone posted it with a tree that reflected the image in the poem. Nathanael happened to be visiting the dojo and sent it to me. Perfect fit!
This week I went to my local Fairfield bank and picked up two copies of next year’s 2016 calendars for Sali and me. The pictures selected for each month were beautiful artistic photographs of local nature scenes. I recognized three of the photographers, friends of mine.
As I was showing and describing the pictures to Sali, one of them caught my eye and I was inspired to write a haiku, which happens around her! After many versions, here’s what I finally came up with.
Nature’s Jewelry
A haiku based on a photograph by Jim Davis
tiny drops of dew
strung along a spider’s web
bright pearl necklaces
© Ken Chawkin
December 10+11, 2015
Fairfield, Iowa
Jim Davis, the photographer and a longtime friend, gave me permission to include this spider web photo from the First National Bank calendar, sponsored in part by the Jefferson County Trail Council. It was used for the month of May, Sali’s birth month. You can see more of his beautiful photographs in the calendar, if you have access to it. Visit his website: Jim Davis Images.
I asked Jim when and how he was able to take such a magical picture and he explained it this way:
The conditions for such a photo generally occur in late August and early September. It is an intersection of more spider webs due to onset of fall and warm days with cool nights creating early morning dew that drops off as the heat rises. Within those few days where the dew is created, there is the rare time when the air is still and the webs do not move. Without perfectly still air the dew drops would appear blurry or out of focus.
I turned the calendar upside down and noticed what appears to be Jim’s head and hat reflected in the large clear dewdrop under the leaf. He confirmed it saying his image would appear upside down in the drop.
Enjoy this other nature post and poem: The magic of fireflies is captured in this beautiful short film by @MaharishiU alum Radim Schreiber.
“I like to capture the magic.” — photographer Radim Schreiber
The little luminary pictured above was photographed in 2010 by award-winning photographer Radim Schreiber, of Fairfield, Iowa. The photo, entitled Amber Firefly, took 1st place out of 56,000 entries in “The Natural World” category at the 8th annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest published in March 2011.
A designer, photographer and videographer, formerly for the Sky Factory, Radim has won several national and international photography competitions. Also in 2011 he took 1st place in the 41st annual National Wildlife Photo Contest in the “Backyard Habitat” professional category out of 27,000 entries. He won the 2010 Galapagos Conservancy Photography Contest, and the 2008 and 2009 Rainforest Alliance’s “Picture Sustainability” Photo Contest. Awards are listed on his website.
Radim Schreiber had rarely seen fireflies back home and was surprised and thrilled by their abundance here in Iowa. He started taking still photos and then made a movie of them.
“In the Czech Republic where I grew up, I only saw fireflies a couple of times, deep in the forest. When I came to the United States, I was shocked and thrilled to see the abundance of fireflies and their amazing glow. I was happy to encounter this firefly and photograph its magical bioluminescence.”
Read this July 2011 Iowa Source interview with Christine Schrum to find out how Radim braved ditches, swamps, mosquitoes, and chiggers to obtain his fantastic firefly photos: Stalking Fireflies in the Night.
Radim’s award-winning firefly images have been featured at CBS, NPR, National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Iowa PBS (Iowa Outdoors, Ep. Aug 11, 2013, go to 13:15, Fireflies In Iowa) The Weather Channel, The National Wildlife Federation, and KEW – Royal Botanical Gardens. Read more in Mo Ellis’s updated profile of Radim on the MIU website.
Update Insert: On March 24, 2016 I found out that Radim’s photo, Synchronous Fireflies, won the Altered Images category of the 13th Annual Smithsonian.com Photo Contest. The next day The Des Moines Register wrote: Fairfield photographer’s fireflies win Smithsonian award.
The photo was taken mid-June 2014* at twilight in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. Radim was in almost complete darkness surrounded by fireflies and witnessed one of the most amazing and magical natural phenomena—fireflies that synchronize. He used the latest low-light camera technology and took several long exposures over several minutes and merged them together to preserve detail and clarity. He uploaded it November 2015 and it was selected as Shot Of The Day on December 24, 2015, then Editors’ Pick, Finalist, and now Altered Images Winner. Radim had used this photo for the cover of his Firefly Experience film described below.
The Firefly Experience on Film
This summer I saw a magical little film at the first annual Creative Edge Film Fest in Fairfield, Iowa. Made by fellow MUM alum Radim Schreiber, BFA, it was so beautifully put together visually and musically, the audience was spellbound. When it was over, the 2½-minute short elicited an extended exuberant response.
In this film, Radim Schreiber tried to capture his experiences with fireflies in Lamson Woods, a State Preserve and segment of the Jefferson County Trails System near his house in Fairfield, Iowa. He wanted to document not only their beauty and magical glow, but also behavior in their natural environment, the Neff Wetlands section of the Fairfield Loop Trail.
“When I walk through a quiet forest in the middle of the night full of fireflies, I have an experience of a magical forest. When I see fireflies being a mere reflection of stars under the Milky Way, I feel connected to everything in the universe. They are communicating to me. I am listening.”
Radim chose to not do any digital manipulation to the video itself. The footage came straight from the camera. This is not time-lapse photography, but realtime footage of fireflies!
Radim Schreiber’s Firefly Experience is synchronistically edited with a beautiful soundtrack specifically composed and performed for the film by Tiko Lasola. Radim loves the song. “It is a perfect match for my photos. In fact I was shocked that it happened this way.” I agree! After watching the film you can hear Tiko’s full 3½-minute Fireflies piece here.
After the screening, Radim was selling HD and Blu-ray DVDs of his film. I bought the Blu-ray. I never tire of watching and listening to it; it’s beautiful! It produces a calming effect.
For optimal viewing, Radim suggests we watch the video at night in full screen mode with all lights turned off and the sound turned up.
Visit Radim’s website to see more firefly photographs and videos at FireflyExperience.org.
A Firefly Poem
Have you ever experienced the magic of fireflies? I’ve seen them around Fairfield, but never like what I saw in eastern Missouri during a summer Residence Course in the early 1990s. I had driven with three other Maharishi Ayurveda Health Technicians to a movement facility in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri to provide rejuvenation therapies.
The building was located at the edge of the Mark Twain National Forest. The warm night air was thick with nature’s sounds and sights. Hundreds of frogs incessantly called out to each other from a pond behind the building. Swarms of fireflies dazzled me with their exuberant flashing lights as I walked around the grounds. Their colors and bubbly nature reminded me of Champagne! Inspired, I wrote this short four-line poem.
FIREFLIES
EFFERVESCENT FIREFLIES
PHOSPHORESCENT HUE
SPARKLING LUMINOSITY
EVENING DROPS OF DEW
See newer photos by Radim Schreiber in his July 2017 newsletter.
*In July 2018, I discovered CBS Sunday Morning was also there that same summer in 2014 when Radim was capturing his award-winning photographs of the synchronous fireflies. They posted their report on July 13, 2014: Tennessee fireflies: A summertime light show.
Iowa PBS posted this Aug 22, 2013 profile on Radim’s work in their Iowa Outdoors series: Fireflies in Iowa.
New: This summer, August 2020, a video and a magazine cover story came out about Radim Schreiber and his work.
Frances Figart, editor of Smokies Life Magazine, interviewed Radim for their spring 2020 issue, Vol 14 #1. They created a wrap-around glow-in-the-dark firefly cover with one of Radim’s images of the famous lightning bugs of Elkmont. The edition’s cover story featured a sidebar about Radim and showed many of his incredible photographs. They also included a special video introducing Radim and his work. See Illuminating the Magic and Mystery: An Interview with Radim Schreiber, Firefly Photographer.
Radim posted the article and video on his website. Students in the Cinematic Arts and New Media Department at Maharishi International University made the short film. It was produced by assistant professor and award-winning filmmaker Amine Kouider. Amine is Chair of the department and a founding member of David Lynch Foundation Television. See Firefly Photographer Captures The Magic of Fireflies.
Radim was hired to film fireflies for the new Netflix series Alien Worlds. In Janus, Season 1 Episode 2, you see his work from 31:40 – 36:19.
On the evening of the full moon in July (7/13/22), Radim posted this stunningly beautiful photo on his Instagram radimphoto and wrote: Lightning Bugs and Full Moon. Photo I took last night in Fairfield Iowa. Multiple exposures, about hour total. Repost freely ❤️
On March 5, 2023, Radim sent out a newsletter announcing that last summer he had photographed a very elusive and endangered firefly species in the cypress swamps of southern Illinois. The “Cypress Firefly” Photuris walldoxeyi, first described by Lynn Fast, displays a unique flashing pattern. It has been Red Listed as vulnerable and has only so far been found in a handful of locations in four states — IL, IN, MS, and TN. See a short video of Cypress Firefly – Red List Vulnerable Species.
I signed up with Instagram so I could see the pictures my sister took on her vacation to Mendocino in Northern California. They drove north to Humboldt County to see the California Redwood Coast Park Forest. Among the beautiful photos she posted, this one of the Giant Redwoods, considered the largest trees in the world, inspired me to write this haiku. Here is that photo, and two haiku versions, for your enjoyment.
Redwood Forest Haiku
~1~
In Redwood Forests
There are Giants among us
Who Hold The Silence
~2~
In Redwood Forests
There are Giants among us
Holding The Silence
© Ken Chawkin
Fairfield, Iowa
written 8/23/2013
posted 8/24/2013
See Being in Nature, a gift from a tree, with links to other tree poems. See Redwood forest photo and haiku inspire others.
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