Brushing freedom at Zen Shodo Calligraphy

This month we brushed the expressive Omoi Yokoshima Nashi 思無邪, a Confucian and zenny phrase Blair’s first Shodo teacher Master Waskabayashi worked on. He was a great Granpa to Blair and gifted him several materials, books and lots of Shodo inspiration about Zen, nature and the human spirit ✨

思無邪 can mean something like – un-tethered and not bothered by thoughts or obstacles in life, or more literally not having wicked thoughts, embracing spaciousness. We enjoyed combining the three kanji characters together in a flowing and jazzy cursive style as well as practiced some regular kaisho style for each kanji character first. 

Here is a translation we found of the poem below where the Confucian phrase is originally found (last verse), in the classic Odes of Lu, part 4 of the Shijing Analects of Confucius. The zen folks seem to have taken to the phrase and the meaning has expanded from there.

Blair told the group there were a lot of horses in this poem! 🐎

Plump and large are the stallions,
On the plains of the far-distant borders.
Of those stallions, plump and large,
Some are black and white-breeched ; some light yellow ;
Some, pure black ; some, bay ;
[All], splendid carriage horses.
His thoughts are without limit ; –
He thinks of his horses, and they are thus good.

Plump and large are the stallions,
On the plains of the far-distant borders.
Of those stallions, plump and large,
Some are piebald, green and white ; others, yellow and white ;
Some, yellowish red ; some, dapple grey ;
[All], strong carriage horses.
His thoughts are without end ; –
He thinks of his horses, and they are thus strong.

Plump and large are the stallions,
On the plains of the far-distant borders.
Of those stallions, plump and large,
Some are flecked as with scales ; some, white and black-maned ;
Some, red and black-maned ; some, black and white-maned ;
[All], docile in the carriage,
His thoughts never weary ; –
He thinks of his horses, and such they become.

Plump and large are the stallions,
On the plains of the far-distant borders.
Of those stallions, plump and large,
Some are cream-coloured ; some, red and white ;
Some, with white hairy legs ; some, with fishes’ eyes ;
[All], stout carriage horses.
His thoughts are without depravity ; – ;
He thinks of his horses, and thus serviceable are they.

Thanks to everyone for taking part and those who shared work 😀