At our De-stress drawing group on zoom we enjoyed a slow paced, peaceful doodling time with a loose autumn theme. To start we relaxed with doodling zig zags and curves, before taking a moment to notice the pattern and feel of the changing season ? We loosely sketched some… Read More »Relaxing and immersing ourselves in autumnal lines
At our Shakyo group, co-hosted with Glasgow Zen Group, we enjoyed peacefully copying the Boundless Life Ten Phrase Kannon Sutra 延命十句観音経. It felt right to trace it at this time, being a sutra that has been close to people’s hearts over the centuries and considered… Read More »Shakyo 写経 copying the sutra of boundless awareness and life
We brushed 愛 Ai – Love, care, affection, craving/ attachment – at our Monday online Zen brush Shodo calligraphy 書道 group in October. It was inspiring to work with this single kanji (Chinese character) as it is so delightful to brush in the shodo styles. Please have… Read More »Opening your heart to 愛 Ai Love in Shodo
It was an easygoing and peaceful 篆刻 tenkoku (seal engraving) group where we each worked on designs for stamps (in 印) or worked on our stones or erasers (the keshigomu method). Thanks for taking part. There was some time to look at the very varied… Read More »Dynamic lines at Tenkoku seal engraving
妙法 Myouhou – all life and things wondrous – was captivating to brush in the kaisho and sousho styles of Shodo calligraphy 書道. On its own myou means mystery, or excellent, strange or wonderful and hou can mean method, teachings, dharma, or process ✨ It was… Read More »Shodo – Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou
At our first regular 篆刻 tenkoku (seal engraving) group on zoom we had fun pioneering Japanese and Chinese stamp making online! This time we mainly worked on designs for our in 印 stamps. After a short intro by Blair to the practice, his experience of… Read More »Exploring vast spaces through small stamp designs
We gently traced and copied the famous and inspiring Mahayana Buddhist Heart Sutra, or to use the full title, the Great Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra. After Blair and the group discussed about the Shakyo practice and some of the meanings and structure of the sutra,… Read More »Practicing intuitive wisdom with each small stroke
At Zen Brush we worked with the graceful eight strokes of eternal eijihappoh 永字八法, also known as the eight principles of yong – getting a feel for them and having some fun with the flow of the brush. Inspired by some Japanese haiku and old… Read More »Eternal peace with the eight strokes of 永 Ei – Yong
永字八法. Practice the eight classic strokes of Ei or Yong 永 brushed in Japanese and Chinese calligraphy.
At the last Zen Brush calligraphy group on zoom we were inspired by the two well known characters dou 道 (Way/ road/path) and shin or kokoro 心 (heart/mind/spirit). Brushing them in the kaisho as well as the sousho ‘grass writing’ styles, we explored their meanings,… Read More »Spirit of the way in each Shodo stroke