At the October Zen Brush Shodō calligraphy we worked on the illuminating kanji characters of the word Kōmyō 光明 – meaning luminous light, or spiritual brightness. It is a fluid word to write, with two light filled pictograms – first of a person holding up… Read More »Calligraphy of Kōmyō 光明 radiant light
In September at Zen Brush Shodo calligraphy, as we moved into Autumn, we brushed the dynamic two kanji characters of the word Shinnyo 真如 – meaning tathata or the true thusness or reality of things and the universe. They are lovely characters to brush, and… Read More »The way of the Universe in Zen Calligraphy
We had a lovely morning of Shōdo calligraphy at Kagyu Samye Dzong on Saturday 2nd September, with an enthusiastic group keen to try out the styles and materials 😊 We brushed 安楽 anraku – peace and joy or ease and comfort – a word that… Read More »Brushing Anraku – with Ease and Enjoyment
At our Zen Brush Shodo calligraphy online on zoom we brushed the kanji characters of the positive phrase Nichi nichi kore kō nichi 日日是好日 – meaning something like: every day is a good day; or, day after day we make the best of the moments and… Read More »Every Day is a Good Day in Calligraphy
It was relaxing brushing the seasonal phrase Shoka 初夏 – early summer – with the participants of the June Zen Brush group on Zoom. It was an easygoing group for our last session before the summer break. At the end we wished we had a… Read More »Early Summer Shodō calligraphy
After a wait of over three years we were delighted to re-start our Shōdo group at Kagyu Samye Dzong Tibetan Buddhist centre at the start of June. It was great to be back in the Woodlands area of Glasgow. It was a delightful group and… Read More »Shodo Calligraphy returns to the Tibetan Buddhist Centre
We began our Monday online calligraphy class on zoom with an introduction by Blair to each of his materials and tools uses, then we worked stroke practice and holding the fude for particular strokes. This time we brushed the four kanji characters of the zen… Read More »Finding balance and harmony in Shodo calligraphy
At our recent Zen Brush shodō class in April we brushed the two nature based kanji characters of the zen phrase Kūge 空華 . These are well known kanji and together can be translated variously as sky flowers, petals of emptiness, sky splendour. They were… Read More »Brushing sky flowers at Shodo calligraphy
Inspired by meditation and calligraphy itself, as well as the first signs of spring emerging, at the March meeting of Zen Brush Shodo calligraphy we brushed the three kanji characters of the zen phrase Hi Shi Ryo 非思量 which can be translated as something like… Read More »Hishiryo spacious thinking in zen and calligraphy
Last month at Zen Brush Shodo calligraphy we brushed the four kanji characters of the inspiring zen phrase Shin Jin Ichi Nyo 身心一如 which can be translated as body and mind/spirit, oneness (from Zen master Dōgen’s Bendowa writing). This is about how our heart/mind/spirit and… Read More »Brushing oneness at Zen Shodo Calligraphy