At Zen Brush, our online Shodō calligraphy group (monthly on zoom) we brushed the four kanji characters in the heartful zen phrase Anjin-ryumyo 安心立命 (literally ease/peace ; heart-mind ; stand; fate). This can be translated in various ways such as peace and enlightenment, or letting… Read More »Midsummer Zen Shodo Calligraphy
At our online Shodō calligraphy group (monthly on zoom) we brushed the elemental zen word Unsui 雲水, literally meaning clouds and water, and more specifically meaning novice zen monks and nuns (it is shortened from going clouds-flowing waters), coming from a Chinese poem ‘to drift… Read More »Swirling inky clouds and water in Shodō calligraphy
At our zoom Shodō calligraphy in March, we brushed the beautiful zen phrase Ekō -henshō 回向返照, meaning ‘turning the light inward and illuminating the self’, or ‘turning facing, answering with light’. Blair talked about the meanings of the phrase and use in Master Dogen’s meditation… Read More »Brushing Zen Calligraphy: Turning the Light Inward
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… Read More »Brushing freedom at Zen Shodo Calligraphy
At Shodō calligraphy for our first group this Tiger year (Tora in Japanese), we peacefully brushed the very airy and natural feeling Genpū 玄風 . This is a lovely zen word that can mean mysterious winds, meaning the profound teachings of the ancient zen teachers… Read More »Shodo Brushing the Winds of the Ancient Teachings
At Shodō calligraphy for our last group together in 2021, we had great fun brushing the lovely loose characters of Shikantaza 只管打坐 , about Zen sitting meditation (Zazen). We enjoyed exploring the kanji characters together in the semi cursive Gyōsho style and the quirky old… Read More »Brushing Shikantaza at Shodō Zen Calligraphy
At our Shodō calligraphy group (on the last or second last Monday monthly on Zoom), we brushed two characters Kōyo 紅葉 , meaning Autumn Colours. The kanji literally means crimson red leaves, so we celebrated and embraced the autumn season through Shodо̄ 🍁 We brushed… Read More »Celebrating 紅葉 Autumn Colours in Sōsho Calligraphy
At our monthly Shodo calligraphy group online on Zoom we brushed the four deep characters Soku Shin Ze Butsu 即心是佛 , a famous old zen saying – heart-mind here and now is Buddha – about being together with all things. We brushed this in the… Read More »Brushing Mind Here and Now is Buddha
After the summer break we met at our online group and enjoyed brushing the characters kiryoku 気力 , which means – vitality or energy, or willpower. The first kanji Ki 気 (in the pic attached) is the same character as qi/chi in Chinese such as… Read More »Vitality of Shodo calligraphy at Zen Brush
On the long sunny night of midsummer’s day we had our monthly shodo calligraphy group! We worked on the famous characters ei wa kyuu nen 永和九年 , which literally means – eternal, harmony, nine, year – from the beginning of the old classic by famous… Read More »Midsummer Shodo brushing the Orchid Pavillion Preface