不知最親切 fuchi mottomo shinsetsu Not Knowing is Most Intimate

不知最親切 says that not knowing is the closest thing of all. Banshō, whose commentary carries the koan, reads its verse both ways: the not-knowing is reached only by shedding every last thread, and yet the not-knowing at the end is like the one at the start. He also warns that people who hear the line and settle on just don't know have missed it. 親切 here keeps its older sense, close and right on the point, not today's kind. Whether it is for your practice or for a season when you cannot see the way is yours.

The line is the master 桂琛's reply to the young monk 法眼文益, who, asked on his pilgrimage what the pilgrimage was about, had said he did not know; the exchange was first written up, with 法眼 waking at the line, in the 景德傳燈錄 of 1004, about fifty years after 法眼's death in 958.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 不知最親切.

Each design is Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase's hand-brushed calligraphy of the word or phrase on this page, delivered as a PDF you can print. Every PDF includes the line art, so a tattoo artist or a craftsperson can work from the outline as well as the brushed image.

Your purchase includes a personal-use license: use the design as a tattoo reference, frame it, engrave it, print it for yourself, or make it into a gift. For more information see Licensing, which also covers commercial-use options that may be purchased separately.

Your PDF is available for download the moment your order completes, and a copy is attached to your emailed receipt.

If you need your design again later, ask us for it and we will send it.