Eri's Choice · VD5A
Eri's Choice is a design that does not keep strictly to one style; it is Master Takase's own artistic choice.
直心是道場無虚假故
jikishin kore dōjō, koke naki ga yue ni
The straightforward mind is the place of practice, because it is free of falsehood
The straightforward mind is the place of practice, because it is free of falsehood.
by Master Eri Takase
Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Eri Takase received the rank of Shihan, master, from two calligraphy societies, the Bokuteki-kai and Bunka-shodō, and won best-of-category awards in all-Japan national competitions. She has created calligraphy for people around the world for more than thirty years, and with your order she will be creating calligraphy for you.
In a ritual as old as calligraphy itself, Master Takase prepares the ink, meditatively rubbing the ink stick against the stone until it reaches the perfect consistency for the paper. Then, properly loading the brush with ink, she brushes your scroll. And only when the scroll is just right and meets her approval, she signs it and affixes her seal, completing your original scroll.
12 1/4" × 43" (31 × 109 cm) Japanese Scrolls
The scrolls have woven damask borders and special layered Japanese paper (washi), designed to last generations by a scroll maker in Gifu, Japan, with whom we have worked for over two decades.
Gift-Ready
Your scroll arrives boxed, with a printed insert describing the words in detail.
Sending it as a gift? Add your message at checkout and we will include it with the insert.
Ships in 1-3 days from Washington State
Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days.
Your scroll ships from Master Takase's studio in Washington State. Shipping is calculated at checkout. We ship worldwide.
30-day money-back guarantee
Every order is covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. If your scroll arrives damaged, or we made an error, we replace it or refund you in full, including shipping.
Explanation
直心是道場無虚假故 puts the dōjō inside the person: no building is needed, just a mind that is straight and without pretense. Wherever such a mind is, there is the place of practice. The line's second half gives the reason: that mind holds no falsehood. It comes from a Buddhist sutra, and Zen teachers carried it; tea people and swordsmen took it up after them. Which place it names for you, the training hall, the tea room or the seat of awakening, is yours to choose.
Master Takase brushes the full line of nine characters, the sentence and its reason, in block, semi-cursive and cursive script and in her own font design.
A sentence of the Vimalakīrti Sutra: the layman Vimalakīrti's answer in the Chinese translation Kumārajīva completed in 406, its wording his among the Chinese versions read; the earliest known Zen text to quote it, in the sources read, is the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, which quotes its first five characters.
Learn More About These Words
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 直心是道場無虚假故.
