Font Design · VD5J
Font Designs are Master Takase's unique designs. Often she will use her own style or a combination of fonts and, without a classification limit, create exactly the look she wants.
剣禅一如
kenzen ichinyo
The Sword and Zen Are One
The sword and Zen are one: at its furthest reach, the way of the sword is the same state as Zen's no-thought.
Master Takase creates this beautiful scroll when your order is placed. Personally preparing the ink and brushing your art that proudly bears her signature and seal. This is an original work of art.
Description
剣禅一如 (kenzen ichinyo): the sword and Zen are one, the furthest reach of swordsmanship being the same state as Zen's no-thought.
The 日本国語大辞典 enters the twin form 剣禅一致: the ultimate state of the way of the sword is the same as Zen's state of no-thought. 一如 is a Buddhist word for not differing, being one body. Whether it is for the kendō dōjō or for the practice of any art is yours.
The swordsman Yagyū Munenori wrote that much in the art of war accords with the Buddhist Dharma and has much in common with Zen. Above all, he wrote, both abhor attachment and stopping at each thing. In a note dated 1885, the swordsman Yamaoka Tesshū wrote that his brush had changed its intent because all methods are of one measure. He wrote that the change dated from 1880, when something in the two ways of the sword and Zen came home to him.
Katsu Kaishū said of the sword, Zen and the brush that the source from which each springs is of one and the same measure. In 1927 a teachers' guide to a middle-school reader explained 禪劍一如, the same characters with sword and Zen in the other order. For Zen and the sword alike, it said, the knack by which long training reaches awakening is one. In 1955 the swordsman and Zen master Ōmori Sōgen wrote that he did not know when the phrase began to be said.
A Japanese name of the twentieth century, 剣禅一致 from 1901, 剣禅一味 from 1912 and 剣禅一如 from 1916 in the National Diet Library's full text, for the teaching of the Zen priest 沢庵 to the swordsman 柳生宗矩 in the 1630s, whose letter, the 不動智神妙録, sets the sword beside the Dharma point by point and never uses the four characters.
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 剣禅一如.
Delivery
Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days. It ships by USPS Priority Mail from Master Takase's studio in Washington State, boxed and ready to hang, with a printed page giving the art's English, romaji and Japanese.
Sending it as a gift? Add your message at checkout and we will include it.
Shipping is calculated at checkout from your address; within the United States it is $13 to $23. We ship worldwide, and any import charges for your country are shown at checkout before you pay.
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. Refund policy
About Our Scrolls
Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase brushes your scroll by hand when you order it. Each scroll bears her red seal, 英利, and her signature.
The scrolls are 12 1/4" W × 43" H (31 × 109 cm) with real silk borders and Japanese paper that are layered so the scroll hangs straight and will not warp over time. The scrolls themselves are made by Sankō (株式会社三幸) in Gifu prefecture, which has been making high quality scrolls since 1947, and we have worked with Sankō for over two decades.
Eri Takase was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, and holds the rank of Shihan, the highest rank in Japanese calligraphy, from the Bokuteki-kai and the Bunka-shodo. About Master Takase
