諸行無常 shogyō mujō All Things Are Impermanent

諸行無常 (shogyō mujō): all that is made is impermanent; everything in the world keeps changing, arising and passing away, and nothing lasts unchanged.

The デジタル大辞泉 and the 日本国語大辞典 both call 諸行無常 one of the three seals, the root teachings of Buddhism. The verse that 諸行無常 opens ends in stillness: when arising and perishing have perished, their stilling is bliss. Whether you take it as the plain fact of change or as a word on the fleetingness of life is yours.

The 平家物語, the tale of the fall of the Taira, opens with the bell of the Jetavana monastery, whose voice has the ring of 諸行無常. The tale pairs the line with the law that the flourishing must decline. A study of 2009 searched the Taishō canon and found the two never paired: the pairing is the tale's own.

In the noh song 三井寺, a mother searching for her stolen child strikes a temple bell. As a book printed in 1714 quotes the song, the bell rings 諸行無常 at the first watch of night. At the last watch, at dawn and at sunset it rings the three lines that follow, one to each hour.

A line of Buddhist scripture: the first line of a four-line verse in the Chinese translations of the sutras, and one of the three seals of the teaching; in Japan the four characters are cut on the 薬師寺 Buddha's-footprint stone in 753, and in 985 源信 set the verse beside the bell of the dying that 道宣 described from a vision in 667.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 諸行無常.

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

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 woven damask borders and Japanese paper that are layered so the scroll hangs straight and will not warp over time. The scrolls themselves are made by a scroll maker in Gifu, Japan, and we have worked with them 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