知足 chisoku Be Satisfied

Be Satisfied in Japanese is 知足 which is read chisoku

知足 (chisoku): to know what is enough.

知足 is being at ease with your own share and wanting nothing past it. What the word praises is the knowing, not the having. A rich man who does not know enough is poor, and a poor man who does is rich. The word is at home in the tea room too. Whether you hang it by a desk or in a tea room is yours.

This beautiful art is the perfect gift for the Zen practitioner in your life. chisoku reminds us that there is no limit to human desire and so it is essential to know when something is enough.

The word comes from the Daoist classic 老子, whose thirty-third chapter says that he who knows what is enough is rich, and it reached Japanese Buddhism through the 遺教経, where knowing what is enough is a monk's practice; its first known use in Japan is in Kūkai's own hand in 797.

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

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? Tell us when you order and we will include your message.

Shipping is calculated at checkout from your address; within the United States it is $13 to $22. 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 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