Internet gallery of calligraphy in the Institute collection
The Institute for Zen Studies has over 350 scrolls in its collection. A periodically renewed selection of especially outstanding works will be displayed on this site.
Cultivate a Mind that Is not Attached to Anything
| Date | 2011/9/22 |
|---|---|
| Author | Reigen Etō (1721-1785) |
| Details | Chōshōdō 161 “Cultivate a mind that is not attached to anything,” in two lines. Size: hansetsu Paper: 24.8 x 103.5cm Mounting: 27.5 x 170.0cm This piece was displayed during the 2011 Suiō Genro exhibition. Reigen Etō was born in the Tango region, to the northwest of Kyoto; his family name was Kojima. At the age of nine he received ordination at a nearby temple, Zenshō-ji. He subsequently trained under Mokudō Riku of Kannon-ji in Tango, Daidō Bunka at Tōkō-ji in Minō (present-day Gifu Prefecture), and Hakuin Ekaku at Shōin-ji in Hara. Even after receiving Hakuin’s inka he refined himself further under Hakuin’s disciple Ishin Eryū. He subsequently became abbot of his childhood temple Zenshō-ji and restored it to its earlier grandeur. At the age of forty-five he was called to Tenryū-ji in Kyoto, where he taught using Hakuin’s innovative methods. He subsequently headed a succession of temples: Keitoku-ji and Engaku-ji in present-day Kanagawa Prefecture, and Rinsen-ji and Rokuō-in in Kyoto. In 1778 he founded the temple Yōgyō-in. |
