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.
Bodhidharma
| Date | 2011/5/17 |
|---|---|
| Author | Reigen Etō (1721-1785) |
| Details | Chōshōdō 162 Painting: Bodhidharma Inscription: No matter how you look at it… 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. |
