Bokuju Soju (1819–1891)
"Zen Gourd"

Ink on paper
Size 22 ¼" x 53" (23 ¾" x 77 ¾" overall)
Mounting: Dark gray raw silk
Click here to view complete mounting

Translation:

Joshu said (in reply to the question, "What did Bodhidharma bring to the West?"):

The Gourd hanging on the east wall!"

Drinking the rice wine in the gourd can extend our years if we enjoy the taste, be patient and flexible in our endeavors, and go with the flow.

Brushed and inscribed by Daitoku-ji Dragon Cloud*

*Bokuju's Zen master name.

 

Joshu was a famous Chinese Zen master, and the first line refers to one of his koans: "The Zen mind is nothing out of the ordinary and it is right in front of our eyes if we only look!" In the old days in Japan, rice wine was carried in such hollowed out gourds as painted here, and Zen monks of Bokuju's era were well known for their love of rice wine, the "hot water of wisdom." (Nantembo often did paintings of such gourds.) If we enjoy wine in the right Zen spirit, and go with the flow, naturally our lives will be full and pleasant.

Bokuju was abbot #471 of Daitokuji. He often did calligraphy, but paintings by him are rare; this Zenga has much joy on the brushstrokes.

 

For price information, please contact Belinda Sweet
and Danielle Williams at:  zenart@peoplepc.com

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