Zen Koan on Cypress Trees
Jiun Onkō Japanese
Jiun Onkō’s gestural calligraphy exploits, to great effect, the flying-white technique, which involves using a brush with splayed bristles. The short, cryptic phrase transcribed here is the response given by the Chinese Chan monk Zhaozhou Congshen (Jōshū Jūshin, 778–897) to a koan—a riddle-like question posed by a master to trigger spiritual enlightenment in his disciples. When asked, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch [Bodhidharma] coming from the west?,”
趙州云「庭前栢樹子 」
Zhaozhou replied:
“The cypress trees in the front garden.”
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