“In heaven and on earth I am the Only Honored One!”- Shakyamuni’s bold declaration at his birth-is a popular inscription. Some enso paintings are naked and mysterious, but most have an accompanying inscription to serve as a “hint” as to the Zen meaning of the circle. Most begin in the left-hand corner of the paper, but others start at the top or bottom.
Some are thick and massive others are thin and delicate. Some are done in one bold stroke others are composed with two half circles. Some Zen circles are perfectly symmetrical others are completely lopsided. Together with portraits of Bodhidharma, nearly every Zen master since the time of Hakuin has produced enso paintings as meditation aids for their students and patrons.Įach Zen master has his or her own style, and that individuality is clearly expressed in the ensos they brush. Thereafter, enso paintings became a primary teaching vehicle in East Asian Buddhism, especially in Japan. The earliest known example of an enso painting is by the Chinese Zen Master Kyozan (814-890) as recorded in the Keitokudento-roku. The first Zen painting was almost certainly an enso, brushed for a student who needed something concrete to contemplate, a visual expression of enlightenment. In the Shinjinmei, an early Zen text, the way of buddha is described as “a circle like vast space, lacking nothing, nothing in excess.” In short, an enso defines the Zen state of mind.Įnso can be written in the air, drawn in the dirt, or, most typically, brushed on paper.
Enso japanese symbol full#
Right from the beginning of the Buddhist tradition, enlightenment was compared to the “bright full moon” and a “great round mirror.” In the biography of the Prajnaparamita master Nagarjuna, it states that whenever he taught in public, the master would appear as a luminous circle in order to reveal the true form of buddhanature: “Neither large nor small, neither wide nor narrow, neither good nor bad, neither transient nor eternal.” Bodhidharma, the grand patriarch of Zen, was called the “Great Teacher of Circle Enlightenment.” The Sixth Patriarch Huineng was said to have employed the use of ninety-six types of circles in his teachings. I offer this particular enso as a symbol of all that is gathered and united within us - alive, open ended and true.Enso, a Japanese word meaning “circular form” and usually translated into English as “Zen circle,” is the symbol supreme of Buddhist enlightenment. The making of a circle with one brushstroke is a calligraphic practice of bringing that wholeness forth, through the gesture of the body, into form on the page. It is a universal expression of wholeness that lives deep in our beings. From Barbara Bash The Japanese word for circle is enso. It is from that inspired conversation that I intuitively knew that Barbara was the artist that I wanted to create the enso for my practice. Barbara and I met shortly thereafter for coffee. I witnessed Barbara facilitate a beautiful, integrative, and creative workshop called Opening the Door in February 2018, hosted by Naropa University.
I sought out Barbara after learning about our shared lineage through a mutual connection. Her work can still be found in the halls of Naropa University. She taught at Naropa University in Boulder, CO, where she collaborated with storytellers, dancers, and musicians in performance. She has studied dance, drawing, calligraphy, and graphic design, which has led her to a successful career as a graphic artist, writer, and performer. About the Artistīarbara Bash is a calligrapher, illustrator, author, and performance artist. I could think of no better symbol for which to represent my work as your therapist. And through lessons of the impossibility of creating the perfect circle (sans mathematical calculations), we find this much to be true: that the very imperfections and contours that otherwise prevent a perfect circle from being created are exactly what makes the enso beautiful. The enso is a representation of our true and innermost self its creation is said to leave the artist fully exposed at that one particular moment in time. It symbolizes strength, elegance, and one-mindedness. The enso is a manifestation of the artist at the moment of creation and the acceptance of our innermost self. While at first glance, the enso symbol appears no more than a misshapen circle, it symbolizes many things: the beauty in imperfection, the art of letting go of expectations, the circle of life, and connection. Enso (formally spelled ensō) is a sacred symbol in Zen Buddhism meaning circle, or sometimes, circle of togetherness. It is traditionally drawn using only one brushstroke as a meditative practice in letting go of the mind and allowing the body to create, as the singular brushstroke allows for no modifications.
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