< Back to Question and Answer

Recently I saw a beautiful enso painted by a Japanese Zen master and it made a very deep and lasting impression on me. It was very fresh elegant and powerful. What is the meaning of the enso in Zen art?

October 29, 2012, 8:39 amWhen we see the circle, we see our original mind. The patriarch Ryuju in the15th generation after the Buddha, gave the philosophical explanation of the circle being the universe containing everything yet having no form. The first person who actually drew a circle symbolizing the mind was Nanyo Echu Kokushi, a student of the Sixth Patriarch of Zen. There have been many circles drawn yet there is no set theme for them. It seems that is mostly referred to symbolizing our true mind. Today the moon is full. To experience this state of mind, where nothing is missing, nothing is extra - that is zazen.