On 'Neither Arising nor Ceasing'

fu shou fu metsu — Neither Arising nor Ceasing.

On the origin

From the Heart Sutra (Prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya): “all things are empty in form — neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing.” The same pair opens the eight negations of Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (中論).

On the reading

Nothing here is born, nothing here passes away. Arising and ceasing are lines the mind draws across what has no edge. In emptiness, beginning and end find no place to stand.

On the garment

The seal for this phrase was hand-carved in Tokyo by the artist Satake Hōsen. The front carries this phrase’s seal; the back and inside label carry the Hōsen seal (寳千), printed in vermilion.

The garment is Bella + Canvas 3001 (short sleeve) or Gildan 2400 (long sleeve). A vessel for the word, not the subject itself.

― hosen, tokyo