On 'One Flower Opens Five Petals'

ikka go yō wo hiraku — One Flower Opens Five Petals.

On the origin

From Bodhidharma’s transmission verse, recorded in the Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (Jingde chuandeng lu), vol. 3: “One flower opens five petals; the fruit ripens of itself.”

On the reading

A single flower opens, and in time parts into five. From one source, many ways extend of their own accord. Read as Bodhidharma foretelling the five houses that would branch from what he carried. Nothing is forced; the fruit ripens of itself.

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