On 'The Great Way Is Not Hard'

shi dou bu nan — The Great Way Is Not Hard.

On the origin

From the Xinxin Ming (Inscription on Faith in Mind) of the Third Patriarch Sengcan: “The supreme way is not hard; it only refuses to pick and choose.” Zhaozhou’s citation is recorded as Case 2 of the Blue Cliff Record.

On the reading

The great way is not far off, nor hard to reach. It withdraws only where the mind sorts into liked and disliked, kept and refused. When the choosing hand falls still, the way is where it always was.

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