On 'The Common Precept of the Seven Buddhas'

shichi butsu tsuu kai ge — The Common Precept of the Seven Buddhas.

On the origin

From the Dhammapada, Buddhavagga (verse 183), transmitted as the precept shared by the seven Buddhas of the past: “Do no evil; do good; purify the mind — this is the teaching of all Buddhas.” Known in Zen through the exchange between Bai Juyi and the monk Niaoke Daolin (Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp).

On the reading

Do no evil. Do good. Purify the mind. The one precept every Buddha is said to have shared. A child of three can recite it; one of eighty may still fail to do it. Between knowing and doing, a whole life is laid.

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