On 'Master Wherever You Stand'

zui sho saku shu — Master Wherever You Stand.

On the origin

From the Record of Linji (Linji Lu), the discourses of the Tang-dynasty master Linji Yixuan: “Be master wherever you are, and every place you stand is true.”

On the reading

To be the master of wherever one is set down — not swept along by the place, but standing as its center. Circumstance does not decide the person; the stance one takes decides the place. Where one stands as master, the ground underfoot becomes true.

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