Ichigo Ichie 一期一会 lessons from Japanese Calligraphy
After almost three years of practicing Japanese calligraphy; I’m still hesitant to share a lot of my work, but what I can share are the gems of wisdom that fell into my pockets from spending time with true masters of the craft.
The art of writing the Japanese language is called 書道 しょどう [sho-do], which translates to “way of writing” and uses all three styles of characters found in Japan (hiragana, katakana and kanji). I was surprised to know it’s a mandatory subject in elementary school and part of the core art curriculum in high schools across Japan. Calligraphy is often called “meditation in action” and it’s easy to see why しょどう is one of the treasured Japanese art forms still practiced today.
一行三昧 [ichigyō zanmai]
“The phrase 一行三昧 means total concentration (三昧; sanmai) on a single task (一行; ichigyō).”
On my first day I was given the four treasures – a stack of rice paper, ink, brush, ink block and about three hours to write the character 愛 (love). The task seemed simple, copy the stroke order sheet after sheet. It felt repetitive and I quickly grew bored. My mind wandered and each time I thought I was done; sensei would lean over with her fluorescent red brush and outline my mistakes – the strokes that were too thick, too long and some missing altogether.
Why was I getting such a simple task wrong?– all I had to do was copy it.
Therein lies the first bit of wisdom – total concentration 一行三昧. I wasn’t focused on my writing because I was too caught up in the stroke that would come next, stressing about the stroke that came before and in between wondering if the ink stain on my new shirt would ever come out – it didn’t. John S. Couch summed it up perfectly “writing will commence just because the mind has quieted.” Once completely absorbed; time unfolded and the character 愛 emerged. The true challenge was finding this sort of concentration in all the tasks I did throughout the day.
一期一会 [ichigo ichie]
“A single meeting (一会; ichie) in the course of a lifetime (一期; ichigo), or a “once-in-a-lifetime encounter.”
This concept originated from Japanese tea ceremonies and is still practiced today. At the beginning of a tea ceremony 茶道さどう. the participants are asked to admire and meditate on a calligraphy piece, usually hung in the center of the room accompanied by a delicate flower arrangement. The absorbed meditation is said to clear one’s mind and allow the participants to be present and enjoy the experience. Too often we become indifferent towards our day to day life and forget that every encounter is different. Nothing happens the same way twice – especially in calligraphy. No two pieces are identical and once you’ve touched ink to paper; there’s no going back, no undo or erase. It simply is.
物の哀れ [mono no aware]
“beauty is subjective, and it’s our sensitivity to the world around us that makes it beautiful.”
Said to be “untranslatable,” it’s a concept that changes in the context in which it’s used. To put it simply – “Cherry blossom petals falling in spring” is 物の哀れ. As Michael Fieleke, Sensei reflects on the recent changes in his life and the death of loved ones he writes “it is a deep feeling of the impermanence of things.” This gives us a moment for quiet reflection – when the seasons change, when we leave a job and start a new one, or when we come face to face with our own mortality. Learning to wait, trusting the process, listening to the wisdom of teachers while letting go of expectations was for me; the “subjective beauty” in calligraphy.
There you have it – it’s unlikely that I’ll ever be truly satisfied with my work but the joy in the practice is really what keeps me coming back.
Interested in Japanese Calligraphy:
- Check out the Coto Academy in Tokyo
- A day in the life of a calligraphy master practicing the art of calligraphy in the United States.
- Interesting ways to use Calligraphy as a teaching tool by Liam Davis-Bosch.
