NOTHING Bankei Yōtaku 盤珪永琢 (1622-1693) Japan, Edo Period (1615-1868) Hanging scroll, ink on paper 33 x 52 cm; 24.7 x 67.1 cm (mounted) Collection of Stuart Katz 無生法忍 NOTHING Arises, patient acceptance —trans. adapted from Digital Dictionary of Buddhism Bankei’s genius was to convey his own enlightenment experience to a wide audience via lectures on the concept of the “Unborn,” which he often wrote as 不生. Here, brushing a classic Buddhist phrase, he energetically evokes the qualities of patience and acceptance of the non-arising of phenomena (法) critical to the bodhisattva path. Bankei was a Rinzai Zen monk whose connection to Obaku Zen was as a disciple of Daozhe Chaoyuan, an early Obaku abbot and the calligrapher of “Within the moon” also in ROOM 2. Return to Room 2 Return to Art Exhibitions