Ven. Zasu's Gift of Calligraphy

This calligraphy was brushed by the current chief of the Tendai school, the Venerable Zasu Handa Kojun. At 97 years old, he still produces amazingly vigorous work. The first character is "DOU", meaning 'the Way' or 'the Path', which was one of the words the Chinese used to translate 'Buddhism' when it first arrived in China almost 2000 years ago, since it resonated with some of the ideas of their native religion of Taoism. The second character is "SHIN", meaning both 'heart' and 'mind'. So the two characters together (DOSHIN) can be rendered as 'The Mind Set on the Way', 'Bodhicitta', or 'The Bodhisattva Path'