The Zen Saying Kissako On A Modern Japanese Scroll

The Zen saying, go and have some tea, is written in current script on a blue hanging scroll and invites you to the universal cup of the tea of enlightenment.

I brushed the Zen saying, kissako, as a calligraphic invitation to discover the universal truth within ourselves. Having a cup of tea, a moment of awareness, is like the act of sitting down and experiencing enlightenment.

As the late Zen master Shunryu Suzuki said: “Enlightenment experience is to figure out, to understand, to realize this mind which is always with us and which we cannot see”.

Go and have some tea!

Calligraphy mounted on deep blue silk with a fine golden pattern. Natural wooden roller at the bottom of the hanging scroll.

Semi-cursive script
Calligraphy size: 36.5″ x 13″; 93 x 34 cm
Mounting size of the entire hanging scroll:
77.5″ x 18.5″; 197 x 47 cm.

Private Collection

This Zen saying stems from Zen master Joshu, a 9th century Chinese master.

Once two traveling monks visited Joshu. He asked both of them, “Have you ever been here before?” One monk said yes. Joshu said, “Go and have some tea”. The other monk answered no. Joshu said, “Go and have some tea”. Joshu’s attendant monk wondered about his master’s answer and asked him, “Why do you say, ‘Go and have some tea’, to a spiritual highly advanced monk and then say, ‘Go and have some tea’, to a monk who has still not seen the truth?” Joshu said, “Go and have some tea!”

Click here for a high quality print of the ‘Go and have some tea’ calligraphy .

This Japanese calligraphy has 3 kanji :

KITSU (drink), SA (tea), KO (go)

English rendering:

Go and have some tea!

If you are interested in another Tea calligraphy, please visit my print gallery where you can buy a high quality print of the Tea saying Harmony, Respect, Purity And Tranquility, Wa Kei Sei Jaku.

Wa Kei Sei Jaku Tea Print	Harmony Respect Purity And Tranquility Tea Print

Click here for another calligraphy with a Zen saying.