The Messenger of Zen

This is an ink portrait of Daruma, also called Bodhidharma, who brought the form to Buddhism known as Ch'an to China in the 5th or 6th centuries. Around 700 years later, Ch'an came to Japan, where it was called Zen. Zen is the best-known form of Buddhism in the United States today. From Zen came Pure Land Buddhism, which plays a role in our latest Samurai Detective book, The Red-Headed Demon.
Daruma himself was a "demon," or foreigner. His origins are obscure, but in China he acquired the nickname "blue-eyed barbarian," and was known for being bad-tempered.
The artist who made this picture was himself a Buddhist monk named Hakuin Ekaku. He lived in the 18th century and claimed that the first time he became enlightened, the goal of Buddhism, he was only 24 years old. He spent his life teaching others the path to enlightenment. You can see that his painting style was typical of the Zen philosophy--with swift strokes made through intuition rather than careful planning.
Hakuin wrote a message on the painting. If we had included it, the picture wouldn't have been as large, so we left it out. Here is one translation of what it says: "Zen points directly to the human heart; see into your nature and become Buddha."