Tag: zen
All the articles with the tag "zen".
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Daruma (達磨): The Zen Founder Behind Japan's Lucky Doll
By K. YamaUpdated:The red Daruma doll isn't just a lucky charm — it's Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen. The story of the doll, the eye-painting ritual, and what it means.
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Emptiness Kanji (空): Sky, Void, and the Heart Sutra
By K. YamaUpdated:空 means both 'sky' and 'emptiness,' and in Zen it carries the Heart Sutra's śūnyatā. How one character holds the heavens and the void, and how to write it.
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Mu Kanji (無): Nothingness, the Zen Kōan, and No-Mind
By K. YamaUpdated:無 (mu) means nothing — yet it began as a dancer, and became Zen's most famous kōan. The strangest origin story in the kanji, and how to write it.
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Zen Kanji (禅): Real Meaning, Origin, and How to Write It
By K. YamaUpdated:Zen kanji (禅) means far more than 'calm' — it names a school, a practice, and a centuries-long argument about the mind. Real meaning and how to write it.
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Wabi-Sabi: The Japanese Art of Imperfect Beauty
By K. YamaUpdated:Wabi-sabi is Japan's aesthetic of imperfect, impermanent beauty — and the West mostly gets it wrong. What it really means, from tea room to brush.
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Ikigai: What the Japanese Word Really Means (Not the Diagram)
By K. YamaIkigai is your reason to get up in the morning — but the famous four-circle diagram isn't Japanese. A look at what ikigai actually means in everyday Japan.
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