Wall-Gazing Daruma

This painting by modern Zen master Sohan Gempo depicts one of the most meaningful episodes in the history of Zen Buddhism—when the patriarch Daruma entered a cave near a monastery and began his nine-year mediation in front a stone wall to achieve spiritual enlightenment. The composition is quite austere, consisting only of a seated Daruma and inscription to the right reading, "See into your own nature—Become Buddha!" With a single flourish of the brush, the monk-painter outlined the robed patriarch. Despite its simplicity, the painting is a memorable visualization of the central Zen belief that there is no separation between the devout worshipper and the Buddha. For this reason, it seems, Shoun has placed his own artist’s seal inside the Daruma figure, an engaging action that identifies the devout monk as both an historical Zen figure and the enlightened state Daruma achieved through meditation.