Both the inscription and the Daruma are unusual and creative: instead of the customary "Direct mind is the dojo (place to practice)," Hoshu made the dojo something more concrete, the pure wind that all of us have experienced. The Daruma is angular and stares at us sharply.
Hoshu was born in Akita Prefecture in the north of Japan. He became a Zen acolyte at age nine, and eventually the Dharma-heir of the illustrious master Seki Rozan. Hoshu served as president of Rinzai Daigaku in Kyoto, and then Primate of the Myoshin-ji Branch of Rinzai. Hoshu was a skilled and creative Zen artist.
