When a traveler approaches the Obaku Temple in Kyoto, he sees the words carved above the gate: “First Principle.” The letters are unusually large and connoisseurs of calligraphy admired them as the height of skill.
They were written by Kozen 200 years ago.
When the master wrote them, he first depicted them on paper, from which the workers, having enlarged them, transferred them to wood. When Kozen drew the letters, he had a self-confident student working with him, who made several gallons of ink for the letter and never missed an opportunity to criticize his master's work.
“This is good,” he told Kozen after his first efforts. "And this?" “Bad. Even worse than before,” said the student.
Kozen patiently examined one sheet after another until he had accumulated 84 “First Principles,” none of which earned the student’s approval.
One day, when the young man went out for a few minutes, Kozen thought: “This is the only way to escape his stern eyes.”
And he hastily wrote with a mind free of irritation: “The first principle.” “This is the work of a master,” said the student.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru