Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony - Softcover

Brush Meditation is part of Stone Bridge Press's MICHI: JAPANESE ARTS AND WAYS series. From chado--"the Way of tea"--to budo--"the martial Way"--Japan has succeeded in spiritualizing a number of classical arts. The names of these skills often end in Do, also pronounced Michi, meaning the "Way." By studying a Way in detail, we discover vital principles that transcend the art and relate more broadly to the art of living itself. Featuring the work of H. E. Davey and other select authors, books in the series MICHI: JAPANESE ARTS AND WAYS focus on these Do forms. They are about discipline and spirituality, about moving from the particular to the universal... to benefit people of any culture.

Brush Meditation is out of print, but the entire book is now offered in The Japanese Way of the Artist (Stone Bridge Press). What's more, you'll also get two of my other out of print titles: Living the Japanese Arts & Ways and The Japanese Way of the Flower.

Shodo is Japanese calligraphy. It means, “the "Way of Brush Writing,"” and it'’s one of numerous Japanese arts ending in “Do,” indicating “the Way.” Nonetheless, how these arts function as Ways isn’'t always understood.

It’'s common to state that shodo is a Way of life (thus the designation “Do”), and that by practicing, we can transcend it and grasp the art of living. While this is true, it’'s uncommon to find a teacher (or book) that can explain how calligraphic art leads to spiritual realization. While some books pay lip service to the ideal of the Way producing spiritual evolution, they also sometimes fail to offer direct explanations and methodologies to help students realize the Way. It’'s frequently assumed that merely manipulating a brush will produce profound realizations.
 
This is untrue and unfortunate. It'’s untrue because it’'s the manner in which we approach the Ways that determines what we learn from them. Spiritual realization isn’t guaranteed.

It’'s unfortunate because the conscious practice of Japanese Do forms truly can result in the cultivation of mind and body. But to use shodo as meditation, we must investigate exactly how it can lead to realization.

Japanese calligraphy has been the subject of numerous books. Few of these works, however, have explored how it goes beyond art and enters into spirituality. Even fewer have offered methods to practice what can be thought of as “"brush meditation,”" and which are needed for personal growth to take place.
 
My book was written to answer that need, and I'm grateful for the kind reviews as well as the positive worldwide response.