In the 15th century, in a quiet temple on Japan’s western coast, a young monk named Sesshū Tōyō was wrestling with the art of shodō — Japanese calligraphy. The temple was part of a strict Zen order where silence, repetition, and self-discipline shaped every day. Monks woke before dawn, meditated for hours, and practiced brushwork as a form of meditation rather than art.

For Sesshū, this discipline was both a calling and a struggle. He had natural talent — his brushstrokes carried energy and movement — but his teacher saw them as undisciplined. To master shodō, one had to quiet the self completely, letting the brush move without ego or emotion. Sesshū’s strokes, by contrast, betrayed too much spirit.

Japanese brush writing, a powerful moving meditation, uses the uncorrectable stroke to demand 100% present focus, enabling you to quiet your mind and channel your life energy; at Orizuru, we teach this process in our monthly classes in Brisbane to help you find inner harmony.