Lot 165: Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768)

Hotei juggling balls and spinning a saucer
Sealed Hakuin and Ekaku
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
46 1/4 x 10 5/8in. (117.5 x 27cm.)
Box authentication by Awakawa Yasuichi, author of Zen Painting

PUBLISHED:
Awakawa Yasuichi, Zen Painting, trans. John Bester (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1970), no. 76.

Nichibo shuppansha, ed., Hakuin no zenga--Taishu zen no bi (Zen painting by Hakuin--Beauty of popular Zen) (Tokyo: Nichibo shuppansha, 1985), no. 39.

The inscription reads:

Kamakura no gosho no omaede nanatsu kojoro no shi yao toka, sake yorimo..chi yorimo nanatsu kojoro me ni tsuita
In front of the palace of Kamakura a young maiden of seven served. People paid more attention to her than to their sake or food.

These are the words of a folk song of the Izu Mishima region, where Hakuin served as abbot of Ryutakuji Temple.

Hakuin here compares Hotei's juggling of balls while simultaneously spinning a saucer to Zen meditation; both require intense concentration.