“The gods have no way to offer flowers; the demons have no way to peek inside.—The old auspicious philosopher Reigaku”¹

The abbot Shaku Sōen first introduced Zen Buddhism to the West in 1893. Here, the bulging eye of his fear­some Daruma resembles an ensō. The inscription describes a Zen patriarch who has transcended the duality of good and evil, so much so that neither powerful gods nor evil demons can affect him. The word for “philosopher,” koji, typically refers to a lay practitioner of Buddhism, hinting that perhaps Sōen longed for a simpler life, one without all his responsi­bilities as the abbot of an important temple. The word choice may also suggest that wisdom can be achieved irrespective of formal status and hierarchy.

—Bradley Bailey