Immovable Wisdom

Zen master Takuan Soho (1573 1645) was Abbot of the Daitokuji, the leading Rinzai Zen Temple in Kyoto, and was founder of the Tokaiji Temple in Edo. Living proof that ‘A master of Zen can be master of anything’, his teachings and practice influenced calligraphy, painting, poetry, martial arts, and the tea ceremony. He taught and inspired the Shogun Iemitsu, Yagyu Munenori, founder of one of Japan’s greatest schools of swordsmanship, and Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings and Japan’s most famous swordsman and master of strategy. Immovable Wisdom includes an account of Takuan’s life and translations of his most important writings, as well as anecdotes encapsulating the essence of his wisdom, which are as relevant today as in his own turbulent era. Master Takuan taught that, rooted in immovable wisdom, the trained mind becomes unfettered; undistracted by the irrelevant, one’s response to the unexpected is always instantaneous and correct. Nobuko Hirose is a translator, writer, and co-author of Japanese Art Signatures, the standard reference on the subject. After graduating from Meiji University in Tokyo she obtained a Master’s degree in Japanese Art History at SOAS, University of London, and settled in England. Her translation skills and lineal descent from a traditional Japanese Zen family make her uniquely qualified to present the wisdom of Takuan Soho to a broader Western audience.