MUGG-090 — Musō Soseki, ”Abiding nowhere, the awakened mind arises” (early to mid-14th century)

Musō Soseki received the title Kokushi, "national teacher," from seven successive emperors, a distinction without parallel in Japanese Zen history. The phrase he brushes here, from the Diamond Sutra, was central to Rinzai practice in the early fourteenth century, but Soseki's rendering carries a particular authority: his mother was the granddaughter of Hōjō Masamura, seventh regent of the Kamakura shogunate, and Soseki himself designed the gardens at Saihō-ji and Tenryū-ji in Kyoto, composing space and stone with the same deliberate emptiness visible in his calligraphic line.

The original scroll, held at @metmuseum, measures just under a metre in height. The curatorial team notes a continuity with MUGG-088, another Japanese work in which concentrated gesture carries doctrinal weight, now preserved in the standard MUGGMUSEET format. The work enters the collection.

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This work entered the collection on 2026-07-07. The mug is the acquisition. The acquisition is complete.

Specifications
Ceramic mug, 11oz. Dishwasher safe and microwave safe. Print wraps include the artwork panel and museum label panel on a white ceramic base. Fulfilled by Gelato and ships in 3 to 5 business days.