Enso Practice

©️Janine Ibbotson, Mu, sumi ink and watercolor on paper, 8.5 x 11 in.

I have been drawing the enso or Zen Circle as a practice for over 10 years. My practice has changed during that time, yet it has remained the same. When I began the practice, I approached it as a mindful art form drawn to build and express the power of concentration. Gradually, as I progressed in my practice, I saw it as a kind of hybrid, a practice in which focus is employed but also where free expression reigns.

The enso is often drawn quickly and freely. Zen masters draw them spontaneously as the mood strikes without any practice. For a contemplative artist, drawing the enso can be a creative means to focus and train the mind. Each one is an invitation to come back to the present moment.

The term practice refers to doing something over and over again on a regular basis. Often, one practices doing something to get good at it, like learning how to play an instrument. Then there are practices like taking a daily walk where the outcome is more subtle but may lead to feeling healthier and happier. And there are practices one does for no other reason than just doing them.  

Drawing the enso is like all of these kinds of practice. First, one learns how to hold a brush and draw a circle. With repeated practice, one may experience benefits like those experienced with meditation, such as calmness, peace, and joy. However often I practice just for the purpose of practicing, to experience the expression of the brush in the moment, however that expression is, controlled, loose, or utterly free.

WHY/WHERE/WHEN TO DO ENSO PRACTICE

Drawing enso circles is a way to get present and calm down. It is like a moving meditation. It is a form of discipline where you learn to relax your mind and rest in a state of focus and absorption. After drawing many circles, you may experience settling into a natural state of being. Many meditation teachers teach the enso as a post-meditation practice after a seated meditation session. In contemplative art programs, the enso is often drawn during the first ten to fifteen minutes of class. In these cases, the enso practice begins and ends with a few minutes of seated meditation. As an artist focused on the enso, I devote special sessions to drawing the enso. These may be as short as 5 minutes or extend much longer.

WHERE TO START

Bring your brush to a point

Although it is traditional to draw the enso from the bottom of the page, when drawing the enso, you can start anywhere. There are no fixed starting places, so any point is the right starting point. It is best to experiment and follow your intuition, choosing the beginning of the circle at the point that feels right to you. This may change over time. Great meditation masters have started their enso circles from almost every possible place.

HOW TO PRACTICE

The beginning of the brushstroke

When you draw the enso circle, do your best to be completely aware and present. This attention applies not only to the brush stroke but to setting up your workspace, preparing ink or paint, laying out a sheet of paper with a paperweight on the top or corners, then moistening your brush with ink or paint and bringing it to a point.

If seated at a table, sit upright with a straight back, with your shoulders down, and your elbow slightly raised. This posture leads to good form and a stable container for awareness practice. Dip your brush into paint or ink and bring it to a point. Hold the bottom of your page with the hand that is not drawing so the paper doesn’t move. Recheck your posture to make sure your shoulders are down and relaxed. At this point, you might want to tune in and focus on your breathing. Then, while focusing on the process, draw a circle.

Rounding the bend on an enso circle

After drawing a circle, set down the brush and look at your creation. If you want to continue, you can set that circle aside and reset your workspace and posture. Redip your brush into ink. Then, concentrate and focus with mindfulness and draw another circle. Continue this practice for as long as you wish.

Completed enso circle

Forget everything and paint

©Janine Ibbotson, “Mu,” color on paper, 8.5 x 11 in.

If one applies the instructions below to the enso circle, they might be: Spend time observing Zen Circles, become a Zen Circle yourself, then forget everything and paint.

“What is true of archery and swordsmanship also applies to all the other arts. Mastery in ink painting is attained only when the hand executes what hovers before the mind’s eye at the same moment as the mind begins to form it without there being a hair’s breadth between. Painting then becomes spontaneous calligraphy… The painter’s instructions might be these: Spend 10 years observing bamboo, become a bamboo yourself, then forget everything and paint.”

— Eugen Herrigel, Zen in the Art of Archery

Start anywhere

©Janine Ibbotson, “Mu,” ink and color on yupo, 2022.

When drawing an enso circle, there are no fixed starting points: one can begin anywhere and draw in any direction. You start with an empty page and just follow your intuition. I have my personal preferences and habits, so I begin most of my enso circles at the bottom, but it wasn’t always this way. For the first few years of practice, I varied my starting point and mostly initiated my circles from the top as that felt the most natural.

The teachers I studied with all drew their ensos starting at the bottom, but I believed in doing what felt most authentic to me. I started drawing them from the bottom after co-taught a Naropa University class. My fellow teacher was an accomplished artist who had studied with Tibetan and Japanese calligraphers. She mentioned how a teacher-friend, Kobun Chino Roshi, began his ensos at the bottom of the page. I decided to try that again, and when I did, I realized that it felt pretty good. Since that time, I have been drawing most of my ensos clockwise, starting from the bottom, even though I occasionally like to mix things up.

Studying with Kaz

I have been fortunate to study calligraphy with the talented artist Kazuaki Tanahashi. The picture above is me and Kaz. I am holding the brush but Kaz is too, holding the brush above my hand. He is guiding the brush, and my job is to let go and have him direct the brush. That way, I can feel the cadence of a master’s movement and pressure while drawing the different parts of a character. During this exercise, one thing that I immediately learned was that I was trying too hard. Lightness and easiness are as important as precision and focus.

Kaz held my brush many times during the weeklong retreat almost ten years ago, and I have never forgotten it. I asked him a question about how loose the brush should be held, and although he answered it verbally, I received a much more important instruction nonverbally. When we were holding the brush together, Kaz kept turning it; I believe it was to show me how light to hold it, how to adjust it, and how to be ready before initiating a brush stroke. For years, I thought about that experience every time I picked up a brush.

 © Janine Ibbotson, “Mu,” watercolor on paper, 16 x 20 in.

This framed enso is one of the circles that I drew in the retreat. It is drawn with one of Kaz’s brushes and it is amazing to see how the quality of the brush really affects the quality of the art. It was drawn with a large brush of distinguished character. I could see that it was an older brush that was very well made, and I could tell that it had been around for a long time and had been used a lot. The brush’s fine expression can be seen throughout the brush stroke.

For more information about Kaz and to learn how you can study with him, you can visit his website, https://www.brushmind.net/.

The enso circle

The enso circle is a round calligraphic form.  Even though the form is simple, there are seemingly endless possibilities in how it can be drawn. Like snowflakes, no two are the same. There are many interpretations about what the circles mean and ideas about where to start the circle (top or bottom) and whether they should be open are closed. From my studies and practice, I have learned that there is no wrong place to start.