ensō

I have often been asked about the symbol I use together with my 'Breathe' word.  I don’t see them as my ‘logo’, but I do think they define my brand. 

So, why do I use the ensō symbol?

Simply… I connect with the symbol on a subconscious or spiritual level, I think.  It’s hard to define because I do not see myself as spiritual in a religious/Christian way, but spiritual in way that is my very own.  Do you get what I mean? 😊 I find that hard to describe.

I discovered this symbol, back when I was a school (a long time ago). We were doing an art project where I wanted to bring in Japanese calligraphy and iconography into it.  I came across the ensō symbol in old Japanese books at the city library, it instantly resonated with me, and I have always had an ensō around me and practiced ensō painting almost as a release... I do it on the beach, with a stick... I even do it in snow... it’s just something I do

According to Audrey Yoshiko Seo, author of Ensō: Zen Circles of Enlightenment, “Zen circles, ensō, are symbols of teaching, reality, enlightenment, and a myriad of things in between. Seemingly perfect in their continuity, balance, and sense of completeness, and yet often irregular in execution, ensō are at once the most fundamentally simple and the most complex shape. They seem to leave little room for variation, and yet in the hands of Zen masters, the varieties of personal expression are endless. Ensō evoke power, dynamism, charm, humour, drama, and stillness.”

It was the perfect symbol to incorporate together with my Breathe Bracelets.

The ensō symbolizes absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe, and mu (the void). It is characterised by a minimalism born of Japanese aesthetics.

This is from a post I found online...

 At first glance the ancient ensō symbol appears to be nothing more than a miss-shaped circle but its symbolism refers to the beginning and end of all things, the circle of life and the connectedness of existence. It can symbolize emptiness or fullness, presence, or absence. All things might be contained within, or, conversely, excluded by its boundaries. It can symbolize infinity, the “no-thing”, the perfect meditative state, and Satori or enlightenment. 

Ensō symbolizes many more things including strength, elegance, the universe, single mindedness, the state of mind of the artist at the moment of creation and the acceptance of imperfection as perfect. It also represents the oneness of life and all things contained within it, the spirit of harmonious cooperation, personal development, and refinement of character, the visible and the invisible, absolute fullness in emptiness, simplicity, completeness, endlessness, perfect harmony, the circle of infinity and the cyclical nature of existence.

The ensō is a universal symbol of wholeness and completion; “form is void and void is form.” When viewing ensō, one can see that that form and void are interdependent and, in fact, define each other. With so many definitions available, each of us is truly left with the responsibility to select or create our own definition of ensō.

https://modernzen.org/enso-htm/