This kanji, or character, is a cursive form of iki (breath). Similar to other languages, the word has more depth and meaning than the functional breath that keeps us alive, although it means that too.

In India, the word prana refers to our vital life-force but also means breath. In China, the word chi is used to refer to energy that flows through the meridians of our bodies and the universe, and is also a colloquial way to say ‘breath’.

In Japan, where Rinzai Zen originates from, ki (which is the root of this kanji) means energy. In the Chosei Zen lineage we use the term kiai to capture the essence of energy in embodied action; from our perspective that is most potently worked with through breath.

This passage from David Hinton’s China Root: Taoism, Ch’an and Original Zen speaks to the depth of this kanji’s meaning:

“Meditation is the great heart of Ch’an practice, and meditation begins with the breath: sitting with the breath, attending to the breath. Breath helps settle thoughts and quiet mind. But in Ch’an, breath is much more. Life in, life out: breath reveals the entire conceptual framework that shapes Ch’an. Each breath arises from nothing and vanishes back into nothing, the essential movement of Tao: inhale and exhale, sound and silence, full and empty, life and death. Breath moves always at the generative origin-moment/place. And so, attending to breath, like attending to thought reveals how utterly we belong to that cosmological/ontological process of Tao.”