Shikin Haramitsu Daikomyo

The SHI of the phrase translates literally as "word(s)". The KIN or IN translates as "sound(s)".

Together they are literally "The sounds of words" or "Sounds and words". The combination has the meaning of "encounters" or "something that occurs to/at me".

"(May) Everything I encounter serve as the perfection of wisdom that leads to the great enlightenment."

Another interesting way to interpret the phrase is to see SHIKIN at one end and DAIKOMYO at the other, both leading inwards to the center of HARAMITSU. (Such reading is possible in Chinese and Japanese, though difficult to conceive of in Western languages.) "Everything we hear and see leads to the perfection of wisdom."

We will display the kanji for the phrase on an "Article" page on the new website soon.

- Rumiko Hayes