The art of Buddhist calligraphy took form in the scripture hand-written by generations of calligraphers. The Diamond Sutra engraved in Jingshiyu, the Heart Sutra that is a compilation of words written by Wang Xizhi (of Tang Dynasty), the Heart Sutra of Zhang Xu's cursive script, and the Heart Sutra of Wu Changshuo's seal script - these are all examples of evolution in Buddhist calligraphy. But the art of Buddhist calligraphy is not only about the art of copying scripture by hand. It is also the creative work of calligraphy in Buddhist Zen poems and gathas of Zen masters, so that the visual splendor of the calligraphy text matches the essence of Buddhism. To expand on the life of calligraphy, the researcher of this creation focuses on the display of Buddhist calligraphy. With the Zen gestures and shapes on the outside, and Buddhism and aesthetic sophistication on the inside, Buddhist calligraphy not only has the ability to convey Buddhist culture and signify the meaning of the time of Buddhism, but also demonstrates its unique contemporary style through the progression of time. The purpose of this research is to explore the beauty of Chinese calligraphy, to express the essence of Buddhism with contemporary calligraphy aesthetics, and to use the changes in the shape of calligraphy characters to express the artistic creation of contemporary Buddhist calligraphy on the basis of the Zen philosophy of "frolicking in Samadhi." This article will discuss the aesthetics of calligraphy and the essence of Buddhism in "Heart Sutra," "Diamond Sutra," and "Six Patriarchs' Altar Sutra" with literature, analyzing the calligraphy aesthetics of cursive script and broken style script, and discussing the calligraphy of contemporary master calligrapher Dong Yangzi and several leading calligraphers from the Flying Ink Exhibition. Using classical calligraphy as the "samadhi" skillset in calligraphy art, combined with contemporary materials for "frolicking," innovation is implemented against ancient Buddhist scripture and gathas from Zen masters. Via the microscopic photography of calligraphy with mobile phones of contemporary technology, Zen calligraphy representing the state of mind is created in "Heart Sutra," "Diamond Sutra," "Six Patriarch Altar Sutra," and four series of calligraphy works of Huafan Jingjiao. The two microscopic photographic series, Apratihata (the absence of obstruction) and Buddha is not Buddha, expound the essence of Buddhism through the art of calligraphy. Zen calligraphy is written in concrete text but with underlying Buddhist philosophy. The works are full of rationality and scenery, both ingenious and interesting. The calligrapher comes to realize profound Buddhist truths from life experience and natural scenery, and combines Zen principles with vivid calligraphy images through rhythmically vital ink expressions to extol the teaching of Buddhism, which is at once thorough, vivid, and full of influence. The calligraphy works in the micro-photographic images are used to express the state of mind. To the contemporary people with their ubiquitous mobile devices, the combination of calligraphy with modern technology also provides an alternative direction in visual art creation.
