Zen Master Hakuin was a man of extraordinary gifts, mystic and practical, strong and gentle, imbued with true compassion and with an open eye for the miseries of the human situation on all levels. Moreover, he was a great painter - unique among the artists of his time - as well as a prolific writer with an acute power of observation.Hakuin Zenji (1685-1769) averted the decline of the Rinzai movement and became the founder of modern Zen.Though the earth is hard, tread on it softly! Great things are destroyed by little things. If you are careless about little things, you will accomplish nothing. Everybody - Wake up!