With her new book A Kanji Stroke Order Manual for Heart Sutra Copying, artist calligrapher Nadja Van Ghelue provides the Western reader with a practical guide for the actual copying of the Heart Sutra in Japanese kanji in regular script.

Through a copy of the Heart Sutra in kaisho in large size characters, brushed by the artist herself, the Heart Sutra copying manual teaches the stroke order for each of the 276 kanji of the Heart Sutra. Knowing the stroke order of the kanji is an invaluable key to smooth and easy sutra copying. Each of the calligraphies comes with a table that shows the romanization and translation of each of the Heart Sutra characters.

A Kanji Stroke Order Manual for Heart Sutra Copying is dedicated to beginners of Japanese calligraphy with a basic knowledge of the main brushstrokes and to all Dharma Zen students with a keen interest in studying and copying the Heart Sutra in Japanese kanji.

As the manual approaches the copying of the Heart Sutra as a creative tool for body and mind integration, it also introduces some techniques which will allow you to find the right balance and mindset for a creative and meditative Heart Sutra session.

Even if you don't know any Japanese or Japanese calligraphy, you can take a ballpoint pen and start drawing the kanji and enter the meditation of Heart Sutra copying right now.