This scroll reads “天下松風一碗中 / てんかまつかぜひとわんのなか / Tenka matsukaze hitotsuwan no naka” A rough translation of this couplet is “ In a single bowl, the pine breeze from the heavens”

The couplet in this scroll directly addresses tea masters. It suggests that tea masters cherish the state of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility within the tea room. It paints a vivid picture: the wind from the sky rustling through the branches of a verdant pine tree, a symbol of virtue and nobility. This serene scene is encapsulated in the single bowl by virtue of its presence and existence in the tea room. The scroll’s inscription encourages one to meditate on the tea bowl object within the context of a tea space.

A further reading might suggest that the tea master has discovered the subtleties of life through the concept of "wabi," and dispelled their own "delusions (妄念, monen)" in the Zen Buddhist sense. The term "wabi" translates to a cultivated simplicity, while "delusion" refers to one's perceptions of the world. This raises profound questions: What is true in one's own thinking? What is the truth in perception?