It's Where It Isn't

 Kodo Sawaki — 'To You'

It has to be exactly as it is, yet it can be any which way. Nothing has to be done in any particular way, yet it has to be done in the highest and best way.

Sen no Rikyū once hired a carpenter to drive a nail into a pillar. After considering it thoroughly, he decided on the exact point. The carpenter made a little mark and then took a break. When he finally got around to actually hammering the nail in, he couldn’t find his mark anymore. Sen no Rikyū reconsidered the matter and eventually called out, “Here, here’s a good place!” When they looked at it closely, it was clear that it was exactly the same spot where the carpenter had made his mark before.

In the middle of pure formlessness, there is an ultimate direction. In the same way, there is an ultimate facial expression among a person’s facial expressions.