Kosen So'on
born:  1816
died:  1892   

place:  Japan
Zen masters:  Daisetsu Joen,  Gisan Zenrai
Zen disciples:  Kogaku Soen, ...
Kosen  was a Japanese Zen master in the lineage
of Hakuin.
stories:

Osho
Returning to the Source: talks on Zen, ch. 8
          oshobob  The Living Workshop                                            
                                                     Zen Masters
There are some beautiful letters carved over
the gate of the Oaku Temple in Kyoto which
say: The First Principle.
People come from far and near to admire them.
The original calligraphy was done on paper by
the Master Kosen.
When Kosen was drawing the characters there
was a pupil standing by who had mixed the ink.
“Not so good,” said the pupil at Kosen’s first try.
“That’s worse than the first one,” said the pupil
to the second try. And so it went on.
After the sixty-fourth try, the ink was running low,
so the pupil went out to mix some more. “Just a
quick one with the last of the ink,” thought
Kosen,“while that pupil is out of the way.”
When the pupil returned, he took a good look
as this latest effort, and said, “A masterpiece...!”

                                                --Osho
                       Returning to the Source, ch. 8