About Ensō

One circle, one stroke, each day.

In Zen, an ensō is a circle drawn in a single brushstroke. It is said that your state of mind in that moment shows in its form.

Ensō is a free web app for drawing one circle a day with your finger, mouse, or pen. There is no need to draw it perfectly. Just leave a trace of your day.

What is an ensō?

An ensō is a circle drawn with a brush, a form of Zen painting and calligraphy. It is also known as ichiensō.

A circle with no beginning or end is often associated with enlightenment, truth, or wholeness of mind. Yet it has no single fixed meaning; interpretation is left to the viewer.

The Edo-period Zen monks Hakuin and Sengai also drew ensō. One of Sengai’s circles bears an inscription that means “Eat this and have some tea.”

An ensō is traditionally drawn in one unhesitating motion. The energy of the brush, the dry traces of ink, and even an unclosed gap are thought to express the mind of the moment.

What matters here

• One circle a day, in one stroke. Lift your finger or release the mouse to finish your circle.
• Your drawing speed shapes the width of the stroke. As the ink runs low, dry streaks appear.
• There are no streak counts or completion scores, and no reminders on days you do not draw.

How to use it

1. On “Today,” draw a circle in one stroke. When you lift your finger or pen, or release the mouse button, the day’s circle is complete and saved as it is.
2. If you wish, add a few words on the completion screen. Leaving it blank is fine too.
3. Your note is saved automatically, and you can rewrite it until the day ends. Then it stays with that day’s circle. Visit “Past circles” to look back at earlier days.

Free, with no account needed

No account is needed. Your circles and notes are stored in your browser on this device. Your circles and notes are not stored on a server or synced automatically between devices.

As with most websites, loading a page creates server access logs that include information such as your IP address. This site also uses Google Fonts to display text.

Keeping your records

Your circles are stored in this browser on this device. They may be lost if you clear your browser data, reset or lose your device, or go a long time without using the app.

Safari on iPhone in particular may delete saved data on its own if you do not use this site for a while.

To keep your records, save a backup with “Export” at the bottom of “Past circles.” To move them to another device or browser, choose that backup with “Import.”

Using Ensō from your home screen also makes your records less likely to be deleted automatically by the browser.

• iPhone (Safari): tap the Share button at the bottom, then “Add to Home Screen”
• Android (Chrome): tap “⋮” at the top right, then “Add to Home screen,” then “Install” (installing is what protects your records; “Create shortcut” is treated the same as opening it in the browser)

Past circles ›

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