佛は衆生の中に在り is “Butsu wa shujo no naka ni ari” and means that the Buddha (potential for Buddhahood) exists in all beings in the universe.

So yes, your dog has the potential to be a Buddha (but only in a future reincarnation as a human). But all things, from the tiny cricket to the humpback whale have Buddha nature within them. If one takes the time to look and contemplate, one will see the Buddha in all things.

In Japan, sometimes the Buddha character is written 仏 instead of 佛, so you might see the whole phrase written as 仏は衆生の中に在り.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

人生を楽しみにしている is one way to write “enjoy life” in Japanese.

The character breakdown:
人生 (jinsei) life (i.e. conception to death) human lifetime, living.
を (o) connecting particle.
楽しみ (tanoshimi) enjoyment; pleasure; anticipation; looking forward to.
に (ni) connecting particle.
し (shi) to do; to cause; to become; to make (into).
て (te) connecting particle.
いる (iru) indicates continuing action or resulting state.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

永遠に私の心の中に means “forever in my heart” or “always in my heart” in Japanese.

The character breakdown:
永遠 (eien) eternity; perpetuity; immortality; permanence.
に (ni) indicates the location of a person or thing.
私の (watashi no) my; mine.
心の中 (kokoro no naka) the middle of one's mind; the midst of one's heart.
に (ni) indicates the location of a person or thing (makes this “in” the middle of one's heart).

Note: There’s more than one way to say "Forever in My Heart" in Japanese, so you’ll find another version in our database. This is the very verbose version.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

吉 is a surname sometimes romanized as Gee from Chinese.

There are several characters that can also be romanizations or transliterations of Gee, including 紀 (Ji), 季 (Ji), 葛 (Ge), 朱 (Zhu - meaning vermilion/cinnabar), 余 (Yu), 俞 (Yu), and 倪 (Ni).

郝 is an ancient place name in China and also a surname that romanizes as Hao.

你好 is the day-to-day way to say hello in Chinese.

The characters literally mean, “You good?” It's the equivalent of “What's up?” in English, where nobody expects an actual answer.

This explanation is here for educational purposes only. 你好 is an oral word that is not appropriate for a scroll (not a bad meaning, just very odd for a wall scroll).

This means vast and limitless or the vast sky.

昊 is also a Chinese surname that romanizes as Hao.

In Japanese, this can be the given names Hiroshi, Takashi, Sora, or Atsushi.

Here is the full translation of Joshua 1:9 into Chinese.

The text with punctuation:
我岂没有吩咐你吗？你当刚强壮胆。不要惧怕，也不要惊惶。因为你无论往哪里去，耶和华你的神必与你同在。 Hand-painted calligraphy does not retain punctuation.

This translation comes from the 1919 Chinese Union Bible.

For reference, from the KJV, this reads, “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

空手に先手なし means there is no first attack in Karate, or there is no first strike in Karate.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

小林 means little forest in Japanese and Chinese.

This can also be the Japanese surname or martial arts style called Kobayashi or Shōbayashi.

In Japanese martial arts, this can also be pronounced as Shorin and is included as such in some MA school names.

馬 is the surname Ma in Chinese (Mandarin).

The meaning of 馬 is horse. There is a less-common Chinese surname, 麻, meaing hemp.

マ is the name Ma in Japanese Katakana.

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

媽 is the oral way that most Chinese people refer to their mothers. Often, they will put this together twice (two of the same character in a row) to create a word that sounds like “Mama.” That's absolutely what little kids call their mothers in China. This Chinese “Mama” is the rough equivalent of “Mommy” in English. Beyond a certain age, Chinese will start to just say “Ma,” which is like saying “Mom.”

This entry is just here for a language lesson. This would make a strange wall scroll by Chinese standards. In Chinese, there are sometimes oral words that don't seem appropriate when written in calligraphy, and this is one of them. See our entry for “Loving Mother” for a better selection.

See Also:  Loving Mother | Family

倪 is the name Ni in Chinese (Mandarin).

ニ is the name Ni in Japanese Katakana.

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

二段 is a Japanese Kanji word that literally means “second degree.”

二段 is the second black belt rank in Japanese martial arts.

The first Kanji means two or second in Japanese.

The second Kanji means step, grade, rank, or level.

二段 can also be written as 弐段. This version just uses a more complicated Kanji for the number two.

老當益壯 is a Chinese proverb that means “old but vigorous” or “hale and hearty despite the years.”

Said of someone who is more spirited when he/she grows older.

The story behind this Chinese proverb:

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man named Ma Yuan. He had been planning to herd animals on the frontier since he was young. When he grew up, Ma became a minor official of a county.

Once, he was sending some prisoners to another location. He felt pity for them, so he set them free, and then he fled to another county in the north. He herded animals there, and thus his dream came true. He always said: “If you want to be a great man, the poorer you are, the firmer in spirit you have to be; the older you are, the more spirited you should be.”

Later, when he was even older, Ma Yuan became a famous general of the Eastern Han Dynasty and contributed to many battles.

二 is the number 2 in Chinese, Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji. I have no idea why you would want this as a calligraphy wall scroll but hundreds of visitors search for this number.

In Japanese, this character can be pronounced several different ways depending on context. It can be ni, aru-, futa-, and a few others when combined with other characters.

There's just one way to pronounce this in Chinese. Korean also has just one pronunciation.