As a famous spiritual teacher and artist, Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) edifies us not only through spiritual guidance but also through extraordinary artistic works. Today, we will walk through Heaven’s Art Gallery created by Supreme Master Ching Hai. Master’s artwork entirely presented the beauty from heaven.
Master: Any kind of art, like painting and any other artworks, is supposed to remind people to try to go within themselves, find their own Buddha Nature or God Kingdom.
Generally, a professional painter can paint in one style. However, an artwork from a fully enlightened Master can present the beauty of paintings through all kinds of styles. The way that Master creates paintings and other artworks fully explains what “Do Without Doing” means.
It is true that for people who have wisdom, who meditate, who become childlike and entrust everything to God; things go just the way the wind blows, just the way the sun rises and sets. There is really no need for effort. I think of all the painters, for example, the professional ones, who take days or weeks to paint one painting, yet I do it in a few hours, sometimes half an hour, depending on the situation. And I have never learned any techniques. I have not even read books about painting, and other people still like them -- outside people, that is, not only us. I didn’t even make much effort.
Great paintings are a cherished treasure in the world. Each brushstroke captures history, culture, expression, and even blessings, enriching the souls’ experience of the past, present and future without physically experiencing them. The paintings of Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) are unique. They open the gates for us to enter a time and space, or a corner of heaven that was experienced, captured, or created by Master. These amazing artworks enrich our understanding of various aspects in the world and beyond this world, and nourish our souls with abundant blessings.
Q: There is a painting by Master called “Yin and Yang.” When I was admiring it, a vivid image of the good and evil forces going to war appeared in my mind. Sometimes the positive force won; sometimes the evil. The cycle went on and on and would never end. I prayed that Master would enlighten me on this. Compassionate Master showed me a certain vision and a kind of power called “Positive Victory.”
This work depicts two men playing the paradoxical roles of the Yin and Yang forces in human nature caught in the world of illusion. Thus, they are engaged in a fatal duel of positive versus negative, the real versus the false. So engrossed in combat are they that they fail to realize the need to reconcile their differences and cooperate with each other in order to escape the mundane world symbolized by the fire burning slowly around them. The figures are oblivious to the cold and aloof woman (an instrument of the King of Maya), contemptuously sneering, “You are under my control. I have all the time in the world to play with you. There’s no hurry. Take your time roasting slowly in the fire. Take your time enjoying this suffering!” The painting reminds us not to be beguiled by the illusory world that seems so real.
Worldly people are stubborn like “The Stone Convention,” constantly debating and engaging in “Argument,” but they cannot achieve world peace. However, even stone has a “Stone Cave,” like the wisdom-eye within us— once opened, it is filled with a supra-worldly light. With a deep “Longing” for enlightenment, we seek to establish a connection with an enlightened Master.
This is a spiritual story told by early artworks from Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan), created when Master lived in Pingtung in1990. With these paintings that were made at the same period in November and December 1990, Supreme Master Ching Hai disclosed the key problems of the world at that time - the Gulf War erupted involving multiple nations in the Middle East. Through these paintings, Supreme Master Ching Hai presented Her concerns and Her vital mission to help the world through enlightening souls.
The painting’s theme concerns those self-important individuals who possess the sensibility of stones and have a penchant for endless meetings but never solve any problems; wars and man-made disasters go on as usual. The surrounding yellow and red sand represents weak, helpless people and their feelings of anxiety and fury. In contrast, the black and blue hues of the stones symbolize power, cold intellect, and the endless play of the mind and its arguments. The contrasting warm and cool tones create great tension between the two opposing camps.
By using the big rocks in nature, Supreme Master Ching Hai expressed Her concerns about the world situation, and through this painting, it could work as a window opened to awaken public awareness and inspire important figures to make peace and care about helpless people.
In December 1990, Supreme Master Ching Hai painted “Argument.” This painting showed us some specific historical events in the background and the hope from Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) to give a key solution. From ordinary people to world important figures, all get used to arguing based on their knowledge and intelligence instead of using wisdom and their personal experience of the subject matter they are going to solve. The painting’s central image is that of two books standing on a table face to face, quarreling with each other on the red colored part of the painting, or does their fight make their standing place red?
This painting secretly presented to us that Supreme Master Ching Hai was not only a spiritual Master, but also a tutor for all to solve key problems.
Most people argue using academic knowledge because they lack personal experience of the subject matter they are discussing. The painting’s central image is that of two books on a table quarreling with each other. The work’s slanted table symbolizes human beings’ negative thoughts and warped concepts, and its dark, muddy colors represent their inclination toward warfare, fighting, and argumentation. Both books are entitled “No.1” and both claim their won supremacy while engaging in a heated debate. Thus, the painting is a parable about human foibles.
The painting is more than many words and directly focused on the key problem of wars in that historical background. Sometimes, the simplest solution can solve the most complex problem. “Using wisdom and love to solve problems instead of showing off knowledge to argue for No. 1,” is the wisdom that this painting is trying to express and show us the best solution to reach world peace.
