《Faith》 (2019) Painting by Rui Ji

"Faith" – Millennium Zen Condensed in a Finger’s Span

Beneath the vastness of night, a pair of hands hover in the void with the reverence of lotus-bearing Buddhas. The raised veins at their knuckles resemble hidden meridians, guiding viewers through the veil of oil paint to witness a sacred ritual. These interlaced palms transcend mere anatomical rendering, fusing sculptural dynamism with ink-wash ambiguity: their creases embody not only the chisel of time but also the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra’s allegory—"All Buddhas of past, present, and future point to the moon with their fingers." At the canvas’ heart, a coiled string of Buddha beads forms a golden vortex, each sandalwood sphere’s textured surface echoing the "Thirty-Two Marks and Eight Auspicious Signs" of enlightenment. The amber glow emanating from layered pigments mirrors千年-old beads housed beneath temple glass, radiating wisdom in the darkness.

The composition draws from Dunhuang murals’ Night Escape from the City palette—indigo and obsidian swirling like a cosmic witness to this silent contemplation. The artist deliberately eschews conventional Buddhist imagery, instead constructing a religious lexicon through color symbolism: vermilion-dotted "Buddha heads" signify stainless discriminatory wisdom; indigo gradients echo the Four Noble Truths’ profundity; the warm orange tones where palms meet beads evoke the Śūraṅgama Sūtra’s "comion that transcends form and desire." This abstraction deepens Buddhist philosophy—when all forms dissolve, only the tactile resonance of fingertips against beads remains, resonating like dawn bells shattering emptiness.

Symmetrical composition holds Zen’s paradox: hands poised between grasping and releasing, eternalizing the dialectic of attachment and liberation. Though the signature’s dark gold imprint vanishes into the background, it transforms under scrutiny into the "Infinite Light" seal of sutras. The work becomes a modern 佛顶尊胜陀罗尼经变 (Vajra Dharma Victory Sutra Illustration), transmuting "Om Mani Pe Hum" into a visual mandala. Each viewer, tracing the oil’s cracks, touches the warmth of millennia of meditation.