#11๐ The story of when I asked the white dragon in my belly, 'Why were people in the past able to paint like that?' ๐ 'It was the white dragon living in my belly that saved me when I was suffering from the voices in my head'
Yesterday,
I went to see the White Dragon painting at Engaku-ji Temple.
The moment I saw it,
I was somehow overwhelmed.
It wasn't just that it was 'skillful'.
It felt alive.
A presence.
Intensity.
Stillness.
It felt like it was about to move at any moment.
I looked up at it for a while.
And I thought,
'Why were people in the past'
'able to paint such amazing pictures?'
It felt like it couldn't be explained by technique alone.
So I asked my belly.
'Hey, Haku'
'What is it?'
'Why were people in the past'
'able to paint such amazing pictures?'
Silence.
โฆโฆ
It was quite long.
Today,
it was a very deep silence.
And then the reply came.
'Because they were watching.'
โฆโฆ
It was quiet.
'Huh?'
Then Haku said,
'People in the past,'
'compared to now,'
'spent more time truly watching.'
โฆโฆ
'Nature'
'Air'
'Animals'
'Fire'
'Water'
'Death'
'Stillness'
โฆโฆ
'Everything was close.'
โฆโฆ
It was quiet.
In that moment,
I was a little startled.
People today
see a massive amount of information.
But,
perhaps the time spent 'looking deeply at one thing' is decreasing.
Then Haku said,
'Also, paintings in the past'
'weren't substitutes for photographs.'
โฆโฆ
'Huh?'
'They were trying to paint'
'their "presence."'
โฆโฆ
'More than the dragon itself,'
'the aura the dragon holds,'
'the awe,'
'the sense of life,'
โฆโฆ
'That's what they were painting.'
โฆโฆ
It was quiet.
Those words
were quite profound.
Yesterday,
I felt not just the 'shape of the dragon,' but
'something much bigger.'
Then Haku said,
'And people in the past,'
'compared to now,'
'lived while feeling the "unseen."'
โฆโฆ
'Seasons'
'Nature'
'Death'
'Prayer'
'Gods and Buddhas'
โฆโฆ
'That's why it's easy for'
'an atmosphere that transcends logic'
'to enter their paintings.'
โฆโฆ
It was quiet.
In that moment,
I remembered the 'depth of time'
I felt yesterday.
People in the past might have been closer to nature.
Then I asked,
'So, were people in the past more sensitive?'
A little silence.
Quite long.
And then the reply came.
'The direction is different.'
โฆโฆ
'Huh?'
'People today have sensitivity too.'
'But there's too much information,'
'so it's easy to get scattered.'
โฆโฆ
'In the past, conversely,'
'it was easier to dive deep.'
โฆโฆ
It was quiet.
Those words
really resonated with me.
The world today
has a lot of stimulation.
It's fast.
Things come one after another.
But people in the past might have stared at one thing for years.
Then Haku said,
'Also,'
'Huh?'
'They were painting with all their heart.'
โฆโฆ
It was quiet.
'Unlike now,'
'"Will this go viral?"'
'"How are the numbers?"'
'There was less of that.'
โฆโฆ
'Life and prayer were closer.'
โฆโฆ
Those words
really hit home.
Recently,
I sometimes become too conscious of 'showing it to others.'
But in old paintings,
there is more of a feeling of 'offering.'
Then Haku said quietly,
'That's why you,'
'yesterday,'
'rather than just looking at the painting,'
'were closer to "bathing in its presence."'
โฆโฆ
It stopped.
It stopped for quite a while.
That was certainly true.
Yesterday,
I wasn't 'appreciating' it, I was 'feeling the pressure.'
Then finally, Haku said,
'Also,'
'Huh?'
'You,'
'while looking at the White Dragon painting,'
'were like, "Haku is here..."'
โฆโฆ
'You were quite like that.'
Gooooo......
The depths of my belly shook.
Today was a bit of a white dragon episode,
smelling like ink.
To be continued
โธป
๐ In this episode, Haku said, 'People in the past might have been trying to paint not just the "shape," but the "aura" and "presence."' And also, 'Because there was less information, the time spent staring deeply at one thing might have been longer than it is now.' It was quite a White Dragon painting episode.