Five Hundred Arhats No.385 · The Venerable Beyond All Karma | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.385 The Venerable Beyond All Karma

'Beyond all karma' means removing the bondage of karmic action, not being bound by deeds, turning karma into wisdom, not clinging to good or bad deeds, attaining freedom over karma; the name marks one skilled in escaping karmic bonds, whom karma cannot bind. The venerable makes a liberated gesture with a free look, possessing the ease of removing karmic bonds, unbound by deeds, turning karma into wisdom, gaining great freedom within all deeds.

Painted by Li Zongyi in the freehand Chinese ink (xieyi) tradition, the brushwork is fluent and the ink tones layered from dense to pale, capturing the arhat’s spirit in a few assured strokes. The blank paper itself breathes Zen; figure and spirit are one, blending monastic solemnity with the literati’s ease. Each of the Five Hundred Arhats bears its own name and practice, uniting faith, art and collectibility — an original, non-reproducible hand-painted work.

Size: approx. 100×50cm (4.5 square chi) | Traditional hand-painted Chinese ink Zen Buddhist figure painting | On paper