Five Hundred Arhats No.203 · The Venerable Voice of Samādhi | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.203 The Venerable Voice of Samādhi

'Voice of samādhi' means entering absorption and raising a subtle Dharma-sound from it, the voice born of stillness pure, sweet and carrying far without obstruction; the name marks one who awakens wisdom from absorption and teaches through the voice of samādhi. The venerable seems to sound forth from within meditation with a calm expression, possessing the peace of a voice rising from stillness, pure in tone, expressing the wondrous Dharma through right samādhi.

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