Five Hundred Arhats No.90 · The Venerable of the Dust-Wiping Samādhi | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.90 The Venerable of the Dust-Wiping Samādhi

'Wiping dust' is the metaphor of constantly brushing the dust of affliction from the mind, and 'samādhi' is absorption; the name marks one who in meditation diligently removes adventitious defilement so the ground of mind stays bright and pure. The venerable seems to hold a whisk with focused attention, showing the practice of wiping again and again, letting no dust alight, and sustaining pure thought after thought within absorption.

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