Series Introduction#
Meditation is a form of altering consciousness.
It is a process of dissecting one's inner self.
It is a path that allows one to come infinitely close to reality.
I first encountered the concept of "meditation" in 2013.
In the subsequent work and life,
it gradually became a habit of communication with my inner self.
This wonderful experience made me realize that it is suitable to be expressed in the form of digital painting.
In the following years,
I created this series in my spare time.
Each piece discusses different stages of my personal experiences.
In each stage, I choose different themes to communicate with my inner self.
From the paintings, one can also feel
that the depths of human hearts are far from beautiful,
but they are not unbearable either.
The heavy oppression, conflicting contradictions, and complex conflicts
are all the true selves.
Sooner or later, we must face them with acceptance.
Source of Inspiration#
The inspiration for this painting comes from the first time I read the original work of "The Three-Body Problem". Every time I recall this novel, I am deeply impressed by the grand and rigorous narrative and the terrifying worldview of Liu Cixin. It makes me deeply feel the insignificance and fragility of human civilization, and I have a deep awe for the universe, human civilization, and even individual life.
Creative Experience#
Meditation-01 was created in 2015, and initially, I didn't have a specific plan to create a whole series. I just enjoyed the pleasure of painting.
Due to the heavy workload at that time, unfortunately, I did not document the painting process.
Looking back now, I was still in the early stage of exploration, and now I can only rely on recollection...
The overall concept mainly comes from three aspects:
- The overall feeling brought to me by the story in the original work
- The mind
- Observing my own thoughts
"The Three-Body Problem" Original Work#
I have almost forgotten the story plot in the novel, but I still remember those interesting settings and theories, such as the unsolvable three-body system, the dark forest law, the wallfacer project, the two-dimensional foil...
These things brought me an unprecedented sense of freshness, cutting through my inherent concepts like a blade. But can I really draw a head that has been cut open? Let's go to the extreme, the head itself is the blade, so what about the original head? It's gone, already a blank space. Blank space is a technique I really like.
Mind#
Mind is a Buddhist term I learned when studying meditation, which refers to the mind that produces discrimination and attachment. According to Buddhism, as long as a person has a discriminating mind, they will experience suffering. All the dualistic oppositions in the phenomenal world are products of the discriminating mind.
In simple terms, it means not to make judgments.
Don't judge whether something is good or bad, don't judge the motives of others as good or evil, don't judge whether you are successful or a failure, and so on.
This is difficult to achieve and requires a lifelong practice based on faith.
The left hand and the right hand are the most suitable symbols of the discriminating mind. Each person has two hands, and each hand has two sides. When the two hands are clasped together, it represents faith. But at the same time, it also represents discrimination.
OK, so what does this have to do with "The Three-Body Problem"?
It doesn't have much to do with it. After all, what I'm drawing is not a fan comic.
If I have to find some connection, it might be that the ending of the original work is that the universe will eventually return to its origin, without any discrimination.
Observing My Own Thoughts#
Observing my own thoughts is my understanding of meditation itself. It is both a definition and a method of practice.
You can try putting down your phone or computer in front of you now, find a comfortable place to sit, and do nothing, just sit there, close your eyes, and see if you can hold on for 10 minutes.
I dare to believe that there is more than a 50% chance that you won't be able to sit still.
I dare to believe that if you can sit still, countless thoughts will arise in your mind.
I dare to believe that if you don't have any thoughts, you might have fallen asleep.
Observing my own thoughts means literally looking at these thoughts.
Yes, you don't have to do anything, just look at these thoughts.
If you can maintain this state continuously for more than ten minutes, the duration varies from person to person, believe me, you will enter a completely calm state.
In this state, everyone's experience is different, and the same person's experience may also vary at different times and places.
To put it back, what the painting describes is my own experience in that state. My body is actually sitting there. My legs feel heavy, but my whole body feels light. Although I am indoors, the air becomes exceptionally fresh, just like floating above the mountains and clouds. Of course, countless thoughts will also arise in my mind, those thoughts are like floating clouds, rolling and disappearing, rolling and appearing.
These shapes and elements, when combined together, may be difficult for people to understand. They lack logic. With my abilities at that time, I believed that they couldn't be described in words, so I tried to draw them and make them look beautiful.
Looking at this artwork from eight years ago, now that the results of 996 work and trivial matters of life have almost disappeared. Only this painting is one of the few spiritual treasures I left for myself at that time.