ShinsungHwa: The Visualization of Avalokiteshvara’s Spiritual Energy (2023)
What is ShinsungHwa?
ShinsungHwa is a unique form of spiritual art where drawings emerge through spontaneous, flowing movements. Artists tap into their subject’s energy and let Qi(氣) guide their hands, creating geometric patterns that serve as a universal language.
Commentary on a ShinsungHwa: Avalokiteshvara
Most people, even those who have never set foot inside a Buddhist temple, know the name Avalokiteshvara—known as Gwanse-eum Bosal in Korean. For a long time, Avalokiteshvara was on my list of works to create for ShinsungHwa, but it took years before the right moment arrived to start painting her. The opportunity finally came when a reader of my blog made a request. I was busy at the time, but there was something about the sincerity of that request that opened the door for me, and so I began the work.
There’s a small story I’ve carried with me that feels tied to this painting.
Seeking a Way Through
Several years ago, after finishing a ShinsungHwa for a private client, I was offering them some guidance for spiritual cleanse and daily practice. During that process, it became clear that the client was hitting an unseen barrier. Looking for a way to help, I traveled to a temple in Gangjin called Muwi-sa.
Under the Four Kings
As I entered through the gate guarded by the Four Heavenly Kings, my body naturally responded with movements I know as ‘Qi-Dongjak.’ From there, my steps led me to the Hall of Kṣitigarbha, the Bodhisattva who vowed not to enter Nirvana until every being trapped in the hells has been freed. In that dimly lit hall, surrounded by the Ten Kings of the Afterlife, I found myself standing before the figure of Kṣitigarbha. It felt like a space connected to the world beyond death. Standing before Kṣitigarbha, my body instinctively lowered into Buddhist prostrations, which continued for more than half an hour, until suddenly I heard the words: ‘Avalokiteśvara.’
Name Like a Rising Tide
They were not carried by sound, but instead steadily arose from deep within me. The name repeated—“Gwanse-eum Bosal(Avalokiteshvara), Gwanse-eum Bosal(Avalokiteshvara)”—in a rhythm as natural as breathing. I tried to ignore it, but the voice swelled, as if joined by countless others, until it surged into the fullness of a great choir. For a moment, I felt I had no choice but to join, and so, silently and inwardly, I did.
Clarity After the Chant
Time blurred. My body moved, yet I seemed to float outside it. And then a sudden clarity broke over me, sharp and cool, like a scattering of mint across the mind. When at last the movements of Qi-Dongjak came to rest, I stepped back out into daylight. The strange thing was, when I described this to the client later, they told me they had experienced exactly the same thing at the same moment. Whatever burden they had been carrying—it lifted. The problem that weighed on them dissolved, and it never came back.
Living Presence of Compassion
This is why Avalokiteśvara has remained a living presence in the world for centuries. Compassion that listens, that leans toward pain without hesitation, has always shown itself not just as an idea but as lived experience. Yet, if treated simply as a devotional practice for blessings, its depth is easily lost. The vow of Kṣitigarbha—to remain until every last soul is freed—reminds me of this. Perhaps that is why, in his hall, I heard her voice echoing.
Universal Gateway, Endless Response
The Lotus Sutra, in a chapter known as the ‘Universal Gateway of Avalokiteśvara,’ describes her this way: whenever she hears the cries of suffering beings, she responds tirelessly. In the early centuries she was depicted as male, but as time passed, her forms shifted—child, elder, woman, even animal—until the image most people recognize today carries the softness of the feminine. For this ShinsungHwa, I chose to honor that aspect.
Meaning of the Name
Her name in Sanskrit is Avalokiteshvara: ‘Ava’ meaning downward, ‘lokita’ meaning to observe, and ‘īśvara’ meaning lord or guardian. Together, the name can be heard as “the one who gazes down upon the world” or simply “the one who sees things as they truly are.” In that meaning is a reminder of the path: true seeing is the first step along the Eightfold Way.
A Thousand Arms, A Thousand Eyes
In my depiction, her radiant aura connects to her hands, suggesting the ‘thousand arms’ that reach toward suffering. From her eyes extend a ‘spiral energy symbol,’ representing the ‘thousand eyes’ that witness the world. The number thousand is not numerical but infinite, pointing to compassion without boundary.
Prismatic Halo, Cosmic Frame
Her halo is drawn in waves of color that resemble light split through a prism—echoes of one original brilliance that cannot be shown directly. Around the outer edge, repeating patterns symbolize the cosmic principle, and all of it is held within a larger mandorla, a full-bodied radiance that contains everything.
Practice in Sound and Form
Chanting a mantra, copying sutras by hand—these have long been essential practices of Avalokiteshvara devotion. ShinsungHwa shares that same root but also extends it, guiding us toward ‘Qi-Hwero,’ a framework of pathways shaped by time and cosmic position. This, too, is practice—but carried in image, shape, and symbol.
