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Towards the last two months of my last visit to India in the spring of 2012, I encountered the Tibetan community in exile in India experiencing painful news of their people self-immolating in fire one after another in China-occupied Tibet. My experiences in the past visits in India (drawing a cremation site in Varanasi, documenting fire pits, cremation alters, and contemplating on life and death around fire) synchronized with this particular movement, an extreme way of ‘offering’ their bodies to ‘fire’ for asking freedom and peace.I could not help drawing large and small drawings as emotional response and with a sense of mourning.

After coming back to Vancouver, the self-immolation kept happening and I felt that my personal and professional task is not finished.

I have come back to India to continue to document and draw under the same theme. tomoyoihaya@hotmail.com

9 December 2020

Vessels - To live

      vessels, mixed media on Japanese paper, 2011   Copyright Tomoyo Ihaya


      Vessels, Mixed media on Japanese paper, 2015  copy right  Tomoyo Ihaya


 A vessel as a metaphor of a life.  A metaphor of a mind. 

While spending so much time in India,  my eyes were always caught a pile of clay pots on a street. 
Clay pots for chai.  Once finished, it is thrown away to the ground.  Broken pieces. 

There is a Dharma teaching that I really like and stay as a pillar reminder in my heart for many years.

"If your mind as a vessel has a crack or it is always up side down,  even though there is a precious teaching in front of you, it leaks off the crack or can not contain it. "

This year, more so because of the chaos, the world of up side down,  I thought of this teaching often. 

So many vessels in the world were cracked or put up side down by a huge storm. 

I keep thinking how we can mend those vessels together.  Collective healing.

Not for humans only.  For every living form that humans have damaged too.