“Just as one plunges into a pond and plucks a lotus growing there,
the practitioner who has completely severed sensual desire
abandons both this world and the world beyond—
just as a snake sheds its old skin.”

Sutta Nipāta, Part I, “The Chapter of the Snake,”

“The Snake,” Verse 2
Translated into Japanese by Hajime Nakamura,
The Words of the Buddha: Sutta Nipāta (Buddha no Kotoba: Sutta Nipāta), Iwanami Bunko.

As I read these words, I began to think about the many emotions that arise within my own heart.

One of them is jealousy.

Jealousy is a particularly difficult emotion.

We may believe that we are hurt or angry for one reason, but when we begin to examine those feelings one by one, an unexpected jealousy may reveal itself beneath them.

And when we are forced to acknowledge that such an ugly emotion also exists within us, it can feel as though we have been confronted with a part of ourselves we did not want to see. The discomfort can make us want to look away.

The yellow roses depicted in this work carry one of their traditional meanings in the language of flowers: jealousy.

Jealousy is a complex and deeply rooted emotion that can create a burning kind of suffering. Entangled with pride, it can be extremely difficult to let go of, even when we know how much pain it is causing us.

But when we trace that jealousy back to where it began, and find the courage to look steadily into our own heart without turning away, the tangled emotions within us can gradually begin to loosen, revealing what lies at their root.

What was I truly hurt by?
What was I afraid of losing?
What was I really longing for?

When we finally recognize the true source of our pain, the emotions that had seemed to burn within us can suddenly grow quiet.

Like a snake slipping free of its old skin, perhaps we too can slip free of what has bound us and emerge renewed.

It was this image of the heart that I found in the words of the Sutta Nipāta.

The woman’s hair in the painting is swept dramatically by a strong wind.

For the hair, I incorporated a form of raised painting found in traditional techniques used in the decoration of Buddhist statues, using white soil to give sculptural form to each flowing strand.