*Nirvana Chapter Two*, the sequel to *Nirvana*, continues the story begun in the previous work.

In *Nirvana*, I depicted the Phoenix and the Qilin.
In this second chapter, I have depicted the Yinglong and the Sacred Tortoise.
With this, all Four Sacred Creatures are now present.

The Four Sacred Creatures are four divine beings: the Qilin, the Sacred Tortoise, the Phoenix, and the Yinglong.
Since ancient times, each has been regarded as the “chief” or sovereign of one of the four classifications of animals.

The Qilin is the chief of all creatures with fur.
The Sacred Tortoise is the chief of all creatures with shells.
The Phoenix is the chief of all creatures with wings.
The Yinglong is the chief of all creatures with scales.

They are the sovereigns who preside over the animals living in this world.

At the same time, the Four Sacred Creatures are also symbols of virtue, said to appear when the world is in harmony.

The Sacred Tortoise is sometimes depicted as a gigantic tortoise carrying Mount Penglai on its back.
In this work, however, I portray it as a being that carries the very order of heaven, earth, and the universe.

Water falls to the earth as rain.
Raindrops gather to become rivers, flow eventually into the sea, and then rise once again into the sky.

This cycle can be seen through the existence of water.
Yet beyond water, there are countless other things that continue to circulate silently and quietly, nurturing life.

We living beings receive these blessings without even realizing it, and continue the chain of life as if it were something entirely natural.

When life is divided into its smallest possible parts, it eventually becomes waves, and form itself begins to disappear.

The things that nurture and the things that are nurtured are, in the end, nothing but waves.
In that world, where there is no sound, no color, and no form, there are no boundaries.

The world in which I exist may appear as a different world when seen by another person.
To another living creature, it must surely appear as an entirely different world.

Although we are supposed to exist in the same world, we are, in fact, existing simultaneously in completely different worlds.

Perhaps even the existence of this world itself does not truly exist.
The world we take for granted is not something certain or self-evident, but something ambiguous, intermingled, and uncertain.

When I began to look at the world in this way, I came to feel that the Four Sacred Creatures, the divine beasts, the gods, and the Buddhas are all right beside me.

The word *nirvana* comes from Sanskrit and means “blown out” or “extinguished.”
In Buddhism, it refers to a state in which the fires of earthly desires and attachments have been stilled, and the causes of suffering have disappeared.
Practitioners devote themselves to training in pursuit of that state.

Yet perhaps nirvana is not a separate world somewhere far away.
Perhaps it is a world that appears right here, the moment our consciousness changes.

What we believe to be circulation may not be circulation at all.
Perhaps it is myself.

You and I.
The body and the air.
The flesh and emotions.
Colors and sounds.
Humans and gods.

Where, then, does the boundary truly lie?

As I move back and forth through this mysterious world, the *Nirvana* series will continue to evolve.