Beyond Hope and Fear

This artwork called “Beyond Hope & Fear” was especially created to exhibit in NYC. This was to celebrate International Tibetan Calligraphy Day, which falls on 30th April each year.

Created as a garland with 8th century Tibetan Drutsa script, composed of the words Beyond Hope & Fear – རེ་དོགས་བྲལ་བ། are scribed five times to create a repeated pattern, appearing like a corolla and stamen surrounding a central ovary of a flower.

The word སྒོམ་ is incised at the centre, sgom means meditation practice or cultivation, practiced with no anticipation རེ་བ་མེད་ and no apprehension དོགས་པ་མེད། summarised in this short phrase རེ་དོགས་བྲལ་བ། – beyond expectation and anxiety or simply beyond hope and fear.

This reasoning of ‘no expectation and no doubts’ can not only be applied during meditation, but also as a wholesome philosophy toward everydayness. Though in celebration of Tibetan Calligraphy Day, the delivery from anticipation and apprehension is essential in the creative spirit of calligraphy itself.