My phone's photo album is a jumble of pictures of my paintings and those of other artists. No matter how mixed up my paintings are with others, I can always recognize them at a glance. But for some reason, this painting had completely slipped my memory. One day, while flipping through my phone's photos, this painting suddenly caught my eye and resonated with me in a special way. I stared at it for a long time, wondering whose painting it was. As I kept looking, a familiar feeling came over me, and the thought crossed my mind: Could this be one of mine? With a sense of uncertainty, I began searching through the drawer where I keep my early paintings on paper. Sure enough, this painting was there! This happened about two years after I first painted it. Even as I looked at it, I couldn't shake the doubt: Is this really my painting? The doubt lingered even as I stared at it. It was unbelievable.
When I turned the painting over, I noticed a single letter written in one corner. The moment I saw it, all my memories came rushing back. The letter was "Hal," a single-syllable shout used by a great monk to wake up those who, though their eyes are open, are living as if they are blind. Seeing the word "Hal" brought back memories, hitting me like a monk’s wooden staff striking my back. The more I thought about how I could have completely forgotten such a powerful and precious moment, the more incredulous I felt.
Whenever I felt unsettled, I sought out the teachings of great monks, and this painting was created in a moment of clarity after hearing one monk's "Hal." How I could have forgotten this painting is beyond me. This painting, which was almost lost forever in a drawer, was eventually exhibited at a group show at the Kyungmin Modern Art Museum in 2016, and it is now owned by someone whose energy matches that of the painting.