The Seven Tibetan Monk Skulls Ⅳ. Bearer of Flames
The Seven Tibetan Monk Skulls
Ⅳ. Bearer of Flames
photo by Noriaki Fukushima
Lust and anger, burn everything away,
It disappears leaving only the light behind.
Fire is a symbol of purification, not destruction.
In Tibetan esoteric Buddhism, fire isThe flame of wisdom that burns away earthly desiresRespected as such.
The red copper patterns and goldwork engraved on the inside of this skull are
It was as if the swells of flame had quietly changed shape.
It does not deny anger, it does not deny desire,
A “transformation ritual” that uses all of that as fuel and turns it into light.
Fire is not about destructionStarting point of playbackIt is.
The same goes for the “fire” that flows through ZOCALO’s works.
The silver is heated, hammered, oxidized, and polished again.
The process is exactlyIt's like training to gain light through purification.。
For the first time, by burning
True brilliance is revealed.
To burn away desire and anger alike,
leaving only light —
for fire is not destruction, but purification.
In Tibetan esoteric thought, fire is revered as the flame of wisdom
that consumes delusion and reveals clarity.
The copper and gold engravings within this skull
seem to echo the motion of sacred fire,
quiet yet alive.
This is not the rejection of passion,
but its transformation.
Anger becomes strength, desire becomes offering —
everything returns to light.
In ZOCALO’s craft, fire is both a literal and spiritual element.
Silver is heated, hammered, and reborn through oxidation and polish.
It is a discipline of purification,
where each act of creation mirrors an act of awakening.
Only through fire does true brilliance emerge.
This Chapter IV is in the middle of the series.moment of transformationIt is a position that symbolizes.
The flow of silence → sky → compassion → flame is
It expresses the “evolution of prayer” both physically and spiritually.
Through the passage of fire, matter turns into light and emotions turn into enlightenment.
In this chapter, ZOCALO's hands that handle metals themselves become a kind of prayer.