階梯與花心：TiAO的基督宗教奧秘觀照
文 / 林若塵
The Stairway and the Heart of the Rose: A Christian Mystical Reading of TiAO’s Untitled Work
By Ruochen Lin （8/8/2025）
TiAO的這幅作品，乍看是一隻麻雀凝望窗內的玫瑰與月夜，然而在基督宗教奧秘主義的視野中，它更像是一場靈魂旅程的隱喻——一個站在門檻上的存在，注視著愛與永恆的奧秘。
畫面被分成兩個空間：外在的金黃世界與內在的藍色聖域。麻雀立於枝梢，羽色精緻卻無聲，面向右側那扇被層層框架與階梯包裹的窗。這種結構安排，不僅是空間的過渡，更近似於中世紀靈修傳統中的「靈魂上升之路」（scala perfectionis）。從聖本篤的修院階梯，到狄奧尼修斯的三途——淨化（purgatio）、啟蒙（illuminatio）、合一（unitio）——階梯始終是通向神性的核心圖像。
窗內的玫瑰，在基督宗教奧秘象徵中擁有豐富的多重涵義。它是聖母瑪利亞的花園（hortus conclusus），代表純潔、恩典與受孕的奧秘；同時也是十字架之愛的凝縮——玫瑰的美伴隨荊棘，正如基督的愛伴隨受苦。其粉紅色調並非世俗柔情，而是一種被神光滲透的愛（caritas），既來自天上，也向世人敞開。背景的藍月為這花心披上「神聖之夜」的外衣——在約翰十字架的語境中，這是「靈魂黑夜」（noche oscura），一段在感官與理智都沉默之時，靈魂才得以親近神的過程。
麻雀在聖經中是卑微生命的象徵：「兩隻麻雀不是賣一分銀子嗎？若是你們的父不許，一隻也不能掉在地上。」（馬太福音 10:29）在這裡，它不僅是渺小者的代言，也是被天父垂顧的靈魂縮影。牠的凝望不是好奇，而是一種靈修姿態——專注、安靜、等待。基督宗教奧秘傳統中，真正的「進入」並非來自意志的衝撞，而是恩典的吸引（gratia elevans）。
色彩語言在這幅畫中成為神學的辭彙。金黃的外域象徵啟示之光初臨，照亮凡俗世界；藍色的內域是神性的深海——奧古斯丁曾將神比作「比我更內在於我的內在」（interior intimo meo），這種深藍便是向內的無盡。玫瑰的粉紅位於二者之間，成為道成肉身的色彩：神進入人的世界，亦邀人進入祂的心。
然而，畫家選擇讓麻雀停在界線之外——這是一種符合奧秘神學的留白。正如梅斯特·艾克哈特所言：「神與靈魂的相遇，常發生於邊界與沉默之中。」奧秘主義者深知，渴望與凝望本身已是與神的相契，因為在那凝望中，靈魂已被吸引並開始轉化。
因此，TiAO的這幅作品並不急於敘述麻雀是否進入窗內。它所描繪的，是靈魂在門檻上被奧秘吸引的那一刻——一個時間被拉長、空間被敞開的瞬間。對奧秘主義而言，這不只是過渡，而是整個信仰旅程的核心：在凝望中，愛已經臨在；在未跨越之前，合一已經開始。
The
Stairway and the Heart of the Rose: A Christian Mystical Reading of TiAO’s
Untitled Work
By Lin Ruochen
At first glance, TiAO’s painting
appears to depict a sparrow gazing at a rose and a moonlit sky framed by a
window. Yet in the lens of Christian mysticism, it becomes an allegory of the
soul’s pilgrimage—a being poised at the threshold, beholding the mystery of
love and eternity.
The composition divides the scene into
two realms: the golden exterior and the deep blue sanctuary within. The
sparrow, finely rendered and silent, perches on a branch in the outer world,
its gaze fixed on the window encased by layered frames and ascending steps.
This spatial progression is more than an architectural device; it echoes the
“ladder of spiritual ascent” (scala perfectionis) in medieval devotional
tradition. From the monastic steps of St. Benedict to the threefold path of
Pseudo-Dionysius—purgatio (purification), illuminatio
(illumination), and unitio (union)—the stairway has always been a
central image of approach toward the divine.
Within the window, the rose carries a
wealth of Christian mystical symbolism. It is the hortus conclusus—the
enclosed garden of the Virgin Mary—signifying purity, grace, and the mystery of
the Incarnation. It is also the condensation of cruciform love: beauty
intertwined with thorns, just as Christ’s love is inseparable from suffering.
Its pink hue is not mere sentiment, but a caritas suffused with divine
light—originating in heaven, yet open to the human world. Behind it, the blue
moon lends the flower an aura of the “sacred night,” recalling St. John of the
Cross’s noche oscura, the dark night of the soul in which sensory and
rational faculties fall silent, allowing the soul to draw near to God.
In Scripture, the sparrow is a symbol
of the lowly: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them
will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” (Matthew 10:29) Here,
it is not only the emblem of the small and unnoticed but also a figure for the
soul under divine watch. Its gaze is not curiosity but a posture of
contemplation—focused, still, waiting. In Christian mystical tradition, true
“entry” is not the result of willful striving but of elevating grace (gratia
elevans).
The color language functions as a
theological vocabulary. The golden outer realm signals the first dawning of
revelation, illuminating the created world; the deep blue interior is the
oceanic depth of divinity—what Augustine called “more inward to me than my
inmost self” (interior intimo meo). Between them, the pink of the rose
becomes the color of the Incarnation: God entering the world of man, and
inviting man into His heart.
Yet the artist chooses to keep the
sparrow outside the threshold—a deliberate pause that resonates with mystical
theology. As Meister Eckhart wrote, “The meeting of God and the soul often
occurs at the border and in the silence.” Mystics know that longing and
beholding are already a form of union, for only the drawn soul can desire.
Thus, TiAO’s painting does not rush to
tell us whether the sparrow will enter the window. Instead, it portrays the
moment the soul is seized by the mystery at the threshold—a moment in which
time is stretched and space is opened. For the mystic, this is not a mere
transition but the very heart of the journey: In beholding, love is already
present; before crossing, union has already begun.
