Spiritual Flame 

Kondo Komei was born to a temple family. His father, a monk who also made Buddhist art, taught him how to make paints, and Komei later chose the path of an artist himself. He created fantastical works expressing an internal world wrought from his early exposure to Buddhism and art as well as his own personal sensibility.
In Buddhism, the feared "fires of hell" usually represent the destruction of the physical body that awaits those who have committed evil deeds on earth. However, in this painting, the flames and some suspicious-looking flowers seem to convey an odd sense of splendor. This is the Pure Land, depicted in a style that could be called modern Buddhist painting. The artist wrote on the back of the work that he wanted the screens to be displayed flat and not folded in a concertina. This instruction shows that his sense of conviction and discipline extended to how his work would be shown and how it might appear to his viewers.
(YATSUYANAGI Sae)