 As the artist progresses with the painting, he meditates on the life of the Buddha and the Buddha's previous lives, in order to be able to paint each part of the scene sincerely.Towards the end of the painting process, and after painting many other animals, the painter realizes that his cat, who he now sees as a truly noble being, cannot be represented in the painting.The story says that the traditional belief in his time was that cats are supposedly cursed, because of their pride and sense of superiority, which apparently caused them to refuse to bow before the Buddha in his lifetime, and that this therefore means they are barred from achieving Nirvana.