The upward journey of the young monks represents the spiritual voyage that they take to reach their ultimate goal, Nirvana. Two are struggling up the stairs on the left whilst one has already reached the landing halfway. He turns back to his companions in encouragement and indicates towards the starts on the righ thand side, up which their journey continues. The darkness of the stairs suggests the difficulty of the climb, whilst the space around them glows with a light suggestive of the sacred place they are aiming to reach.